NQTs: Calm in the face of calamity

I may be nearly a whole term in, but sometimes I still cannot believe I am actually a qualified teacher.

Over the past few months I have experienced a rollercoaster of emotions. I have been frustrated, angry, tearful and a social recluse. I spend the majority of my waking hours feeling like one of the walking dead, but despite this, I am feeling a sense of purpose and excitement about my job that I haven’t felt for a long time.

Moving from a calm, quiet, largely male office environment to a classroom full of 30 hormonal girls was, at first, quite a shock. I will never forget my first experience of standing in a crowded, stuffy corridor wondering how I was going to convince a bunch of shrieking, high-pitched girls that it really was in their best interests to line up quietly. I quickly learned to save my voice. I opt instead for the stern glare up and down the line tactic; calm in the face of calamity.