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…

Know Your Onions

As of September I’m going to be learning about teaching English to teenagers, so I figured it was about time I brushed up on my subject knowledge. The English half of my undergraduate degree was English Literature (joint honours with History) so while I’m not going to get complacent about my English Lit knowledge, I definitely need to brush up on English Language.

When I was at school English Language was something you were just expected to pick up as you went along. I remember being taught in primary school that (and I quote) “An apostrophe is a comma with its flying license”. Funny when you’re seven, but useless when you need to know how to apply it. By secondary school it was just assumed that we all knew how to use punctuation. Thankfully one discerning teacher realised the problem just before our GCSEs and gave us a crash course in apostrophes, with a bit about colons and semi-colons. Sometimes I wonder if we weren’t taught this stuff because our teachers didn’t know it. Even now, when I’m in school, I hear confused explanations of how to use punctuation, unless it’s a full stop. Aside from punctuation, I think I got most of my knowledge of what is a ‘verb’ or ‘adverb’ from French classes. And as for what constitutes correct sentence structure…well, I’m still waiting for that little lightbulb to appear.

Obviously, I can’t be doing that much wrong. I did complete an English dissertation, and no one mentioned any problems with my language skills. I guess I have just picked it up as I went along. But, I have identified English Language as my weak area. So I’ve been out and bought a book. Now, I’ve not finished it yet but I’m going to recommend it you.

My Grammar and I (or Should That Be ‘Me’?)- Caroline Taggart & J.A. Vines
This book is brilliant. It is not a dull drudge through the rules of correct grammar. It’s hilarious. I’m sure I’ve been annoying everyone around me by sporadically bursting out laughing, then reading out snippets from the book. It is so funny. It’s also really well organised, so you can just dip into sections as and when you need them.

I’ve also had Trevor Wright’s How to Be A Brilliant English Teacher recommended to me. I’ve yet to read this, but once I do I will review it in the blog.

Not forgetting the dreaded QTS skills tests. Apparently Jim Johnson’s Achieving QTS Skills tests books are good (again, I’ll write about them once I’ve read them). Although until then, I have bookmarked the online practice tests.

 

 And in order to maintain that ever-so-important work/life balance; I’ll also be taking Rachel Khoo’s The Little Paris Kitchen with me to University. I think on my one day away from work I’ll be trying out the recipes. Very excited.

 



Any suggestions for what I else I could be reading to improve my subject knowledge?

This ‘Know Your Onions’/ reading corner could become a semi-regular feature on this blog, especially if I keep finding books as brilliant as My Grammar and I (or Should That Be ‘Me’?)

Oh, and as an afterthought, after deciding on the title of this post, I got to wondering about the origins of the phrase 'Know you Onions'. After a quick google, voila, an explanation.

UPDATE: After I posted this, the tes posted on Twitter this page of recommended reads for trainee teachers. Handy.