PGCE Prep.

Apologies for the lack of blog posts: I’ve been moving house. Here I am all installed in my new home. I've called it The Attic. It’s almost perfect (as I type I’m waiting for someone to come and fix the shower). I’m in a great area, surrounded by bistros and parkland; yet conveniently on a street with bus routes at either end. Aside from the neighbour’s yappy dog, it’s fairly quiet too. The other people in the building seem friendly. I am making Jane Eyre comparisons left, right and centre though because my room’s an attic conversion, and a chip in the wall paper tells me that the walls are painted red. Please don’t let me go mad. Overall though, I can see this being a nice little base for the PGCE year.

Arriving two weeks before the course starts has given me the luxury of time (I’m sure I'll appreciate it as a luxury once the course begins anyway). I’ve been exploring: mostly it’s unashamed tourism, but also I’ve been finding my feet; and realising that while the half hour walk to uni is nice on a sunny day, in winter I’m getting the bus.

I’ve also been thinking about what kind of teacher I want to be; and what do I want to gain most from the observations I’ll be taking on my placements (before actually being let loose with a class on my placements). I’m excited about seeing the different approaches and their impacts.  I’ve been pondering what kind of assignments I’ll be asked to write – to be honest, getting to grips with educational theory is something I’m really looking forward to doing, so I’m hoping they’re theory based – and which aspects of education appeal to me most. At the moment they’re just wild thoughts, grounded slightly by what I read online and in books. I suppose I’ll have to wait until the course really gets going before I can begin to solidify my ideas.

Until then, I’m reading Trevor Wright’s How to Be a Brilliant English Teacher. It’s a cracking read, serious without being condescending or dull; just the right amount of humour, actually. I love how Wright uses examples from his experience to ground and illustrate his arguments; and how he introduces a method that can so easily be adapted into a lesson plan for another text. This book offers so much potential. I also enjoy how accessible I’m finding it, even though I have barely any knowledge of how to be a teacher. I think this is because Wright doesn’t try to intimidate the reader with professional terminology. It’s a great starting point but, at the same time, structured so that it will be easy to dip back in to sections for ideas or suggested techniques.

I’m also taking this time to thoroughly prepare myself for the course:

•  I’ve organised The Attic so I have a working zone and living zone.

•  I’m building a file of recipes so I can stay healthy this year.

• I’m arranging my social life. I know it’s going to virtually disappear between 17^th September and July; however, some commitments cannot be ignored, so right now I’m trying to keep them to Saturdays. I’ve already decided, based on everyone’s advice, that Saturday will be my day away from the PGCE. I will take day-trips out of the city on sunny days, and bake/watch films/general reading on rainy days.

•  I’ve organised my desk. I even have a printer!

• I’m reading books not related to the PGCE while I have the time.
  
  
•  I’ve budgeted.
  

• And, next week, I’ll start practising the QTS skills tests.

 I think I’m about ready. Only one week until registration. Just a bit more waiting…