The final advice
Where has the year gone? No seriously, where
has it gone? If somebody told me last week that they were wrapping
Xmas presents, I could actually believe them. This year has gone
super fast and I can’t believe that I am supposed to be at the end
of my course! I am currently on my final placement for my Primary
PGCE and it takes up so much time I’m going to have to start
planning in my sleep soon!
Either way, this is the final blog that I will
be writing and I know that my blogs over the year have been quite
the same formula (that formula being a lot of writing that could be
mistaken for an essay, except I rant a lot in it!), so today I am
going to mix it up! Five little essays for you to look over. But
this time, instead of a rant, I’m going to give out some advice.
Lots of people have contacted me asking questions about the course
so I have decided to break it down into 5 simple pieces of advice.
If you thinking about or already starting a PGCE course in
September, here are something’s to keep in mind:
1) Always
be prepared
I know I have clearly stolen this from the
scouts, but to be honest with you, they are onto something. The
thing that kept happening to me throughout this year was always
being laden down with more and more work. If you want to succeed in
a PGCE course, you need to be organised. You need to be on top of
all your work/planning and make sure you are ready for the next
one. There are a lot of assignments and little things that need
doing, so get ready for some stress.
The other idea to take from this piece of
advice is to be prepared for anything. Seriously, anything! I had a
child come up to me and tell me he couldn’t eat sweets and when I
asked him why he replied “My mum says sweets are evil.”......... I
mean, what do you say to that? Children come out with the most
wonderful and strangest things...always be prepared.
2) Be
creative – but only when you have to
When you learn to become a teacher, you will
need to be creative. Working with children, you want to inspire
them to be creative and in order to do that, you have to be
creative yourself. You will get the opportunity to do some
wonderful things, trips, displays, performances, so many chances to
express yourself. The thing to remember is that there are only so
many hours in the day. Be creative, but remember to leave time to
teach, time to plan, time for yourself. There are some wonderful
resources on the internet, so use them! Don’t spend forever making
resources when there are fantastic ones already out there. You have
to create a balance.
3) Networking is
key!
PGCE’s are hard! This will not be the first
time I say this. If there is one piece of advice to take away from
this, it’s that you need support to do this course. Friends and
family will make life so much easier. But networking will go
further than just friends and family. As a teacher, you are forever
learning and the best advice you can get is from your peers. You
will make some mistakes on this course and every other teacher can
learn from it. Share your experiences and they will do the same in
return. You will get ideas from them, have discussion to further
your own, even if it is just a chance to rant, the more people
around you the better.
4) This is not an easy
option
PGCE’s are hard! (Told you I would say it
again). People talk about how being a primary school teacher must
be easy. You get great holidays, weekends off and you don’t have to
know that much. Then they say that teachers get really annoyed when
you say that. Well, as a soon to be teacher.....I get annoyed when
people say teaching is an easy option! Your holidays will be taken
up by planning, assessing and training. Your weekends will be taken
up by more planning and assessing. Your evenings will be taken up
by....you get the idea. There is so much to learn when training to
become a teacher, so much that I can’t even begin to list them.
When I started this course, people said it was one of the hardest
things they have ever done. I agree with them. But just remember,
at the end of the training, at the end of the gruelling hours of
planning, is a rewarding, fulfilling job. Teaching is not an easy
option.
5) Have
fun
I know I said that networking is the most
important piece of advice, but I suppose this one really is. Have
fun! This course will be demanding and draining. So many times I
have wanted to quit, but I am glad I stuck at it because it is one
of the most rewarding things I have ever done. Doing a PGCE course
sets you up for your career and what a career it can be. From head
teacher to educational consultant, you can go to so many different
places. But don’t forget to enjoy the journey! You will make tons
of friends on a PGCE course and see so many wonderful things. Just
enjoy the ride.
So that’s it! Those are my pearls of wisdom
that I have picked up over the past year. I hope you have enjoyed
reading my blog over the past year and hopefully it has given you
some insight into the life on a PGCE course. I would just like to
thank everybody who has read these and that it has been a pleasure
writing them. So from me, Charlie Crouzieres, farewell!
P.S. Thank you to all the Banana’s who
made this year one of the best of my life!
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