Application advice - the interview

I'm not going to lie, the interviews are daunting but I found them a lot better than previous job interviews. All my questions were related to teaching and so generally it was on topics I was comfortable on. What's more is they didn't put any trick questions in. From what I can remember, the types of questions I was asked were: How does your degree fit into teaching? What made you decide to choose teaching? Lots of people drop out of a pgce because of the workload, how do you think you will be able to cope? What topics were the teachers talking about in the staff room during your work experience? What are the current issues surround teaching? What age group would you prefer? What do you think your subject specialism will be? What did you work from your school experience?

Application advice - the cover letter

That time of year has come around again and so good luck to all those doing their application to get on a pgce next year. To help you out I thought I would give some tips from my experience when I was going through the whole process. Firstly, apply early! I was stupid enough to leave it until deadline day and create a nervous four month wait to find out if I had a place, whilst others on my course applied now and already had a place by the time I submitted my form. As for the actual letter, I found that the main thing moderators wanted was to hear about your school based experience and how you could take what you learnt to help you next year. Especially on the interview, they were far more interested in the two weeks classroom experience I had, rather than the three years of outer class experience I had. The other Important aspect was how your degree subject fits into the pgce and what you have done during your time at university that shows you want to become a teacher. But remember the key point is to write it well, I spent over a week perfecting mine, which paid off in the end. Hundreds of people apply for each post so make sure your application looks like time has been spent on it. If you have any further questions about my experience I will be happy to help.

Dare I say it - the work is fun

Since starting my course two weeks ago there has rarely been a night without work but as I look back, I don't think there has been a single moment where I was bored.
It is completely different to studying for a degree as everything seems to be relevant and highly useful for the job.
No longer is it learning for the sake of getting a degree, it is learning to be the best teacher you can and if that means reading book after book of QTS standards then so be it.
I always find my mind wondering to how I can use this new found knowledge into my teaching and  that can only be a good thing.
Add this to the enjoyment and variation of being in class and a PGCE doesn't look quite so daunting after all.

Settling in with more responsibilities

After a week of settling into the school it is nice to be given an increased amount of responsibility and now I am leading groups and the class in small activities.
Today saw me lead my first guided reading session which was great (I think) and I have already led the class story and morning work.
Being given the responsibility always gives me that added bit of confidence, somehow I seem to thrive when I am in charge.
I feel like it is my lesson so I can stamp my authority onto it and get misbehaving children back into line, whereas when observing, it feels somewhat like interrupting the class teacher if you spot a pupil talking or not listening.
I'm sure they don't mind but confidence to discipline away from my lessons is definitely something I need to work on.

The challenge of differentiation

It has been drilled into every session we have had that differentiation in classroom lessons is so important but until today I didn't see quite how hard that can be.
It didn't occur to me that the difference in ability could be so vast in one class, which has for the most part had the same school experience as everybody else.
There is some people in the class who can barely string a sentence together, whilst others are forming exciting sentences that amaze me when I see them.
It is almost like making a lesson which includes a standard Year 1 child, whilst at the same time including a standard Year 6 child.
Making three different worksheets is one thing but making it so they all learn every lesson is perhaps going to be the hardest thing to achieve this year.

BIg tip - listen to the Every Child Matters lecture

It was late in the day and my brain had already been overloaded with information so when it came to the Every Child Matters lecture I just switched off, thinking it wouldn't be too influential.
Big mistake!
Near enough every piece of work has some reference to the document and so I am now having to do the added work of reading through the whole document to catch up.
It might not be too long but it takes the time to read and remember it, which is much harder than just listening in a lecture, where the information somehow is retained longer.
So my Sunday evening is going to consist of hard work that I could have got away with.
Trust me, that is not a good feeling, especially when free time is so valuable on a course like this.

One study day just isn't enough

Thursday night seemed brilliant, I had a whole study day to do all my work and have a nice relaxing weekend.
But that dream lasted all of 24 hours, until Friday night came and there was still so much work to do.
So my weekend is fast turning into two days of work and it is only week one.
The way my course is set up is the work is split into 39 weeks, I am just praying they have split it evenly and not let us begin slowly because if that is the case, it will be a very hard year to come!
It's not all bad though, I made time to watch England in the rugby world cup and have put aside this evening to watch Andy Murray so I do get some break :)