Yay! I'm qualified!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just got an email a few hours ago from my course provider saying that the exams commitee have passed me and all the other GTP students!
Yes!!
Tuesday 15 July 2008
Wednesday 9 July 2008
Actually a teacher (almost)
Wow! Busy couple of weeks - I've been on three school trips in the last week, which were great (if tiring!) and have met the previous teachers of the kids in my form who have all said okay-pleasing comments about the kids and today I had th class themselves for the first time ALL DAY!
It was a long day - the kids arrived and left at normal times and we had our own classroom.
I had various activities set up - I thought I might have too many but it was just right really.
We found out about each other and wrote facts about the person they were sitting next to on a hand (for display in september) then designed their own superhero (also for display and for a behaviour management type thing where they get to add to their hero as they earn house points).
Then they did pastel drawings of each other (not my idea but something all yr 5 form tutors did, so we did it too. Then I taught the kids the BSL finger spelling alphabet (with the great aid of my LSA) as we have a couple of kids in yr 5 that sign and I wanted to get them involved)
Then we dod a Passport To Year 5 - the wrote about their favourite subjects and target subjects, hobbies and targets for next year so I could get to know them and look at handwriting/spelling etc and they wrote about their superhero for the same reasons.
In the evenngs their was a parents evening where we were introduced to the parents and they were told about uniform and stuff, but didn't have to actually talk to anyone -which was just as well since I had completely lost my voice by then (caught a cold 2 days ago - bad timing!!)
Still waitin for my timetable (should be next week) and MTPs I will be lucky to get befor september!! Argghh.
I think I'll plan the first week and if I get plans or whatever then I'll use them, but at least I'll know I have something up my sleeve!
I have a school laptop though...
Feeling much more like a proper teacher!
It was a long day - the kids arrived and left at normal times and we had our own classroom.
I had various activities set up - I thought I might have too many but it was just right really.
We found out about each other and wrote facts about the person they were sitting next to on a hand (for display in september) then designed their own superhero (also for display and for a behaviour management type thing where they get to add to their hero as they earn house points).
Then they did pastel drawings of each other (not my idea but something all yr 5 form tutors did, so we did it too. Then I taught the kids the BSL finger spelling alphabet (with the great aid of my LSA) as we have a couple of kids in yr 5 that sign and I wanted to get them involved)
Then we dod a Passport To Year 5 - the wrote about their favourite subjects and target subjects, hobbies and targets for next year so I could get to know them and look at handwriting/spelling etc and they wrote about their superhero for the same reasons.
In the evenngs their was a parents evening where we were introduced to the parents and they were told about uniform and stuff, but didn't have to actually talk to anyone -which was just as well since I had completely lost my voice by then (caught a cold 2 days ago - bad timing!!)
Still waitin for my timetable (should be next week) and MTPs I will be lucky to get befor september!! Argghh.
I think I'll plan the first week and if I get plans or whatever then I'll use them, but at least I'll know I have something up my sleeve!
I have a school laptop though...
Feeling much more like a proper teacher!
Thursday 26 June 2008
Yahaay!
That's it...got all my standards signed off by my mentor.
For the course I'm on my mentor checks all my evidence and signs off when she has seen it, and then, providing I don't get externally moderated, the DRB never even see it! They just ask to see the booklet where my mentor has signed me off! Seems bizarre that no-one else will ever see all this paperwork, but whatever!
Also, the way it works for our course is that the external moderators will see any people who the mentors have had concerns about and another person within a small radius randomly - and theres no-one else near me. So, hopefully there should be no fear of external moderation.
Still waiting to hear about my asignment scores, but providing they were okay then I've all but got through the course. Phew.
Now I've started thinking about my new job. I've been in and seen the classroom which is lkely to be mine (the one I taught my interview lesson in) and chatted to people there. I know I'll be taching yr 5 English, Maths, Science and RE, and some Yr 7 English too. I would have liked to have taught History, but ho hum. The current NQT there says she's had a fantastic year there, and been really well supported, so that was nice to hear.
Next week I get to chat to the current teachers' of my future form and find out about the kids, then the week after I've got the kids for the transfer day. Exciting stuff!
For the course I'm on my mentor checks all my evidence and signs off when she has seen it, and then, providing I don't get externally moderated, the DRB never even see it! They just ask to see the booklet where my mentor has signed me off! Seems bizarre that no-one else will ever see all this paperwork, but whatever!
Also, the way it works for our course is that the external moderators will see any people who the mentors have had concerns about and another person within a small radius randomly - and theres no-one else near me. So, hopefully there should be no fear of external moderation.
Still waiting to hear about my asignment scores, but providing they were okay then I've all but got through the course. Phew.
Now I've started thinking about my new job. I've been in and seen the classroom which is lkely to be mine (the one I taught my interview lesson in) and chatted to people there. I know I'll be taching yr 5 English, Maths, Science and RE, and some Yr 7 English too. I would have liked to have taught History, but ho hum. The current NQT there says she's had a fantastic year there, and been really well supported, so that was nice to hear.
Next week I get to chat to the current teachers' of my future form and find out about the kids, then the week after I've got the kids for the transfer day. Exciting stuff!
Thursday 19 June 2008
Nearly there.
Wow, never thought I'd get those standards signed off, but the majority of them are now, and I only have one teaching day left!
Next week I'm going to my new school to visit and discuss my new role, and then I'm going on a school trip with them to the Tutankhamun exhibition...for the 3 weeks following that I'm a spare wheel in my training school and will probably be given all kinds of horrible jobs to do. I already have to audit the science resources.
I have a transition day meeting my new pupils for the first time in July (3 weeks away! Arggh!) and a day to meet their previous teachers the week before that. Oh, and parents to meet too!
I was recently emailing another GTPer about to start and thought I'd share the advice I gave her:
Everyone told me to rest and relax before I started the course, but I'm glad I 'swotted' as by the time I got to about October I had no time at all to sit and watch teachers tv, or read books, but I could remember that I'd read about 'that aspect of child behaviour' in one of those books, which made it much easier.
Also, when the course starts, get your skills tests booked ASAP. By December you'll find you can no longer pick and choose slots as easily, and by Feb it gets really busy.
Practise the skills tests online on the TDA website. I never passed the maths one online but passed first time at the actual test (and thats my horror subject!)
Oh, and when you start gathering evidence, file it EVERY week, or even every night. I left it for 2 weeks once and it was a nightmare. Keep on top of it. I tend to spend a couple or more hours on a sunday getting my paperwork in order (cross referencing, filing, highlighting key phrases and writing the standard next to it, shuffling from one folder to another), but its worth it.
I've got to the point now that I can plan the entire week ahead (apart from tweaking maths and literacy) during the weeks PPA time but at first it tends to take an hour or two writing a single hours lesson!
Next week I'm going to my new school to visit and discuss my new role, and then I'm going on a school trip with them to the Tutankhamun exhibition...for the 3 weeks following that I'm a spare wheel in my training school and will probably be given all kinds of horrible jobs to do. I already have to audit the science resources.
I have a transition day meeting my new pupils for the first time in July (3 weeks away! Arggh!) and a day to meet their previous teachers the week before that. Oh, and parents to meet too!
I was recently emailing another GTPer about to start and thought I'd share the advice I gave her:
Everyone told me to rest and relax before I started the course, but I'm glad I 'swotted' as by the time I got to about October I had no time at all to sit and watch teachers tv, or read books, but I could remember that I'd read about 'that aspect of child behaviour' in one of those books, which made it much easier.
Also, when the course starts, get your skills tests booked ASAP. By December you'll find you can no longer pick and choose slots as easily, and by Feb it gets really busy.
Practise the skills tests online on the TDA website. I never passed the maths one online but passed first time at the actual test (and thats my horror subject!)
Oh, and when you start gathering evidence, file it EVERY week, or even every night. I left it for 2 weeks once and it was a nightmare. Keep on top of it. I tend to spend a couple or more hours on a sunday getting my paperwork in order (cross referencing, filing, highlighting key phrases and writing the standard next to it, shuffling from one folder to another), but its worth it.
I've got to the point now that I can plan the entire week ahead (apart from tweaking maths and literacy) during the weeks PPA time but at first it tends to take an hour or two writing a single hours lesson!
Thursday 5 June 2008
Only a month to go.
Well, I only have 3 weeks teaching time, and a week or so after that to get my final evidence together. After much umming and ahhing my DRB have decided I need 5 pieces of evidence for each standard - two of which must be 'strong' pieces.
I now have about 5 lever arch files full of paperwork, one which is jam packed with the final evidence and I seem to be just shuffling pape from one position to the next in an endless circle!
Trying to think of questions I had before I started my course:
- hours at school - I get there at 8:10/8:15 (kids come in class from 8:45) and set up the morning stuff, photocopy and occasionally mark. I leave school sometime between 4pm (earliest) and 4:30pm on a normal night, and about 5pm on a staff meeting night.
- marking- I have only marked at home about twice (normal work), but have done assessment marking (SATs etc) at home. I mark the childrens morning work (Lit & Num) during assembly and lunch, and do the afternoons work after school.
- I often plan til 9pm, and paperwork normally takes me 3-4hrs on a sunday. I still have a life but you need a VERY understanding family as you will be working very hard.
Before this I worked full time, with a small child and did an OU degree - this is more work than that.
- Its great and I love it!
I now have about 5 lever arch files full of paperwork, one which is jam packed with the final evidence and I seem to be just shuffling pape from one position to the next in an endless circle!
Trying to think of questions I had before I started my course:
- hours at school - I get there at 8:10/8:15 (kids come in class from 8:45) and set up the morning stuff, photocopy and occasionally mark. I leave school sometime between 4pm (earliest) and 4:30pm on a normal night, and about 5pm on a staff meeting night.
- marking- I have only marked at home about twice (normal work), but have done assessment marking (SATs etc) at home. I mark the childrens morning work (Lit & Num) during assembly and lunch, and do the afternoons work after school.
- I often plan til 9pm, and paperwork normally takes me 3-4hrs on a sunday. I still have a life but you need a VERY understanding family as you will be working very hard.
Before this I worked full time, with a small child and did an OU degree - this is more work than that.
- Its great and I love it!
Tuesday 13 May 2008
WOOHOO!!!
A couple of weeks ago I applied to three jobs - three schools I really liked. None of them invited me to interview - I was devastated, and everyone I asked said there was nothing wrong with my applications. I was beginning to fear I would be jobless in september.
And then....a job came up in a middle school -the one that my current class will be moving to. My HT (Head teacher) and the middle school HT knew each other so I knew I'd have a good chance of getting an interview - with nothing to lose I applied (monday).
Tuesday...phone call from another school - they'd seen my application form on the NQT pool and could I please come along and see the school and discuss jobs (they were desperate to see me before I went to the other interview but there wasn't time).
So, off I went to my first interview , feeeling happier in the feeling that there was another interview if this one fell through.
All went really well - 55minute poetry lesson to yr 5s, school council interview, school dinner with the HT, actual interview - it took all day and I finally left at 3pm, having got there at 9am.
And....I got the job!! Woohoo!
Then I checked my mobile phone and found an interview offer for another middle school!
What a week!
Such a weight off!
Questions involved:
How did the lesson go?
What are you doing at the moment?
How are you finding the training?
Why do you want to be a teacher?
What has been your greatest acheivement during the year?
How would you maintain and improve standards?
(I replied expactations and they asked me about planning too, so I talked about LOs and always know where you want the children to be in the future and not just for that lesson etc)
What are your key skills/subjects?
Would you be willing to take on extra curricular roles?
Give us three words the children in your class might use to describe you (this was the hardest! I replied: exciting (as they actually had said that twice this week), nice (NICE?!?!? what was I thinking) and happy.
What do you percieve the form tutor role to be?
School council interview questions:
If you had an emotional child in your class what would you do?
If someone started really kicking off and throwing chairs around, what would you do?
If someone had an illness in your class what would you do (much discussion about a girl with diabetes being allowed to eat in class because of her illness)
What other schools have you taught in?
How do you make lessons interesting?
Do you use drama in lessons?
Why do you want to be a teacher?
And then....a job came up in a middle school -the one that my current class will be moving to. My HT (Head teacher) and the middle school HT knew each other so I knew I'd have a good chance of getting an interview - with nothing to lose I applied (monday).
Tuesday...phone call from another school - they'd seen my application form on the NQT pool and could I please come along and see the school and discuss jobs (they were desperate to see me before I went to the other interview but there wasn't time).
So, off I went to my first interview , feeeling happier in the feeling that there was another interview if this one fell through.
All went really well - 55minute poetry lesson to yr 5s, school council interview, school dinner with the HT, actual interview - it took all day and I finally left at 3pm, having got there at 9am.
And....I got the job!! Woohoo!
Then I checked my mobile phone and found an interview offer for another middle school!
What a week!
Such a weight off!
Questions involved:
How did the lesson go?
What are you doing at the moment?
How are you finding the training?
Why do you want to be a teacher?
What has been your greatest acheivement during the year?
How would you maintain and improve standards?
(I replied expactations and they asked me about planning too, so I talked about LOs and always know where you want the children to be in the future and not just for that lesson etc)
What are your key skills/subjects?
Would you be willing to take on extra curricular roles?
Give us three words the children in your class might use to describe you (this was the hardest! I replied: exciting (as they actually had said that twice this week), nice (NICE?!?!? what was I thinking) and happy.
What do you percieve the form tutor role to be?
School council interview questions:
If you had an emotional child in your class what would you do?
If someone started really kicking off and throwing chairs around, what would you do?
If someone had an illness in your class what would you do (much discussion about a girl with diabetes being allowed to eat in class because of her illness)
What other schools have you taught in?
How do you make lessons interesting?
Do you use drama in lessons?
Why do you want to be a teacher?
Friday 25 April 2008
Final term...
Well, here we are. Final term. It's all hotting up now!
Jobs have started being advertised in the last couple of weeks and more and more are appearing all the time. I've applied to three and am waiting to hear about them (nail biting stuff!).
This week I taught about 2 full days and next week I'm teaching about 3.5 full days. The week after I begin my 6 week block (with a half term in the middle) of teaching a full 90% timetable - scary!!
Had a really rough day on tuesday (kids had been playing up for everyone and I went down hard on them, which was stressful - makes you wonder if you're doing the right thing going into teaching, but yesterday and today were much better and I'm bouncing and happy. It really is a roller coaster!
I'm feeling so much more like a teacher now -not sticking rigidly to plans, able to adapt - revamping Golden Time, starting new things in school like Podcasting and blogging. I can't wait to get my own class now, although my class teacher is fantastic and just walks out the room when I'm teaching (unless I've requested her to be about to help with something) so I'm doing it properly on my own, which is great.
Getting on top of planning now, but paperwork for standards and getting assignments done is a pig! Can't wait for the course to finish but am still loving it.
Watched a play at school today called 'Captain Chloresterol' which isn't something that happens in the majority of jobs!
Jobs have started being advertised in the last couple of weeks and more and more are appearing all the time. I've applied to three and am waiting to hear about them (nail biting stuff!).
This week I taught about 2 full days and next week I'm teaching about 3.5 full days. The week after I begin my 6 week block (with a half term in the middle) of teaching a full 90% timetable - scary!!
Had a really rough day on tuesday (kids had been playing up for everyone and I went down hard on them, which was stressful - makes you wonder if you're doing the right thing going into teaching, but yesterday and today were much better and I'm bouncing and happy. It really is a roller coaster!
I'm feeling so much more like a teacher now -not sticking rigidly to plans, able to adapt - revamping Golden Time, starting new things in school like Podcasting and blogging. I can't wait to get my own class now, although my class teacher is fantastic and just walks out the room when I'm teaching (unless I've requested her to be about to help with something) so I'm doing it properly on my own, which is great.
Getting on top of planning now, but paperwork for standards and getting assignments done is a pig! Can't wait for the course to finish but am still loving it.
Watched a play at school today called 'Captain Chloresterol' which isn't something that happens in the majority of jobs!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)