[Sarah S]

We've just had a long discussion about the fact that we'll be teaching concepts, not skills, but I won't go into that now!

Hope everyone's had a good couple of days. We had a surprise 'test' this morning and had half an hour to write a history of Britain from c.1000 - present. That caused a few concerned looks! I'm really enjoying it so far, although I'm shattered and totally confused about a lot of stuff - they've told us to expect that though.

First day in school is October 3rd - can't wait!

[Paul J]

Sarah,

Reading between the lines (talk about concepts and the 1000 year test) i'm guessing you are at the IOE? If so i think its to be expected to be confused at this stage, i certainly was. The theory becomes far clearer when you are in the classroom.

good luck for the year.

Paul

[Chris Garratt]

Sarah S, on Sep 18 2007, 04:38 PM, said:

Hope everyone's had a good couple of days. We had a surprise 'test' this morning and had half an hour to write a history of Britain from c.1000 - present. That caused a few concerned looks!

This sort of thing drives me crazy. I know it's good for trainees to be put under pressure but what's the point? Hold literally zero stock to this stuff. Get in the classroom. Only then will you know if you're cut out for the job (and only then after quite a bit of time). I trained at Aber under Elinor M. - she was great, none of this rubbish!

This post has been edited by Chris Garratt: 18 September 2007 - 06:36 PM

[Sarah S]

Paul - yes, I am at IoE! Thanks for the encouragement. I'm glad that the fog cleared for you, fingers crossed I'll understand one day

Chris - I have to say that I found it really useful to be honest, even though I thought it was a horrible task at first. It made me more aware of the gaps in my subject knowledge, but I managed to write a fair bit so that was a bit of a confidence boost. It was anonymous too, so no worries about being kicked off for being rubbish!

Today was great. had a lecture on teaching in London which was good, and then a fab lecture by Terry Hadyn, who is the first person I've heard in a while who talks properly (ie not in a Southern accent!)

This post has been edited by Sarah S: 19 September 2007 - 04:41 PM

[Victoria G]

Sarah S, on Sep 19 2007, 05:41 PM, said:

Paul - yes, I am at IoE! Thanks for the encouragement. I'm glad that the fog cleared for you, fingers crossed I'll understand one day

Chris - I have to say that I found it really useful to be honest, even though I thought it was a horrible task at first. It made me more aware of the gaps in my subject knowledge, but I managed to write a fair bit so that was a bit of a confidence boost. It was anonymous too, so no worries about being kicked off for being rubbish!

Today was great. had a lecture on teaching in London which was good, and then a fab lecture by Terry Hadyn, who is the first person I've heard in a while who talks properly (ie not in a Southern accent!)

Aha so thats where Terry has gone! He is our course director at UEA (Norwich) and he said he would be away.
Hello to everyone, im having a brill first week, we even get to go to a museum of our choice tomorro!
Don't worry about not knowing too much, we were asked to name all the kings and queens from 1066 to the present. Our group only managed because we had a nifty ruler with all the names and dates on!! Fortunately our group saw the funny side of it when we started to reel off names and dates, seemingly from memory! I've started a post on subject knowledge, im hoping anyone who finds a good book, site, video or just has any hints and tips can help each other out there. xxxx

[Sarah S]

Victoria G, on Sep 20 2007, 04:57 PM, said:

Aha so thats where Terry has gone! He is our course director at UEA (Norwich) and he said he would be away.
Hello to everyone, im having a brill first week, we even get to go to a museum of our choice tomorro!
Don't worry about not knowing too much, we were asked to name all the kings and queens from 1066 to the present. Our group only managed because we had a nifty ruler with all the names and dates on!! Fortunately our group saw the funny side of it when we started to reel off names and dates, seemingly from memory! I've started a post on subject knowledge, im hoping anyone who finds a good book, site, video or just has any hints and tips can help each other out there. xxxx

Tell him I thought he was ace! My dad grew up where he used to teach, and I had to stop myself from laughing too loud when he was making jokes about Southern Cemetery...

[Sally Thorne]

Agreeing with the subject knowledge thing. I have yet to mentor a trainee that hasn't been in a panic about their subject knowledge; personally, I considered not turning up to the first day of my PGCE because my degree was in east European History and I didn't even know what century the Civil War was in! But, it doesn't take a lot to seem an expert. The kids' textbooks are a good place to start. I also read Schama's History of Britain - I am terrible at getting through non-fiction books but these are quite yarn-like and readable (however irritating I find him!)

Seconding Doug's recommendation of the Teacher's Toolkit, I bought it at the end of my PGCE 4 years ago and still dip into it regularly. This place is a total goldmine, too

[Debra]

I'm also doing my PGCE at the IOE. It was a tough first week and, if I'm honest, a lot of our talks have me left me a bit confused. I'm sure everything will become clearer when we're in the classroom though. All we need to know now is where we're going!

[Carl Fazackerley]

Hard to believe that it is two years ago, but at the end of my first week of the PGCE I nearly chucked it all in. Everything was so overwhelming and the process seemed like such a mountain that I had no concept of how I was going to get from where I was at to where I was going to need to be. What I discovered very quickly is that although it seemed like an insurmountable obstacle, a lot of the process took care of itself, and that if you stuck to the deadlines it built up and you were there without realising it.

***********

Edited because I seem unable to type coherently tonight!

This post has been edited by Carl Fazackerley: 23 September 2007 - 07:01 PM

[Debra]

[quote name='Carl Fazackerley' date='Sep 23 2007, 07:56 PM' post='67949']
Hard to believe that it is two years ago, but at the end of my first week of the PGCE I nearly chucked it all in. Everything was so overwhelming and the process seemed like such a mountain that I had no concept of how I was going to get from where I was at to where I was going to need to be. What I discovered very quickly is that although it seemed like an insurmountable obstacle, a lot of the process took care of itself, and that if you stuck to the deadlines it built up and you were there without realising it.

That's good advice. We already have so many deadlines looking, but I am doing my best to stick to a 'homework' plan. The history department have also issued us with a very detailed timetable that more or less tells you when to do each task, so I just need to follow their advice and I should be fine!

[Carl Fazackerley]

You will be fine. Just remember if they didn't think you were capable of doing it then they wouldn't have offered you a place. And also if you didn't think you could do it you wouldn't have applied!

[vickymahoney]

Hello I thought it was about time I posted on here, after reading so much good advice. I'm just about to start my second week. I must admit on my first day I felt totally overwhelmed with all the information I was being given and wondered how on earth I was going to cope. But now I'm calmer and looking forward to my Primary school visit. I just found out my placement school and its a good one so I'm happy but we don't start there until 8th October.

Well thats all for now and I'm sure I'll post again soon when I'm in need of sound advice.

Vicky

[andrewhemel]

This thread has gone a bit quiet so I thought I'd bring it back to life with a plea. As part of the course we have to do peer-teaching where every week we teach a topic for 15 minutes. So far its been going well but I've volunteered to do missionaries (1750-1900) and I don't really know where to start - much less make an interesting short lesson from it. Has anyone got any suggestions?

Thanks in advanced!

[Carl Fazackerley]

Andrew I remember these Peer Teaching sessions being a nightmare to think about topics as well! Really the most important thing with the weekly slots is to try something a bit different. I found role plays were often great fun! Perhaps you could try something based around the discovery of the causes of Cholera and the Broad Street pump. You might also try a role play on the Conditions During the Middle Passage.

[Sarah S]

Seeing as it's half term and I feel like I can breathe again, thought I best post!

Everything's going well so far, but I really wasn't expecting to be this tired! I've only really been online to check emails and search for ideas - the site's been very helpful so far! Hope everyone else is coping ok so far.

I love school - it can be a bit scary at times, especially when I walked round a corner into a huge fight, but the kids are lovely on the whole, even though they never seem to shut up!

I am really enjoying reading up on different bits and pieces of history that I've never studied before - not sure when I'll get the chance to do that again! I've done lots and lots of observations, onto starters after half term! Can't wait

Now, back to the essay....

This post has been edited by Sarah S: 16 November 2007 - 05:09 PM