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Hi everyone,
my name is Romy and I graduated from the ITEps course last year (2017).
In August I started working at the British International School of Ljubljana, Slovenia, as a year 2 teacher. A few of the current ITEps students probably know this school really well, from their teaching practices. After I graduated I had different job interviews, not for international schools though, but for some reason all jobs didn’t feel right. I didn’t quite know what to do at that point - I very normal feeling for a graduate, I’d say - but then, a miracle happened. A good friend of mine, an ITEps student who just did her final TP at BISL, forwarded me an email with a vacancy for this school year. At that point I didn’t think I would qualify, but I thought I’d at least have a little skype meeting to get some more information. Before I knew it I had a proper job interview and a day later I got offered the job! All teachers at BISL told me that they adored the ITEps students and they speak really highly of our course. I am very certain that partly because of all the ITEps students that went here, I now have a job (thanks y’all!).
Living in Ljubljana has been great so far; Slovenia is a beautiful country! I managed to find an apartment close to the school and I often go to school over the weekend. The first year of teaching is pretty tricky, and definitely hard work. There are many aspects of being a teacher, that I didn’t really practice before coming here, as mentor teachers would always do these things. Things such as reports, day-to-day contact with parents, assemblies, organising a school trip, and even something simple like celebrating class birthdays. Even though you might not be able to practice these in your TP, I’d recommend asking about them and perhaps you will be allowed to be involved. In the beginning I was overthinking everything a lot, and a tip for starting teachers (future you) would be to focus on the things that are going right and the progress you’ve already made as a class teacher. Set clear goals you want to reach in the first block/term, and it’s ok if you first just focus on getting your classroom management plan in action, that really is the most important thing.
But overall, being a teacher is a very rewarding job and it feels amazing to have your own class for the first time. All my students mean the world to me and I go to work with a smile everyday.