Brigid Jones’s Homework Diary

They say it takes a village to raise a child. As the end of the first placement approaches, I can confirm it also takes a village to create a teacher.

The end of ‘School Experience One’ as they call it, signals the halfway mark of the PGCE course. Walking through the front door on the first day, I could not imagine making it this far without crying in a store room. As chance would have it, the only tears I have shed are at the prospect of leaving. *audible cringe*

When I began this course, I was fairly sure I wanted to be a teacher. A few weeks in I was convinced I’d be absolutely awful at it as a career and should be removed from the course. I couldn’t even pronounce Vygotsky let alone remember any of his theories. Fast forward a couple more weeks, a nice long Christmas break and a new Netflix PB and I think I may have finally found my feet. (I’ve just jinxed it haven’t I?).

Don’t get me wrong. There are days where nothing goes right. The computer won’t work when you do have a PowerPoint. The projector screen won’t go up when you don’t. Ten out of thirty kids have forgotten their entire school bag. Once, in a surprising turn of events, my dog almost ate someone else’s homework. Like any job it has its challenges.

But something that I didn’t expect to love just as much as I do, is the joy that standing in front of a room full of wee faces learning for the first time what a “yob” is, would bring. It wasn’t what they were supposed to take away from the class. It wasn’t something I had planned to talk about at all. But their delight at learning a new word and excitedly shouting “Don’t be a yob!” at each other as they left the room made me belly laugh in a way I definitely haven’t at a desk job. 

I’ve had the chance to observe a lot of different styles of teaching. I don’t know if I will ever be chill enough to walk into a room and decide on the spot what we’re doing that day. I don’t know if I’ll ever actually manage to reprimand a student without over-empathising as to the reason why they might have decided to slide down the banister and almost crack their head open on the stairs. But I’ve been told it comes with time!

Speaking of time, it is the one part of lesson planning I do have an issue with. Why should it be up to me to decide how many minutes the students spend on a discussion about how important it is to be able to analyse the agenda of the media? Or how finding a poem you relate to can be a source of comfort and make you feel less alone in tough times? If they’re getting something from it, I am not inclined to stop them to make sure I get through my entire plan. “Linger longer” is the mantra I will take away from this experience and I think it applies to much more than just plenaries.

Am I Human? Or Am I Teacher?

Nine weeks into the course. Two weeks in a primary school and seven back at uni. Next week, I will start my first “big girl placement”. No half term break. Not even a day off until Christmas. I haven’t had a guilt free nap, shopping spree or Netflix-binge since August.

Kids - don’t do teaching for the holidays.

All jokes aside, I can honestly say that the past few months have been amongst the best of my not-so-young life. I say ‘not-so-young' because I recently overheard a conversation between a few first-year students whose biggest worry was whether or not to pay their TV licence fee. Takes me back...

Having spent two years out of uni, I was a bit worried that I would have forgotten absolutely everything. Granted I got lost a few times in induction week (having to explain that yes you did go here for undergrad but no you've no idea where to find the School of Social Science building is just a tiiiny bit embarrassing), but overall it wasn't too hard to settle back into the routine again. 

My undergrad degree consisted of about two afternoon lectures a week. This time around it is a lot more intense, with 9am starts and only a brief 30 mins to dash for coffee between classes. 

In a short space of time we have covered everything from lesson planning, subject knowledge, behaviour management, figuring out your own personal style as a teacher, how to be confident in the face of children, how to pretend you know everything about everything and what is the most appropriate way to slate Trump in every single lesson that you teach. 

The days may be long but they are certainly not dreary. Being in quite a small class means that you get to know everyone, and you'll find that a sense of camaraderie develops quickly whilst queueing in Greggs.

At times, you may feel like you know nothing but when a guest speaker comes in and you are able to understand and contribute to the topic at hand, you realise that you have actually absorbed quite a lot. 

Teaching is something that you definitely need to do for the right reasons. But if you care about young people, your subject and making an impact then don't let all the stuff about the lack of jobs put you off. It is not an easy or straightforward career choice. Looking back at all of the amazing teachers I had over the years, I can't believe the amount of time and energy they must have put into their students. (If they are reading this now and feel like offering any tips, it would be much appreciated 😂)

Would love to see Professor Trelawney's medium term plans.

2016 Laura would probably never believe that 2018 Laura would be sat in her room on a Tuesday night, so I guess you could say that the PGCE has really helped me to grow as a person. I feel like I have learnt so much, but also can't believe they are going to let me loose on real-life teenagers in just a few days.

Admittedly, I probably will not be updating this blog regularly. I would like to say that it's because I will be so busy writing lesson plans. Realistically I'll be crying in a store cupboard in an undisclosed school in Omagh. 

Truth be told, I am only writing this now because I am procrastinating instead of working on an essay. (I told myself I would not leave everything to the last minute this time around, but old habits die hard). That said, if anyone knows someone who is considering doing TEFL or a PGCE course, please point them in this direction 😊

TEFL to PGCE

If you had asked me as a child what I wanted to do when I grew up, I would have said I wanted to be an author without missing a beat. I loved reading, hoarded books and even kept a little, tiny notepad stuffed with novel ideas that would have almost definitely turned out to be bestsellers if I hadn’t left it in the pocket of my school pinafore and put it through the washing machine.

Long term this is still my goal, I do definitely want to write. But something that ten year old me didn’t bank on was student debt, the cost of petrol, the cost of food, the cost of a crippling shopping addiction and a penchant for expensive gin. 

At eighteen I skipped off to uni to study English Lit with Creative writing, and loved every second of it. At twenty one I graduated and suddenly found myself in the real world, where my scribbles in a now slightly larger and fancier notebook didn’t quite equate to paying my phone bill. I knew that I needed to get a job; I just didn’t know what that should be. I had worked part-time in shops, bars, crèches and offices but none of this had really lit a fire under me. And I knew I was the type of person who needed to be passionate about what they were doing. 

Unsure of the next step I signed up to teach English as a Foreign Language in China. I initially headed off with a desire to see a different culture, travel and experience new things, i.e. run away from my problems and ignore my lack of direction. Over the course of the almost-year that I was there though, I discovered that I really liked teaching. I had not really considered it as a career before. To be fair, I hadn’t really considered much career-wise. But one month in I knew I enjoyed it. I loved standing up, moving around, interacting with people, discussing different things every day and even the less active stuff (like planning, marking and having to be in bed early so that I would have the energy to handle a bunch of children at 8am) was great. More than this I found that I really cared for the students and wanted to see them progress and achieve their full potential.

This led me to apply for the PGCE when I returned from my travels. In TEFL the lessons were focused on the structure of the language, helping students to understand grammar, learn vocabulary and speak fluently. I enjoyed this of course, but when I think back to my own time at school and imagine teaching the likes of Austen, Shakespeare and Morrison, well I will save that particular nerd-out for another time. But basically I am really looking forward to the year ahead and hope that I can pass my love of reading and writing onto others. It’s taken me a while but I have finally found something that I will be excited to get out of bed in the mornings for.

So overall, what I’m saying is; if you don’t know what to do with your life yet, just sign up to a random company on the internet, hop on a plane and go to Asia. (EDIT: Mostly joking here, at least Google them to make sure they are reputable).

Over the course of the year I hope that I can turn this into some sort of ‘how to survive your PGCE year’ type thing, I have heard that it is an intense yet incredible year and it would be great to have the blog to go back and reminisce over when I am unemployed. 

The reality is that I will probably post twice and forget all about it 😶😶😶

007 Pounds An Hour

(Please note: This is not my actual salary)

When I uploaded my 100% factually accurate CV to the ‘registration’ page of the recruitment agency’s website, I didn’t have high expectations. Every job going seemed to require an awful lot of qualifications, including one I came across for a school library that listed 5 years of experience and chartered librarian certification as ‘essential’. It is safe to say I did not expect things to move quickly. By the end of the week, however, I had an admin-based job lined up close to home and for a better wage than that offered by B&M Bargains (my only other option at this point, having been turned down by KFC). As someone who likes sitting down a lot, this sounded perfect.

A contract was posted out to me to sign on to become a ‘mobile agent’ and the following Monday I got suited and booted for my first day. Landing in the door, my English degree came in highly useful as I deciphered which sign pointed towards the main reception. I was delivered to an office and the manager sent for. It seemed to be going well. But I am potentially the least lucky person ever, so of course this didn’t keep up for long. The manager popped in. “Sorry darling, it’s just, we’re not expecting you” she said in a lush Manc accent. EH?

Therefore my much anticipated first day was spent casually filing forms away whilst silently panicking that my Amazon Wishlist would have to be deleted if I was told not to come back tomorrow. Thankfully, the agency contacted HR who contacted my manager to say that I was supposed to be there and they had just forgotten to tell her. Tuesday night I ordered myself a 2kg tub of coffee to celebrate. 

It’s definitely not easy going in to a new office and learning the ropes, but thankfully I am a very charming/naturally confused looking individual and people seem more compelled to chat and offer you a biscuit if you look a bit perplexed.

The best bit of any job is of course dealing with the public…… 

I’ve discovered that people genuinely think that it’s correct to write 1th, 2th, 3th, 4th when listing dates, and that the best response to someone being a nuisance is to inform them that you’re new and you’re going to pass them on to someone with more experience to handle their issue. Wonder how long I can get away with that one? 

My actual role is to process transport applications for school students. Or as my friend so eloquently put it “you do bus passes”. Not to jump the gun here, but an email came around advertising the post of Senior Director for the department, so I might not be bus pass girl for long.

In all seriousness, if any one is struggling with job seeking I definitely recommend signing up to a recruitment agency as a way to get a foot in the door.