sciencemayday-blog

[sciencemayday-blog]

I’ve just started my second week of teacher training. So far it’s all been based around the buzz words ‘Inclusion’ and ‘Differentiation’

I’ve written more in the last 6 days than I probably did in the first month of my Bio-Medical science degree and there are more acronyms than stars in the sky.

I’m being given booklets left, right and centre and most of them confuse me the more I look at them, so for now I’m ignoring them (which I’m sure will prove silly in a couple of weeks time)

At the minute I'm finding it quite difficult as all this information is so overwhelming. I know we need to learn about the children and how to engage them but there is part of me that yearns for the simple comfort of learning something based in facts, something with a basic ‘Then, now, later’ approach as opposed to all the intricacies and convolution in a topic like ‘Childhood Behaviour’

After learning that 38% of NQTs drop out in their first year I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who has mixed feelings. I am determined to finish my course and be the best damned science teacher out there but I’m vindicated knowing that before they could run others had trouble walking too.

Actually being in my placement school begins next week. At the moment I’m absolutely terrified but I’m sure that once I’m in the school things will start falling into place and I’ll settle in just fine.

So far I don’t feel like I’m really helping anyone but knowing other struggle helps me to not feel so weak and helpless.

If you are doing a PGCE/Teacher Training just know that everyone finds it hard at first. Everyone I’ve spoken to has agreed with that there is a hell of a lot of information coming at you from all sides and it can feel like you’re drowning in the acronyms and booklets without little context in which to sort them. Hopefully it gets easier. I have many older friends who are experienced teachers and they assure me that it does. That it soon becomes second nature and that lesson planning (which can take up to 10hrs per day at first) becomes as easy as writing your own name.

It’s ok to make mistakes. It’s how we learn. Just focus on the positives, learn from the negatives, pick yourself up and move on