You need to try irelia out in the jungle not in a ranked game, you want to get the feel of how to sustain early and how to clear BOTH buffs. Before backing, also to get a feel of how to come back and gank to pick up easy kills.

As soon as you clear all your camps back and buy boots and whatever jungler item you want I prefer ranger's Trailblazer due to low cool down on smite also for easy clear. look for an easy lane to gank to start off, one that is pushed in or that has a low health champion. I use Blade surge to cut off the distance and get to the laner easy then I use Equilibrium Strike to stun/slow depending on health then pick up the kill. you can also use your Hiten Style in order to do more damage to the laner if needed.