3 weeks in, still in love with the job.

It's been quite on here again! Teaching is an immense time commitment, it turns out. I might be teaching a maximum of five hours a day, but when you factor in all the planning, creating powerpoints, finding resources, printing handouts, marking and attending meetings, you get up to an almost 12 hour day.

My working days might be long and there's always more work to be done than time for it, but I love every minute of it. (I think I've said it before, but I just want to emphasise how happy I am now)

I'm so glad that I've chosen teaching over any other career. It's the best job in the world.

I've experienced a lightbulb moments with my students, seen them being extremely proud of their achievements, I was called their favourite teacher and some entrusted me with their troubles and worries.

I wouldn't change anything, except maybe adding a couple of hours to the day so I can get some more sleep. The only day when I can lie in is Saturday, and I'm trying to make the most of it.

My other relaxation involves swimming, Zumba, watching crime drama, reading about Maths (though Mr Magic disputes whether it truly counts as leisure activity), and baking. Baking is a big one, my most recent creation is an insanely good chocolate cheesecake. I think I'm spoiling my housemates a bit too much with all these baked goodies, but at least I have people to share with: otherwise my waistline would not be happy with me.

I went off to Southampton for a call back day and it was so nice to catch up with other Mathematicians doing TF and share ideas. It's amazing how many different things can be done to influence your teaching and in how many different ways I can organise my classroom, my teaching and my planning to be a better teacher for my students. I will try to incorporate some things I picked up yesterday. My most recent changes include challenge questions incorporated into slides so that my most able year 7s feel stretched enough. I also need to reconsider how I store my mini whiteboards. another teacher just taped it to the side of the tables and I might do it as well  to maximise desk space, but this requires some preparation.

It seems like I'm making a progress and everything is slowly coming together. Behaviour is improving, my planning does not take ages and students are getting more engaged. Life is good.

Found in a train toilet on the way from Portsmouth.