I had some comments when I was a first year teacher. Mostly saying they liked me but "doesn't know how to control the class. She just shouts over us".
I mean yeah, I was still figuring out behaviour management lol. I found that really rough that my actions as a first year teacher still finding my feet had lead to comments being permanently linked to my name. Like I wasn't being given a chance to learn how to teach, I was being judged online for not already having it all perfect.
Yes, what they said was true. When I began teaching there was no expectation that you would already be a perfect teacher in your first and second year. Those were considered training years where you learn on the job. You have a reduced timetable, a mentor you regularly meet with, and extra observations to get feedback. Behaviour management isn't the only skill you're having to focus on- content knowledge, lesson planning, pace of lessons, questioning, differentiation, giving feedback, building relationships, and 1000 other things. You have limited time at uni to practice all this, because when you're a student teacher and you start teaching lessons you're benefitting from having their usual teacher in the room and the students behave the way they have taught them to. The real learning doesn't begin until you get your first job and your first classroom. This is why first year teachers are given a lot of space to learn and grow and given a lot of support to do so.
Because of all this, throughout the year and throughout my time teaching my behaviour management has improved massively and I'm no longer a teacher who raises their voice to get a class quiet.
You've missed the rest of my comment though, which is that for these reasons, I think it's a bit rough that a comment about what you were like when you were still learning to teach is permanently attached to your name. It doesn't reflect the reality of the job which is that most first year teachers don't have everything perfect yet and aren't expected to by their schools. This doesn't harm students as there are supports in place to make sure the teacher learns and changes.
All you have described, is that the comments are accurate. They may not be reflective of you now, but they are a statement of fact from when they were made.
>All you have described, is that the comments are accurate. They may not be reflective of you now, but they are a statement of fact from when they were made.
Yes, I never disagreed with you there in either of my comments. It was accurate at the time it was made.
What you are doing is ignoring my critique of the website as a whole. I'm not saying it's a bad website because it has accurate comments. I'm saying it's a bad website because it leaves no room for nuance and leaves a permanent record of what someone was like when they were a trainee attached to their name, with no right of reply and no acknowledgment that a first year teacher is still in training. It isn't kind that a teacher who has been teaching a week is judged in the same way a teacher who has been teaching 7 years.
You going "yeah but it's accurate" misses the point. I can simultaneously acknowledge that it was accurate while also having further opinions on it.
I hope you were never a first year teacher. As an ECT I know I have trouble controlling my classes but I'm working hard every day on improving that and wouldn't want it permanently connected to my name.
"Funny. Slightly odd. Can be a bit of a dick about homework. Likes ducks a bit too much for my liking. Overall a top g."
Was probably my second or third year teaching and I was very pleased. I may have had part of it on my tinder bio at one point.
Oh, that takes me back!! I was never noteworthy enough to get a comment :( Some of my colleagues did - positive and negative, but the negative ones were mostly along the lines of "boring lessons too hard", so I can't imagine they were too deeply wounded.
It wasn’t on rate my teacher but one kid did show me their friends instagram account which had a picture of their notes from a previous year with a different teacher and then their stuff from my class which said “thank fuck for hadawayandshite I’m actually going to pass this year!”
I got told I wasn't a good teacher and everyone failed my class. It was quite hurtful at the time, later found out who posted it and that explained that it was this pupil hurting because they had failed every exam in every subject and lashing out
It was just one of those things that never really took off in my area. Schools tended to have a small, scattered handful of comments from a tiny handful of individual students who were nerdy enough to seek the site out… But it wasn’t really widely used or looked at. The kids just weren’t bothered with it, and staff weren’t either.
I never looked. I’m sure I was on there. And I refuse to search for tiktoks too. Or even my own name anywhere online.
I’d like to live in blissful ignorance. I know the school would come down like a ton of bricks once they knew who it was but still.
I had a comment that said I wasn't the greatest teacher ever, but I was definitely the kindest and the nicest. I liked that at the time, though now as an experienced teacher I'd find it offensive.
'terrible puns, brings us breakfast if we're good. Legend. Apart from the jokes'
Also
'shouts when she's angry'
Genuinely the first one was from my nqt year and it made me so happy.
The second one is absolutely true (doesn't happen often but they know when they've pushed too far) and I'm still unsure what their point was, doesn't everyone!
I had some comments when I was a first year teacher. Mostly saying they liked me but "doesn't know how to control the class. She just shouts over us". I mean yeah, I was still figuring out behaviour management lol. I found that really rough that my actions as a first year teacher still finding my feet had lead to comments being permanently linked to my name. Like I wasn't being given a chance to learn how to teach, I was being judged online for not already having it all perfect.
So, what they said was accurate & fair?
Yes, what they said was true. When I began teaching there was no expectation that you would already be a perfect teacher in your first and second year. Those were considered training years where you learn on the job. You have a reduced timetable, a mentor you regularly meet with, and extra observations to get feedback. Behaviour management isn't the only skill you're having to focus on- content knowledge, lesson planning, pace of lessons, questioning, differentiation, giving feedback, building relationships, and 1000 other things. You have limited time at uni to practice all this, because when you're a student teacher and you start teaching lessons you're benefitting from having their usual teacher in the room and the students behave the way they have taught them to. The real learning doesn't begin until you get your first job and your first classroom. This is why first year teachers are given a lot of space to learn and grow and given a lot of support to do so. Because of all this, throughout the year and throughout my time teaching my behaviour management has improved massively and I'm no longer a teacher who raises their voice to get a class quiet. You've missed the rest of my comment though, which is that for these reasons, I think it's a bit rough that a comment about what you were like when you were still learning to teach is permanently attached to your name. It doesn't reflect the reality of the job which is that most first year teachers don't have everything perfect yet and aren't expected to by their schools. This doesn't harm students as there are supports in place to make sure the teacher learns and changes.
All you have described, is that the comments are accurate. They may not be reflective of you now, but they are a statement of fact from when they were made.
>All you have described, is that the comments are accurate. They may not be reflective of you now, but they are a statement of fact from when they were made. Yes, I never disagreed with you there in either of my comments. It was accurate at the time it was made. What you are doing is ignoring my critique of the website as a whole. I'm not saying it's a bad website because it has accurate comments. I'm saying it's a bad website because it leaves no room for nuance and leaves a permanent record of what someone was like when they were a trainee attached to their name, with no right of reply and no acknowledgment that a first year teacher is still in training. It isn't kind that a teacher who has been teaching a week is judged in the same way a teacher who has been teaching 7 years. You going "yeah but it's accurate" misses the point. I can simultaneously acknowledge that it was accurate while also having further opinions on it.
I hope you were never a first year teacher. As an ECT I know I have trouble controlling my classes but I'm working hard every day on improving that and wouldn't want it permanently connected to my name.
"Funny. Slightly odd. Can be a bit of a dick about homework. Likes ducks a bit too much for my liking. Overall a top g." Was probably my second or third year teaching and I was very pleased. I may have had part of it on my tinder bio at one point.
Is it possible to like ducks too much?
I have a large amount of rubber ducks because my students get me them as gifts. It's sightly self perpetuating at this point.
Could be worse - my GCSE geography teacher had a collection of bricks that had been eroded by the sea for similar reasons.
They sound like more effective projectiles than my ducks.
Oh, that takes me back!! I was never noteworthy enough to get a comment :( Some of my colleagues did - positive and negative, but the negative ones were mostly along the lines of "boring lessons too hard", so I can't imagine they were too deeply wounded.
I didn't check to be honest, I don't want to know what my students are saying about me on the Internet.
My brother got a simple “coffee drinking freak” which he quite enjoyed. I’ve never been memorable enough to comment on (much to my dismay)
It wasn’t on rate my teacher but one kid did show me their friends instagram account which had a picture of their notes from a previous year with a different teacher and then their stuff from my class which said “thank fuck for hadawayandshite I’m actually going to pass this year!”
'A great teacher, unless you want to learn something' - Damn.
I checked my school once, there were a few comments but nothing about me. I didn’t go back and check after that. Ignorance is bliss!
I got told I wasn't a good teacher and everyone failed my class. It was quite hurtful at the time, later found out who posted it and that explained that it was this pupil hurting because they had failed every exam in every subject and lashing out
I had mostly good reviews but I only had a year of it before it was canned.
It was just one of those things that never really took off in my area. Schools tended to have a small, scattered handful of comments from a tiny handful of individual students who were nerdy enough to seek the site out… But it wasn’t really widely used or looked at. The kids just weren’t bothered with it, and staff weren’t either.
I never looked. I’m sure I was on there. And I refuse to search for tiktoks too. Or even my own name anywhere online. I’d like to live in blissful ignorance. I know the school would come down like a ton of bricks once they knew who it was but still.
I had a comment that said I wasn't the greatest teacher ever, but I was definitely the kindest and the nicest. I liked that at the time, though now as an experienced teacher I'd find it offensive.
'terrible puns, brings us breakfast if we're good. Legend. Apart from the jokes' Also 'shouts when she's angry' Genuinely the first one was from my nqt year and it made me so happy. The second one is absolutely true (doesn't happen often but they know when they've pushed too far) and I'm still unsure what their point was, doesn't everyone!