Ride the early storm

You always think that you’ll never get to grips with your new role, but somehow you do.

After my week-three wobble, I emerged feeling less disheartened and ready to pick up the baton once again. In week four, colleagues started to say that I was looking less stressed, and I thought that had to be a positive thing. Perhaps my pace around school had slowed and the pensive expression on my face had softened.  

As an introvert, my facial expressions are often, unknowingly, my default mode of communication. Sometimes the cogs in my head are moving at such a velocity that they completely hijack my focus. Psychologists might say that my working memory wasn't working quite as hard by week four and that the initial cognitive overload had passed. I hoped that I was on an upward trajectory from here and that things could only get better.

With any new job, those first few weeks are a real challenge, and getting your head around systems and procedures can take some time. However, as a first-time teacher and Teach First trainee, there's an abundance of new things to learn and do. 

By week-five, I was feeling a little better, but I was slightly anxious about my first university assignment and those 6000 words. I didn't quite know where to begin, and I didn't feel like I had the time to explore the title. Bouncing ideas off my mentor really helped, and I kind of established what I wanted to explore. The due date was in January, and time was thankfully on my side. I told myself that half-term would be the week when I would really immerse myself in all things assignment-related. I also needed to use half term to prepare a PowerPoint presentation for my upcoming review meeting (see my blog post on termly reviews for more info), so I had plenty to keep myself busy.

As well as working on my assignment and my presentation, half term was also a time for me to enjoy a little bit of pampering. I'd pre-booked a mani and pedi and had my hair dyed and straightened. Everyone loves the lift you get from a trip to the salon, and it was exactly what I needed :). I revelled in my seven alarm-free mornings and caught up on some much-needed beauty sleep. It was a fantastic week, and I even managed to squeeze in some time with my family :).

                                             Pamper time :)

                                                I went lighter - half-head colour :)