After the bank holiday weekend, we got back to the academy on Tuesday, and somehow over the three days I completely forgot that the kids started back on that day, too. While that made parking a bit of a nightmare, it also sent a bolt of realisation towards me - "Oh, look at that! It's all those kids you'll be looking after very soon!"
Hi, again, nerves. So glad you could join me after a long weekend off...
In spite of this, the class came together and you could tell immediately that everyone was getting into the swing of things. We put our initial abilities to the test in three ways:
- Presenting/"Teaching" a topic of our choice for 15 to a group of our peers
- Completing an "Emotional Intelligence" exam, and
- Doing a few GCSEs* (or SATs for Primary teachers)
I'm one of those weird people, and one of the ways in which I demonstrate this is by the fact that I actually like being assessed and doing exams. Maybe it's so I know where I stand; maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment. Either way, we were all able to assess ourselves and each other and I think everyone received some good, constructive feedback that we can take with us on our journeys (e.g. I found that I actually speak ridiculously quickly when I'm nervous, and I tend to rock back and forth on my feet when I stand up...).
We had our first conversations with our mentors, too. This was possibly the best thing I could have had right now, as my wonderfully helpful and smiley eliminated a number of fears I had, and reassured me that no matter how extroverted and boisterous some members of the cohort are, we're all in the same boat when it comes to our nerves. It was also great as we found out where we'll be teaching for our first placements. I'll be heading off to an academy that's a little bit of a drive away, but promises to provide some interesting challenges... such as only having about 300 people in the entire school. Watch this space!
I think it's also safe to say that we have had complete knowledge satiation this week; Teaching Standards, OFSTED, lesson planning, differentiation, professionalism with the roles, activity ideas... and we haven't even begun to specialise in our subjects yet! However, the amount of time and effort that the staff are putting into our development at such an early stage shows how much commitment they have to their roles, not to mention how much they must trust us to be able to take in and to adapt this knowledge for our own ends.
By the way, that's not to say that we're masters at teaching. (Yet.)
We had our first chance to socialise this week, and I think with our current links, we'll be socialising a lot more in the future! As I mentioned before, any barriers that were present last week seem to have dissipated, and our support throughout the mutual learning process so far has been great... even if we have had to do some pretty embarrassing things...
Aaaaaaand now for a weekend =]
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Last weeks' goals:
- Taking notes and asking questions - achieved!
- Learning to take things in baby steps - getting there...
- Improving my confidence around others - again, getting there...
This weeks' three achievements:
- Being able to relax more around everyone but maintain an academic mind
- Feeling a sense of direction after meeting with my mentor
- Finding and assessing feedback for the better and "not taking it personally"
My three new goals to work on are:
- Keep on trying to get involved with more activities and questions, especially ones where I take the lead
- Maintain reading around the subject at a level similar to before; don't let it slip!
- Find methods to improve confidence and reduce anxiety, particularly around livelier pupils and staff
* To anyone who believes GCSEs are getting easier - put it this way: a group of university-qualified students took these exams and not a single person got 100% on any exam. Arguably, the mark schemes are not the easiest things to follow, but they are by no means "easy!"
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