Reflection of a Teacher

I was reflecting on my work today, as one does towards the end of the year.

One thing that I know is that, regardless of the quality of my teaching, my students feel safe in my classroom. It's something I'm proud of.

But let's be clear: I am not the type of teacher to be pleasant all the time. Sometimes I raise my voice. I'm human, I lose my temper when they misbehave. It is how it is.

However, my students trust me to like them. They know I am always only ever annoyed at the behavior, because after they quieten down, they will still ask questions, they will still joke with me once their work is done, they are never afraid to approach me. I can tease them a little, stuff like "gosh only ten more minutes before I'm free of you guys!!" and they'll pretend to be offended and we'll all have a laugh.

Nowadays, I like to end my lessons on a fun note with a little game, and everyone goes off feeling good about the lesson. It's been a good year of learning.

For 2026, I want to expand my teaching into writing workshops for adults. I've held a flash fiction workshop and a seminar for NLB, with lovely submissions after, and I'd love to help more writers dig out and refine their stories. A Writing Clinic sort of thing, where I can sit with someone for 20-30 minutes to help them work out whatever is stuck. I'm a problem solver at heart. It'll be nice to exercise that part of my skill set when it comes to helping grown-ups share their stories.

Plans and plotting ahoy. I have the material and I have the experience. Now it's time to put it all to good use.