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PGCE - Current Students Thread

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Original post by Airfairy
Interesting, I didn't think that would be the reason. Surely if you were actually in prison, that would show up on a DBS, so you can't lie about that anyway?

Thanks for the advice though. I sent it off yesterday and my family and friends told me not to tell the truth...so I didn't :ninja: .



You sound like you have made your mind up really. I don't think anyone is going to be able to convince you to carry on. I guess you just need to decide if you want to carry on in September.

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Apparently they also look for signs of what a school might deem 'risky behaviour' including where you have travelled etc. Seems crazy but that's what I was told.
Original post by alabelle
Apparently they also look for signs of what a school might deem 'risky behaviour' including where you have travelled etc. Seems crazy but that's what I was told.


Wow. That's annoying for me because I spent most of that year doing pretty much nothing... that looks risky haha.
Has anyone worked with a teacher who doesn't do any AfL at all? My teacher is lovely and her class is so well run, but she doesn't introduce learning objectives and her plenaries consist of telling the kids to button up their coats :tongue:

I'm a bit nervous about trying to introduce it all without stepping on her toes!
Original post by peony flowers
Has anyone worked with a teacher who doesn't do any AfL at all? My teacher is lovely and her class is so well run, but she doesn't introduce learning objectives and her plenaries consist of telling the kids to button up their coats :tongue:

I'm a bit nervous about trying to introduce it all without stepping on her toes!


Experienced teachers often don't do all the hoop-jumping (or rather, don't feel the need to make it explicit to an observer).

They should understand that you are expected to do it for your training and not feel like you're stepping on their toes at all.

My 2nd placement school was like that - I never came across objectives except from me and there were no obvious starters/plenaries. But it was a lovely school and the teachers did know how their pupils were doing.

From talking to colleagues now, barely any of us do plenaries any more anyway. Not at the end of the lesson, at least. The pattern of my lessons is often:
-Starter activity (recapping from a previous lesson or pupils working out something new)
-Introducing some new content
-Pupils practise new content for a bit
-Whole class activity to check understanding (ie: plenary)
-Longer activity for pupils to learn what they have used.

I don't tend to do a plenary after that longer activity - I've checked pupil understanding before the activity so I know pupils are ready to get on with the task. And then I check how the main task has gone by circulating while they're working and by marking their books.

Your mentor should understand that you have to do things a certain way while you're training - once you've been teaching a little longer you will start to find your own style and decide which of the hoops are worth jumping through and which do not suit your classes and teaching style.
Original post by peony flowers
Has anyone worked with a teacher who doesn't do any AfL at all? My teacher is lovely and her class is so well run, but she doesn't introduce learning objectives and her plenaries consist of telling the kids to button up their coats :tongue:

I'm a bit nervous about trying to introduce it all without stepping on her toes!

I'm afraid that's because she is a real teacher! You will have to do it by the book, but one day, you will be able to dump all the Ofsted crap and do it for real!
Original post by myrtille
Experienced teachers often don't do all the hoop-jumping (or rather, don't feel the need to make it explicit to an observer).

They should understand that you are expected to do it for your training and not feel like you're stepping on their toes at all.

My 2nd placement school was like that - I never came across objectives except from me and there were no obvious starters/plenaries. But it was a lovely school and the teachers did know how their pupils were doing.

From talking to colleagues now, barely any of us do plenaries any more anyway. Not at the end of the lesson, at least. The pattern of my lessons is often:
-Starter activity (recapping from a previous lesson or pupils working out something new)
-Introducing some new content
-Pupils practise new content for a bit
-Whole class activity to check understanding (ie: plenary)
-Longer activity for pupils to learn what they have used.

I don't tend to do a plenary after that longer activity - I've checked pupil understanding before the activity so I know pupils are ready to get on with the task. And then I check how the main task has gone by circulating while they're working and by marking their books.

Your mentor should understand that you have to do things a certain way while you're training - once you've been teaching a little longer you will start to find your own style and decide which of the hoops are worth jumping through and which do not suit your classes and teaching style.


Thanks for that! (Carnationlilyrose too). I want to do so much that she doesn't, so I think starting small is the way forward.
Would you guys add a starter and a plenary to a unit evaluation class? They'll have a worksheet to work through but we've had it drilled into us that a starter and plenary are the most important thing in the world ever. And I get punished for pupils doing an activity for more than 10 minutes at a time. Quite annoying in a hands on subject!

I think I need a mental health day tomorrow but I'm due to have a folder check/tutorial in the morning and I'm really worried that it'll piss my uni mentor off :frown: Feeling extremely delicate but then I'm feeling absolutely fine when planning school stuff and teaching lessons. It's just the time when I'm not doing that that I slump.
Original post by ParadoxSocks
Would you guys add a starter and a plenary to a unit evaluation class? They'll have a worksheet to work through but we've had it drilled into us that a starter and plenary are the most important thing in the world ever. And I get punished for pupils doing an activity for more than 10 minutes at a time. Quite annoying in a hands on subject!

I think I need a mental health day tomorrow but I'm due to have a folder check/tutorial in the morning and I'm really worried that it'll piss my uni mentor off :frown: Feeling extremely delicate but then I'm feeling absolutely fine when planning school stuff and teaching lessons. It's just the time when I'm not doing that that I slump.


I can answer this differently... would I add one if being observed? yes. would I add one if not being observed? no. The amount of things I do just because I am being observed is quite bad :colondollar: . But yeah I hate how important starters and plenaries seem to be, because sometimes they don't seem to fit well and to agree with peony flowers, a lot of teachers I've observed don't follow the typical three step starter-main-plenary structure. I've hardly seen any plenaries!

Can I ask - what is a mental health day? I know what you mean by the way. I am always worse when I am doing nothing :/
Original post by Airfairy
I can answer this differently... would I add one if being observed? yes. would I add one if not being observed? no. The amount of things I do just because I am being observed is quite bad :colondollar: . But yeah I hate how important starters and plenaries seem to be, because sometimes they don't seem to fit well and to agree with peony flowers, a lot of teachers I've observed don't follow the typical three step starter-main-plenary structure. I've hardly seen any plenaries!

Can I ask - what is a mental health day? I know what you mean by the way. I am always worse when I am doing nothing :/


I just don't understand the point of them if they're forced and awkward and eat into actual learning time. I throw in AfL all over the place with mini-plenaries but I just don't get on with standard end-of-lesson plenaries.

I'm supposed to be at uni tomorrow but I have a mental health condition registered with the uni so I can call time-out and miss the day if I need to. I have perfect attendance with both of my placements but uni really affects my ability to think like a rational human being so sometimes it's just better to work from home. It doesn't help that it's a two hour commute both ways either.
Original post by ParadoxSocks
I just don't understand the point of them if they're forced and awkward and eat into actual learning time. I throw in AfL all over the place with mini-plenaries but I just don't get on with standard end-of-lesson plenaries.

I'm supposed to be at uni tomorrow but I have a mental health condition registered with the uni so I can call time-out and miss the day if I need to. I have perfect attendance with both of my placements but uni really affects my ability to think like a rational human being so sometimes it's just better to work from home. It doesn't help that it's a two hour commute both ways either.


Oh that's interesting to hear. I have mental health issues and during my undergrad I had it registered and received DSA, but never had the option for anything like that.

I've missed quite a few uni days in the PGCE due to mental health, so I know where you are coming from. Sounds like a good policy. Surely if you have the right to do that, your uni mentor should understand?
Original post by Airfairy
Oh that's interesting to hear. I have mental health issues and during my undergrad I had it registered and received DSA, but never had the option for anything like that.

I've missed quite a few uni days in the PGCE due to mental health, so I know where you are coming from. Sounds like a good policy. Surely if you have the right to do that, your uni mentor should understand?


It should come through with your DSA. Mine just says to make allowances for days off and provide opportunities and support to catch up with the work.

I still feel dreadful when I do it though. I just find uni days incredibly tiring and so long. 9 until 5 plus two hours travel either way is exhausting and it really puts a downer on the rest of the week when I'm tired. Going to figure out a way of showing that I've done all of work required for tomorrow (can't exactly send in one of my folders though :/) and just take it easy. I don't think we have another in uni day for weeks though.
I'm really worried at the moment. I had an operation for something last Monday. It hasn't worked. It was the last option for me, and now I am worried I'm not going to be able to teach. It leaves me wondering what the point of the whole thing is, if I'm not going to be able to get a job anyway.


Original post by ParadoxSocks
It should come through with your DSA. Mine just says to make allowances for days off and provide opportunities and support to catch up with the work.

I still feel dreadful when I do it though. I just find uni days incredibly tiring and so long. 9 until 5 plus two hours travel either way is exhausting and it really puts a downer on the rest of the week when I'm tired. Going to figure out a way of showing that I've done all of work required for tomorrow (can't exactly send in one of my folders though :/) and just take it easy. I don't think we have another in uni day for weeks though.

I didn't reapply for DSA for the PGCE, but my uni know about it. I just didn't want to go through the process again. But we have pretty much finished the uni days too now, so that's good.

A two hour commute on a uni day would drain me. I have a 45 min journey and I hate that!
Original post by Airfairy
I'm really worried at the moment. I had an operation for something last Monday. It hasn't worked. It was the last option for me, and now I am worried I'm not going to be able to teach. It leaves me wondering what the point of the whole thing is, if I'm not going to be able to get a job anyway.



I didn't reapply for DSA for the PGCE, but my uni know about it. I just didn't want to go through the process again. But we have pretty much finished the uni days too now, so that's good.

A two hour commute on a uni day would drain me. I have a 45 min journey and I hate that!


Hope you're ok

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Original post by Airfairy
I'm really worried at the moment. I had an operation for something last Monday. It hasn't worked. It was the last option for me, and now I am worried I'm not going to be able to teach. It leaves me wondering what the point of the whole thing is, if I'm not going to be able to get a job anyway.


Oh no. I'm so sorry. Is there a chance that it's still early days and it'll get better? Even if it doesn't, you're so so close to finishing. You can definitely do it and you'll get a job somewhere.

:hugs:


Original post by sunfowers01
Hope you're ok

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Thanks :smile: :hugs:

Original post by peony flowers
Oh no. I'm so sorry. Is there a chance that it's still early days and it'll get better? Even if it doesn't, you're so so close to finishing. You can definitely do it and you'll get a job somewhere.

:hugs:



Well I may as well just say what it is, because it is hard to explain without saying! But I have an overactive bladder and I've had it since I was a child. It has been getting worse every year, and there were a couple of times on my first placement that I found it very uncomfortable because I needed the toilet in the middle of lesson. By the end I literally couldn't walk as I had my legs crossed! Not ideal. Since it seems to be getting worse every year, I am thinking that there will be a time that I can't last an hour lesson without needing it. As you'll know, I can't leave a lesson to go to the toilet, so it pretty much ruins the whole career for me :frown:

I definitely want to finish the course, but I fear that may be as far as I can go like this :/
Comforting myself by putting together a lovely teachers planner. Anyone else find crafting and organisation makes you feel better?

Original post by Airfairy
Thanks :smile: :hugs:


Well I may as well just say what it is, because it is hard to explain without saying! But I have an overactive bladder and I've had it since I was a child. It has been getting worse every year, and there were a couple of times on my first placement that I found it very uncomfortable because I needed the toilet in the middle of lesson. By the end I literally couldn't walk as I had my legs crossed! Not ideal. Since it seems to be getting worse every year, I am thinking that there will be a time that I can't last an hour lesson without needing it. As you'll know, I can't leave a lesson to go to the toilet, so it pretty much ruins the whole career for me :frown:

I definitely want to finish the course, but I fear that may be as far as I can go like this :/


Is there anyone you can contact about it for advice? There must be methods of at least minimising the impact so don't give up *huge hugs*
Original post by Airfairy
Thanks :smile: :hugs:


Well I may as well just say what it is, because it is hard to explain without saying! But I have an overactive bladder and I've had it since I was a child. It has been getting worse every year, and there were a couple of times on my first placement that I found it very uncomfortable because I needed the toilet in the middle of lesson. By the end I literally couldn't walk as I had my legs crossed! Not ideal. Since it seems to be getting worse every year, I am thinking that there will be a time that I can't last an hour lesson without needing it. As you'll know, I can't leave a lesson to go to the toilet, so it pretty much ruins the whole career for me :frown:

I definitely want to finish the course, but I fear that may be as far as I can go like this :/


Have you done a quick google search for something like 'teaching with an overactive bladder.' I'm sure you're not as unique a case as you might think! Also have a look for teaching with IBS - I have neither of those things so I can't put myself in your shoes but, I imagine IBS sometimes has a similar effect on people and there must be teachers who have to deal with it!

As you're training, it might be worth mentioning to your mentor/school/class teacher and so if you need to leave the lesson, you can give some kind of hand signal and be excused from the classroom...

I'm sorry to hear your op hasn't worked :frown:
Original post by ParadoxSocks
Comforting myself by putting together a lovely teachers planner. Anyone else find crafting and organisation makes you feel better?



Is there anyone you can contact about it for advice? There must be methods of at least minimising the impact so don't give up *huge hugs*


I dunno who to talk to for advice. I might talk to my uni tutor about it, that's what they are there for after all. We shall see!

Original post by Samus2
Have you done a quick google search for something like 'teaching with an overactive bladder.' I'm sure you're not as unique a case as you might think! Also have a look for teaching with IBS - I have neither of those things so I can't put myself in your shoes but, I imagine IBS sometimes has a similar effect on people and there must be teachers who have to deal with it!

As you're training, it might be worth mentioning to your mentor/school/class teacher and so if you need to leave the lesson, you can give some kind of hand signal and be excused from the classroom...

I'm sorry to hear your op hasn't worked :frown:


I haven't actually googled about teaching with it at all. Good idea with the IBS thing too. I will look into it. I'm trying to avoid telling my school about it. I've been off because of this op but they don't know what for. I don't know them to think I'm a special case. I don't want them to do anything that wouldn't be allowed once I got a job... :/ I guess I'm just stubborn.

I will have a google now. Who knows. Thanks.
Original post by Carnationlilyrose
I'm afraid that's because she is a real teacher! You will have to do it by the book, but one day, you will be able to dump all the Ofsted crap and do it for real!


As an experienced teacher, I hope you don't mind me asking this.. (if anyone else has any input please feel free)

With interview lessons, should I follow the same 3 part structure that I'm currently using in my PGCE?

I did it for my first interview lesson but because it was only half an hour, I felt like I didn't have enough time for my main task :/

I've got another interview next week with a half hour lesson again (on something where I have a major subject knowledge gap!) and I'm unsure whether or not to go for a starter/main/plenary...
Original post by Samus2
As an experienced teacher, I hope you don't mind me asking this.. (if anyone else has any input please feel free)

With interview lessons, should I follow the same 3 part structure that I'm currently using in my PGCE?

I did it for my first interview lesson but because it was only half an hour, I felt like I didn't have enough time for my main task :/

I've got another interview next week with a half hour lesson again (on something where I have a major subject knowledge gap!) and I'm unsure whether or not to go for a starter/main/plenary...


To go off what our uni have drilled into us, we've been told to absolutely follow the 3 part structure. Others may have been told differently though :dontknow: .

I did a mock 20 min lesson at uni the other day and they made us do it in 3 parts, despite the feeling that you don't have much time.

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