Behind the classroom door: a day in the life of New Zealand teachers – part one

In this series, Dr Sarah Aiono shares diary-style snapshots of a teacher’s day, offering a raw and real look at both the rewards and challenges they face.

By stepping into their shoes, I aim to highlight the incredible impact teachers have on students’ lives and foster a deeper appreciation for their essential, yet often under-recognised, work.

Read the latest print edition of School News online HERE.

A day in the life of a social science teacher and nature education coordinator

School: Large intermediate school with high Equity Index
Role: Social science teacher, nature education coordinator, head teacher/learning support coordinator for alternative education programme.

6:30am
Wake up and get my children (ages six, nine, and 12) ready for their school day. Check weather alerts immediately because we run an outdoor education programme every day. Communicate with outdoor education staff any changes to plans that need to happen and ensure that the programme is fully staffed. Communicate with the alternative education programme to make sure they are fully staffed and no changes needed for pick up and drop offs.

7:30am
Leave the house with my 12-year-old who attends the school where I work. She arrives over an hour early to school every day and is usually there with me until five unless she has sports commitments. My husband does the school drop-off and pick-up for our two boys. Not sure how I would manage if he wasn’t able to do that.

7:45 to 8:30am
Alt Ed programme is doing pick-ups from homes, so the driver will call or text if students are not at home to pick up. Print and photocopy any work I have for the day. Catch up face-to-face with any colleagues. This may be my last chance to do any prep if the day gets busy, so I need to think ahead to make sure I have all materials ready for all three classes I will teach. About two days a week I will have a meeting before school, but today I don’t, so I have a chance to think through my day.

8:30am
All teachers expected to be in their homerooms to greet ākonga. Students are already waiting outside my classroom and eager to tell me what is going on in their lives. I try to prepare the room for the day while also actively listening to their stories. This is a chance to check in with any students who had behavioural concerns from the previous day, and also to set students up for the day who have individual PB4L plans. If there are too many kaiako away sick then this is also the time that we would split their class for the day, and those four to five students would come to me and learn about their new schedule for the day. Today my class is fairly settled, I have three students on a Check-In-Check-Out as part of their individual behavioural plan, so I touch base with all of them. I have two students who received a major write-up yesterday and so I check in with them to remind them of their consequence today.

8:45am
We meet as a cluster for start of day tikanga. Then back to homeroom to take roll, read notices, get my homeroom set up to move to their first class. I have a special needs student who is anxious about cooking class, so I settle him. I find out from the office that Oranga Tamariki would like to meet with one of my homeroom students at 10 am. I know this will unsettle her for the rest of the day, so I quickly call her social worker and get the meeting moved to 2 pm, and arrange her favourite Teaching Assistant to be available to support her if need be. I saw a student had been chosen for a city-wide rep team and make sure to congratulate them. One student forgot their netball uniform, so I text their dad for them.

9:00am
First block. I am teaching social sciences and students are completing a project that we have been working on for a week. The project involves planning, a writing sample, and a 3D model. The writing will be used for their PACT assessment and the model will be on display for whānau to see in Week 10. The project involves paint and paper mâché, and I question all of my life choices while I try to support students through the process. There is laughter. There are a few tears of frustration.

10:30am
Morning tea duty – I am supposed to be running a game on the lower field to help minimise behavioural incidents. I am on my way to the field but am stopped three times by students who need my attention for various things. I get to the lower field and there is already a student-organised game of soccer happening. This is a relief. I am on duty all break, helping to sort out minor friendship issues, preventing antisocial behaviour, and checking in with students. I have four students who spend the whole break time at my side. One is with me as a consequence for misbehaviour. The other three just want to spend time with me.

11:00am
Bell rings and back to class for students to eat. I send my homeroom on their way to their next class and I prep the room for another teacher to teach social science in my room while I have a release block for my management duties. I quickly check in with this teacher to make sure that my planning is clear and they have all the resources they need. I then head to the staff room for my release. During this time I reach out to some of the families of our Alternative Ed Students to try to plan their transitions to their schools next year. I talk with them about their child’s progress and encourage them to enrol in a secondary school soon. During these conversations I help parents navigate custody issues, medical diagnoses, medication choices, behavioural challenges, housing insecurity, and youth justice and Oranga Tamariki interventions. I then contact key workers involved in the children’s lives to update them as needed – these could include social workers, RtLB teachers, MOE staff, SWIS, and school staff. I also sit with the pastoral team to review the safety and behavioural plan for a student who is re-entering school after a violent incident. I have a student who has been out for three days in a row, so I make contact with the whānau. I look at the Outdoor Education Plans for the next week to ensure that all paperwork is complete and staffing is organised. I realise that it is 12:30 and I haven’t eaten anything yet, drank any water, or gone to the toilet. I quickly do those things because I need to teach at 1:00.

1:00pm
I am on my way to my last block class – literacy and maths for our Alternative Education students and as I head out the door I am called into the principal’s office. She informs me that she has just had a phone call from the caregiver of Student A, and the placement has broken down. She has called OT to find out next steps. We provide transportation for these students at the end of the day, so we shift our drop-off plan so that Student A can be last off the van, to give us some time to figure out a plan. I run the lesson as planned with the students, but Student A is struggling. Student A sits outside with a teaching assistant and discloses information to that TA. I am now managing a very dynamic situation involving our Principal, the student, the TA, Oranga Tamariki – all while teaching a class. With no other options present, I decide to offer to let the student stay at our house for the night. I am a current OT approved caregiver. I am released from the classroom so that I can talk to my husband and arrange a ride home for my daughter from school so that I can assist Student A. Thankfully a teacher from my school is able to drive my daughter home.

3:30pm
After all other drop-offs are complete we bring Student A back to school where her social worker is waiting for her to tell her the news. Two teaching assistants who she is close with, the principal, and two teachers are in the meeting to support her. I take Student A shopping for the things she will need overnight and bring her to my house to introduce her to my family.

7:00pm
After dinner I call home to the teaching assistant who was involved in Student A’s disclosure. They are very shaken up and upset. I schedule a debrief with them for tomorrow so that they can talk about their experience of the day.

9:00pm
After I have put all of my kids to bed, I sit with Student A to process her day and possible next steps.

10:00pm
I sit down at my computer to answer emails that I have missed from the afternoon. I check on behavioural entries from the 27 children who are in my homeroom, so that I can support them the next day. I ensure my planning is ready to go for tomorrow, and any resources I need are ready to go. I check the weather for tomorrow to see if we need to adjust our Outdoor Ed programming. Tonight is a late night and I am not in bed until close to midnight.

A special thank you goes to the incredible teachers who generously shared their stories for this series. These are all real accounts from real educators, whose experiences have been thoughtfully adjusted to protect the privacy of both the teachers and their communities. Their openness provides us with a genuine window into the daily realities of teaching, and we are deeply grateful for their willingness to contribute.

By sharing their personal insights, these teachers help us understand both the triumphs and challenges they navigate every day. We hope this series not only informs but also deepens our collective appreciation for the vital role they play in shaping the future of Aotearoa New Zealand.

This article has been republished with both the author and subject’s permission from Dr Sarah Aiono’s blog “Curiosity Creator.” Read the original post here.

Dr Sarah Aiono is an education advocate and consultant. She is a member of the Aotearoa Educators Collective.

The Term 4 edition of School News is out now. Read it HERE.