PGCE - Current Students Thread

what happened?

What happened? I can definitely sympathise and was in exactly the same place in terms of considering quitting at about the same time in my training year so don't rush into any quick decisions because of one bad day.

Since none of us knows the circumstances you're in, we can't say if you're right or not, but I can say with absolute cast iron, copper-bottomed certainty that there isn't a PGCE student in the country who hasn't felt this at some point, and any teacher who claims not to have been there is lying. It's a hugely stressful job and we all get to breaking point sometimes. I've been teaching for 28 years and I now work in a school where the kids are as soft as butter, but even now I can recall the agony of some of my early lessons. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof - start again tomorrow. Don't dwell on it; chances are the kids won't.

Thanks guys.

I taught my first lesson and there were so many areas I have to work on that I felt completely overwhelmed. The children didn't really listen to me as the teacher, settling them down at the start and during transitions was really difficult. Plus, one pupil arrived back after a four week trip to Hong Kong, and he just sat there and shouted "who are you anyway" when I tried to start the lesson! I also lost track of time and ended up failing to do the plenary.

My teacher was really nice about it. She said that sorting out the timings is one issue most teachers/students have to work on - I've been in school nearly 2 weeks now and I haven't seen her do a starter or a plenary yet, because she said she hasn't had time to fit them in.

I just felt overwhelmed. I hate doing a bad job at anything - I knew it wouldn't be perfect, of course, but I just felt out of my depth.

I looked after the class for an hour in the afternoon, which was a bit more successful. I wasn't teaching a lesson but rather supervising some work set by the teacher. Then I had to gather the children and read a story [the teacher wants them to get into the habit before we read Pharaoh in the Bath as a class novel next term]. I used a couple of tips the teacher gave me after my lesson and they seemed to work reasonably well. Everyone listened to the story and gathered their belongings to line up for home time without too much fuss.



I have to plan the two lessons I am doing on Monday tonight, as my teacher wants to check over the plans tomorrow. I suppose that will be the test - if I can do a better job of them. I really don't think I can do a worse job lol.

Feeling overwhelmed is totally normal, and from your description the things that happen sound completely usual, especially for a first lesson. Those things can easily be remedied and they *are* things that are normal, even for people have been teaching for years! Don't panic

Hooray for lying awake at night and thinking, "In less than a year, I will be in sole charge of the education of 30 children at a very formative time for an entire year. Argh."

Hooray for lying awake at night and thinking, "In less than a year, I will be in sole charge of the education of 30 children at a very formative time for an entire year. Argh."

This is how I feel. Only I am expected to teach Norwegian children to read in Norwegian. Lol.

Please tell me you actually speak/read Norwegian.

To an extent...I moved here just over a year ago so I'm not 100% fluent yet. I can read and write better than 6 year olds though

Reached breaking point today. Ended up crying about five times. :/

Really not sure this is this right for me. :/

My teacher told me to make greater use of the computer during my lessons, so I've planned two lessons for Monday which use the computer and some animations etc. Today, I walked in to find the overhead projector has been removed! My teacher said she thinks it might possibly be back by Monday, but that she isn't sure. It is not her fault, of course, but it is very frustrating. Now I've got to replan my lessons to remove the ICT elements and make sure everything I plan can be done with just a normal white board.
I think the main frustration comes from the fact she told me to plan two lessons last night [she didn't know what they were going to be on topic wise until the afternoon] for her to check this morning, so I spent ages on them last night after the disaster of my first lesson. And, now I am going to have to redo them both because of this ICT glitch. *headache begins*


Other than that, things have been okay. Just okay lol. The children are starting to see me more as a teacher [rather than an assistant] but I still need to work on throwing my voice. Getting the attention of the entire class when they are rushing about shouting and fussing is still be mastered. :/

My teacher told me to make greater use of the computer during my lessons, so I've planned two lessons for Monday which use the computer and some animations etc. Today, I walked in to find the overhead projector has been removed! My teacher said she thinks it might possibly be back by Monday, but that she isn't sure. It is not her fault, of course, but it is very frustrating. Now I've got to replan my lessons to remove the ICT elements and make sure everything I plan can be done with just a normal white board.
I think the main frustration comes from the fact she told me to plan two lessons last night [she didn't know what they were going to be on topic wise until the afternoon] for her to check this morning, so I spent ages on them last night after the disaster of my first lesson. And, now I am going to have to redo them both because of this ICT glitch. *headache begins*


Other than that, things have been okay. Just okay lol. The children are starting to see me more as a teacher [rather than an assistant] but I still need to work on throwing my voice. Getting the attention of the entire class when they are rushing about shouting and fussing is still be mastered. :/

My teacher told me to make greater use of the computer during my lessons, so I've planned two lessons for Monday which use the computer and some animations etc. Today, I walked in to find the overhead projector has been removed! My teacher said she thinks it might possibly be back by Monday, but that she isn't sure. It is not her fault, of course, but it is very frustrating. Now I've got to replan my lessons to remove the ICT elements and make sure everything I plan can be done with just a normal white board.
I think the main frustration comes from the fact she told me to plan two lessons last night [she didn't know what they were going to be on topic wise until the afternoon] for her to check this morning, so I spent ages on them last night after the disaster of my first lesson. And, now I am going to have to redo them both because of this ICT glitch. *headache begins*


Other than that, things have been okay. Just okay lol. The children are starting to see me more as a teacher [rather than an assistant] but I still need to work on throwing my voice. Getting the attention of the entire class when they are rushing about shouting and fussing is still be mastered. :/

Just a bit of advice for interviews - whatever they say they've got in the classroom, assume it won't be there or working on the day of your interview. I was in on an interview recently where the candidate had what looked like a brilliant lesson prepared, but the computer wouldn't work (sadly all too common irl) and she just fell to pieces. She lost the job because she couldn't cope with the unexpected. Make sure you have a backup plan. A good teacher can teach without anything at all, so make sure you're ready to prove this if it all goes pear-shaped.