You are going to be a teacher? Get ready to face a bunch of monkeys who threaten your authority if you do not show them who is in power. You are teaching EL and Maths? Tonnes of marking which will overwhelm you and deprive you of your social life. Giving remedial. Endless admin work. Courses and seminars to attend. Forms to fill in. Sure, NIE prepares you for all these crap (sort of). Experienced colleagues show you the tricks. But I never imagined that the hardest part about being a teacher is not any of these.

The hardest part is when you see your students not doing well and are on the verge of being retained. The hardest part is when you return exam scripts to your students, and while you know that he has already made tremendous improvement, it is not sufficient for him to pass. The hardest part is when you know a student has got what it takes, but did not manage to demonstrate what he can do in a particular exam.

This is a part and parcel of teaching that I have to grapple with.