AIBU to be upset for loosing my job over this?

[Mushu92]

After being unemployed for a couple of years due to chronic illness and then going to university as a mature student, I got a temporary job as an English language teacher (to cover someone who was unwell). At the interview, the lady was looking over my CV and suddenly said something like "Oh! Whoever looked at your application didn't look at it properly. We wanted someone with more experience than this, but it's too late now." For context, I had a teaching certificate from about 4 years prior and one year's part time experience.
Anyway, she gave me the job which was four hours a day for one week, with the possibility of more cover work in the future. The first few days went well, but then something went wrong. I was using lesson plans and materials made by the teacher I was covering for and I hadn't noticed that an exercise was missing from their worksheets. Some of the students noticed and started to look worried and confused. I realized what had happened and told them not to worry, to move on to the next exercise. There still seemed to be confusion so I went around the room and checked each student understood and got them to move on. I didn't think anything more of it, but the next day my boss came up to me and said a large group of students had complained about my teaching after that class, saying that they didn't understand what was going on, I had confused them and provided them with a worksheet that had a missing item. She asked me if I had given them the worksheets and not told them what to do. I said no, I explained everything, I just didn't notice that mistake at first. She didn't seem convinced and said "Well, it's partly not your fault." After that she randomly turned up in the middle of my lesson to observe me, which I guess was fine. After I had completed the week, she said she didn't think I was suitable to continue, and maybe I could contact them again when I had more experience.
I don't have much of an issue with her not wanting to keep me on (although it's a bit annoying that everyone wants you to be experienced, but then won't provide you with said experience), but I felt extremely anxious and guilty that a gang of the students had complained about me. Most of the lesson they were texting on their phones or just sitting staring into space not doing their work. They are paying a lot of money for that course, so I could understand with me being an inexperienced teacher they didn't feel like they were getting their money's worth, but they didn't seem interested or motivated during the lesson anyway.
This has completely knocked my confidence. I'm sure it seems pathetic and like I'm being too sensitive. When I told my friend about she said "meh, forget about it." It was a huge deal for me to work there, if only for a week. I am still dealing with a chronic illness and have really low self confidence. I had such a positive experience with a different group of students at the start of the week and it just keeps going around in my head that I was a terrible teacher. I don't know how to stop feeling awful over this experience and scared to work again.

I agree with your friend and you need to move on. Yes it was an upsetting experience and the person in charge dealt with it very badly. But next time look over the worksheets and even work through them yourself and you will identify things the students might have difficulty with., Every teacher has probably made similar mistakes.

@JinglingHellsBells You didn't need to point it out, other people already have.

I have worked in EFL for 20+ years and have been a DOS and trainer. This language summer school type of teaching is tiring and requires a certain personality. Not everyone is suited to it. You need to choose a job or quantity of work that you can manage (4 hours of teaching is a lot and this is why I don't teach teens / YLs any more, just adults and business English).

To be a good teacher you also need to be reflective and take feedback as a starting point for improvement, not as criticism or an indication of failure. Move on. What worked, what didn't, why didn't it work, and how will I address it next time.

You need experience to develop classroom management skills and need to work out how to set clear expectations and motivate your students. Part of this lies in prep. An hour isn't enough prep for 4 hours' teaching - as an experienced teacher, I'd spend at least a couple of hours working through a plan carefully so I understand the material, know that nothing was missing / can explain everything / had a shit-hot lesson with loads of variety and fun activities. That's what they're paying for.

Finally, if you have cognitive difficulties what will you do ensure your learners still have an excellent lesson? How can you adapt your activities, prep differently, change the way you write your lesson plan etc? I have a visual processing disorder and often can't see / read text well. So I prep very, very thoroughly, memorise my lesson, explanations and think of possible questions they'll ask, and have back-up work and activities in case something doesn't work or students don't respond well to it. Yes, this requires a shitload of prep, thought and care and that's part of teaching, particularly when you're just starting out.

It's a shame that you've posted on AIBU where people think it's fair game to knock you down at every opportunity. Lesson learned, but I do think that this lady was looking for a reason to let you go. Possibly because she hadn't followed the guidelines she should have done when she employed you.
I don't know what the objective is in pointing out the obvious, for example next time read the materials in advance. Of course you will, I'm sure you can learn from this experience and much as anyone can.
Mark it up to experience. Take some time to think about if this is what you want to do in future. Maybe you could use your skills differently and more flexibly. Possibly by 1-1 teaching. Look into how enterprising people are being about delivering ESL virtually. Look at Teachable maybe...

Can I ask what age the students were? I'm assuming if they were there on holiday or short courses they were teens. Those classes are a nightmare to engage. They aren't paying, their parents are. And they see classes as an interruption to their holiday mode. You have to be all singing, all dancing to get attention. So their issue (if they actually had an issue at all) was probably more to do with doing worksheets and being bored, than a missing task. (Been teaching for years, and missing tasks are not unusual! I do it all the time! )

But it's also highly likely you were hired on a temp basis anyway as the school needed someone for that week and may have had a more experienced teacher lined up for the next. Efl is notorious for insecure jobs and hiring to fill a gap without telling the teacher it's basically a temp job.

With the EFL market as it is and travel restrictions etc, online teaching is going to dramatically increase. Consider signing with an agency to teach one to one or small groups online. I believe there will be a big growth in the online Business English and Academic English market.

Get your confidence up. Get the experience in case you want to return to the classroom. But if you're good at online teaching it's a rare skill and financially better than ELF summer school teaching!! Get contacts then set up on your own - then you can pick the type of students (no reluctant teens lol) and set your own hours.

Future learn.com do some excellent free courses on how to teach online which go through the pedagogy and tech.

@Mushu92 I think you need to reconsider teaching as a career.
I taught for years in all sectors- private, state, FE, supply, 1:1 special needs, remotely/distance learning/ assessing.....

Teaching when you have a chronic illness and it's affecting your cognition is not the way to go.

You need to be fit and on the ball.

If you are lacking in confidence and energy, it's a bad combination for this type of work.

I think whoever 'sacked' you was unfair because a good manager would help you with more training and support. However they felt they had made a mistake by appointing you in the first place so were probably looking for a way out as soon as possible.

You aren't in a good place with your health - physical and mental it seems- so the kindest thing you can do is find some other work.

Good luck with it.

Oh, OP. I can see why you would be upset and that it would have knocked your confidence

I have a degenerative condition, so wouldn't consider a career like teaching, I think it's great that you are trying. Have you thought that maybe this style of teaching might not be the best for your health?

It’s not snide to point out the OP’s spelling and grammar mistakes when she is saying she wants to be an English language teacher!! It’s totally relevant. It’s absolutely ridiculous that someone who cannot write the English language correctly should think they are qualified to teach it. It undermines teachers who actually have worked hard to develop their knowledge to a level to be able to teach it properly and effectively. Either the OP needs more training or she should change careers.

What was you job before OP?

your

@ladyvimes I do agree with you entirely about language skills but some posters seem to take delight in taking a really robust approach to criticism, forgetting that more often than not, there’s a real person at the back of the original post.

the students aren’t usually out to make your life a misery.

And even if they are, pretending they aren't is effective.

As I am.often on my phone I get lots of errors I just can't be bothered to correct. It takes far to long.

As long as it isn't text speak I'll make every allowance for mispers, typos and grammatical errata.

@ladyvimes, I'm an English teacher and don't feel remotely undermined by someone making a spelling error online. It's such a small issue and not relevant to the situation. None of us has a perfect command of language. I guess that's why people might have found it snide. I think the OP has had a bad experience with a poor manager, and I hope she can move on and build her confidence.

@redcarbluecar it’s not just one spelling mistake though. OP’s posts are riddled with grammatical errors which I hope as an English teacher you would notice. I am fed up of working with teachers who are frankly not up to the job. Poor teachers have a massively negative effect on children. You wouldn’t want a substandard surgeon operating on you so why accept a substandard teacher?
It takes a lot to be a good teacher and not everyone can do it, despite the old tropes!

a massively negative effect You see that bothers me more than mispers and casual social media typing.

Unless, of course, you are talking about the grammar of polarity!

Mushu92 how are you bearing up today? You should have posted in "Education'!

I have been thinking about you, and wanted to offer my support. I decided during my teacher training, that if there were just a few parts of my teaching practise (ice?) that were problematic I would work my socks off to improve it, but it got to the point where I realised that there was just too much wrong to be worked on. I didn't have enough hours in the day left to do more, no energy to work any harder, and the support I needed wasn't forthcoming from my SLT. I was also in the middle of my perimenopause and not coping at all. In the end I cut my losses and admitted to myself I just wasn't meant to be a teacher. It wasn't fair on my class to have a crap teacher either. It took me a long time to recover but I now have a low stress job in my previous field that allows me to work my set hours and I can concentrate on my own life. It's so nice to have my life back, and to sleep at nights again.
There's no shame in admitting it's not right for you, and finding something else.
Good luck!

EFL teaching has its own particular skills. If you want to continue with it, then you'll need to ask to honest feedback. This can be hard to stomach. It may feel like a personal attack, although it isn't. EFL students are rarely malicious, but they can be demanding.

I've spent the last few years organising student feedback, and I've never seen complaints like "an exercise was missing". Students' most common issues tend to be overreliance on worksheets, perceived underpreparedness, high TTT, unclear instructions, etc. The biggest problem teachers then have is not taking feedback onboard, and writing it off as a personal vendetta.

This job isn't for everyone, and it's an industry likely to be hit extremely hard by coronavirus. I wouldn't really recommend it as a field to try to break into at the moment.

(Incidentally, to everyone complaining about spelling: I've worked with teachers with frankly abysmal spelling, punctuation, etc. The EFL industry is incredibly badly-paid, with very few barriers to entry. The only mistake the OP has made that most DOSs would flag up as a serious problem is her misuse of the 3rd conditional, which is already a very tricky structure for students.)

I have been an ESL teacher for 6 years. TBH you should have told them to put their phones in their bags, but you missed an exercise - absolutely no big deal. I had no experience at all when I started, originally worked in a totally unrelated field, but my boss was extremely supportive. She checked in with me all the time and told me I could shadow whenever I liked. We had meetings every couple of months to share materials, warm ups and tips.
I would agree that your confidence will grow with experience, but I also think you need a supportive boss. It’s not your fault.
The other thing is, occasionally you will meet a class that you just don’t have a good rapport with and that’s okay. Every session will feel like a battle, but that’s okay too.
You sound like you really care the rest will come with experience.

Just read all the comments pointing out mistakes. FGS it’s Mumsnet not an IELTS exam! People are probably watching TV while typing on their phones. BTW the comment about substandard surgeons! I know first hand that Doctors often make mistakes while teaching medical students. As a final note, a lot of ESL teachers teach conversational English/culture and that is what the students want.

@Nowisthemonthofmaying

Would you mind me asking which company you do the online teaching through (or perhaps you're freelance)?

I started looking into this and the two companies/agencies I came across were affiliated to itutorgroup; which has awful reviews from their teachers online.

@GilbertMarkham I'm freelance - most of my work comes from contacts I've built up over the years. I do get work through LinkedIn as well though, a lot of people contact me through my profile online. Try messaging some independent educational consultants, as they often need tutors for their clients, particularly those working with Russian and Chinese families - there always seems to be a lot of demand there.