Settling in

If it's not customers opening their hearts to me, it's kids chatting to me about being 'lifted', having a brother who's 'mental', shooting seagulls and taking cannabis, all of which I feel singularly ill-equipped to comment on! I was asked to take an S4 boy away today to help him write an essay, and he seemed to think this was an excellent opportunity to tell me his life story. Perhaps I shouldn't have suggested that he could get some ideas for the plot of his short story by drawing on his own experiences...

I am teaching my first class of this placement period one tomorrow, and of course am rather nervous about it, especially as the teacher is going to go off and leave me to it. The PT at my last school would not let the students be alone in the classroom, insisting there was a qualified teacher there at all times. In some ways I would rather have the comfort of having the teacher there, but of course I'm not going to have that in August (assuming I get that far!), so I suppose the sooner I am flying solo, the better.

Anyway, lesson plans to be finished, seating plans to be looked at, floors to be paced...

This wasn't in the job description

Nothing to do with teaching, but yesterday was rather stressful in more ways than one!

Friday's lecture and tutorial were based round PSE / PSD (Social Education, as was), and stressed that we are teachers not of subjects but of children, and as such have a role to play in the personal and moral education of young people. I am happy with the concept of that (even if there are things I wouldn't be entirely comfortable talking about!), but was rather less happy to be placed in the role of counsellor yesterday at my work. Working in a bank, it wasn't the first time I had had to deal with a cutomer's tears, but usually when they cry it's because you won't give them money. I can cope with that, but had no idea how to react yesterday when an extremely drunk customer started telling me, through tears and snotters and while a long queue built up behind him, the sad tale of how his partner had dumped him after many years together. I really didn't know what to do; as a teacher, I would be quite happy to speak to my pupils about any personal problems they were having, but as a bank teller, I felt rather ill-equipped. My main emotion when the poor man finally weaved his way back out was relief, but I couldn't get him out of my mind all day. I hope he's OK!

The day's trauma wasn't over when I got out of work, as my friend had phoned me to ask if I wanted to help her buy a new pair of jeans. The honest answer would have been "No! Are you mad?", but I said I would meet her in the hell-on-earth that is the Buchanan Galleries, and several hours, many shops and much walking later, we finally emerged from the shop we first thought of, new jeans in hand, and limped back onto the train.

I had planned to read three texts before getting to school tomorrow; Inventing Elliot, Stone Cold and Julius Caesar, but I've only managed one and a half so far, so I had better get on with it. I'm not sure if I'm more or less nervous than I was before starting back at my last school. Less, in that I hadn't done any teaching the last time and had no clue whether I could even do it, but more, in that there's going to be more pressure on me this time. Right now though, I'm still feeling relatively calm...long may that last.

Assignments, assignments, assignments...

As the title suggests, much of this week was taken up with assignments; talking about them, thinking about them, panicking about them, queuing at length for them...

We got our Christmas project (well, that's how it was for me) back on Wednesday. The process involved an extremely long, winding queue which we joined in a pre-advised time slot which we missed at our peril, and I was fairly happy to see that I had passed, but rather disappointed with my 'satisfactory' result. Given the hours / days / weeks I had spent on the blasted thing, I felt I deserved a Merit, but it was not to be! Ah well.

After that traumatic experience, we went to our Contexts tutorial where we discussed in detail Assigment Two. It's not due until March 26th, but unfortunately this time we don't have a three week holiday beforehand to do it, so I'd better get thinking about it soon. No sooner was that over than I went to my APD where we discussed...yes, the assignment and research project for it! I have never done any sort of research in the past, but it actually doesn't sound that bad. I may change this opinion as time goes on!

In betweeen times I went to my animation workshop, where we had an hour to produce a short animation with music and sound-effects. My group decided to have an apple, slowly unpeeling to the music of The Stripper, and it worked really well. Unfortunately we kind of ran out of time, so didn't get to see what everyone else had come up with. We could do with another class, but alas, that's it for the animation!

And indeed for the whole Jordanhill experience for now, as we're all off to school on Monday. Already I am quaking in my boots, as my tutor tells me he will probably visit me the week beginning the 5th, which is not long at all. I was rather perturbed to realise, when copying my timetable into a blank one for my tutor, to realise I am down for no fewer than nine different classes. I neglected to find out which classes I would actually be teaching, but I'm hoping it's not all nine...apart from anything else, there is no way I can learn nine sets of names!

No doubt it will all become clear on Monday. In the meantime, I have lots of reading to be done...there goes my Friday night!

Phewwwww........

...that was the sound of me heaving a sigh of relief that my new colleagues all appear to be very nice people. I have heard some stories from other students about the unhelpful and even hostile staff in their last placement schools, so I was delighted to get such a friendly welcome today. We (me and the other Jordanhill student) got a quick tour of the school, and then I was left in the English base with the department handbook until break, which everyone seems to spend in the main staffroom, rather than their subject bases. They even have a wee lady who makes you a cup of coffee and does the washing up!

I was delighted to discover that I will at last be teaching my favourite thing to the S3s...Shakey! (as in Speare, rather than Stevens...). Julius Caesar, which I haven't read since I was in S3 myself, a frightening 25 years ago. Hurrah!

It only took 37 minutes to get home, which is quicker than it sometimes takes to drive the 6 miles from Jordanhill. After all those years working in an office, I can't quite get used to getting out of work at 3.30...it just doesn't seem right!

Placement anxiety and so on

We are all supposed to be visiting our new schools tomorrow, and some poor souls still don't have a placement. Apparently, SEED has been brought in, although I can't imagine what they will do to remedy the situation. It's all been very stressful, even for those of us lucky enough to know where we're going. I took a trip to Ayrshire yesterday, so I know where I'm going tomorrow. I didn't quite believe the AA Route-planner thing when it said it was only 23 miles, but it is indeed!

I had the feeling I would be getting two crits this time, rather than the usual one, and so it has proved. In my last school I worked quite a lot with individual pupils, and whenever anyone asked them “Why are you getting help?”, the answer was invariably a self-deprecating “Because I'm a retard”. That is rather how I feel about my two crits! Ah well, at least I'm not the only one.

I made two films on Wednesday; one in my media class (I was the actor, in a thrilling 'trip to the coffee machine' plot), and one in my animation class, which has to be the most fun I have yet had at Jordanhill! This week is my last animation class, and we will all be producing a proper film, with music, sound-effects and so on. Still no ideas for the plot of that either, though.

There was much excitement in the Asda car park this morning, with many people gazing at some unspecified thing in the middle distance. I was going to get into my car and drive home when my curiosity got the better of me and I asked someone what everyone was looking at. Very glad I did, as it turned out one of the high flats was about to be blown up (how did they all know this???), so I hung around and witnessed it. Very spectacular!

My plan of doing all my reading for this week today, in the expectation that I'll have loads more to do after I find out tomorrow what I'll be teaching in the coming weeks, hasn't really come to much. No surprise there, really.

Where?!

Gosh, isn't it a long time since I wrote this? Well, after many visits to the English notice board, several cups of time-wasting coffee and much pacing of floors, we finally found out where we're going for placements two and three today. My response of "Eh?!" sums up my reaction...I had checked out every single school in Glasgow, fully expecting to be placed there, but instead I am going to deepest Ayrshire, to a school I hadn't heard of in a town I've never been to. Hardly the 'inner-city' placement I was assured would follow my rural one, but I'm actually quite happy with it (I think). I'm not sure what my feelings are on going back to school; part of me really wants to get back, but part of me is kind of dreading it, as I did not do particularly well in my crits and I seem to have done much less teaching than everyone else I've spoken to. It's a worry!

We started our APDs (Areas of Professional Development) last week. I am doing Media and was in a bit of a bad mood anyway at being landed with my fourth choice, when I looked out of the window and saw what was clearly the Outdoors Education class (my first choice) cavorting around outside. "It should have been me!", I managed to stop myself from screaming. However, I think I'm going to enjoy it, and while our colleagues are doing terribly worthy things like Looked After Children and Support for Learning, we watched a film and then had a good discussion about it. I'm sure it won't all be fun though!

Anyway, I have a pile of pretend marking to do for my C&P class on Thursday, so I'd better get on with it...