Walking away and walking towards.

SURPRISE! I'm back! Don't get too excited, this doesn't mean I am suddenly going to become a regular updater again, but I felt like doing the odd post or two, and there are no rules in the blogging world, so that's what yer gettin'.

Plus, I'm at work still and nearly everyone else is on holiday, and all the people who are in have already been on holiday so I've got a lot of free time and I'm pretty miserable. Blogging always cheers me up. Plus I've had a couple of lovely comments on the blog recently so I definitely owe anyone checking in a couple of new updates!

Image - www.scribbler.com

 

With the end of another job in my sights, and the beginning of a new, terrifying one, I've been thinking a lot about transitioning and the swift changes that a relocation or a new job brings. I've spent so many hours talking to the people in my workplace. I've seen there faces so many times. I've only been here since November, but I've probably spent more time in a room with some of them than I have with some of my closest friends! I guess that's the craziness about a workplace. You're thrust into a space where you are expected to spend hours with others, and be friendly with anyone in your close proximity. The only thing you often have in common with these people is the job you do.

The weirdest thing is that I've spent all this time with these people and I know all these things about their lives (like my colleague whose husband cheated on her, and then she ended up with the husband of the woman he cheated with.. BOOM! How's that for an interesting 'where did you meet your husband?' story!). One of my colleagues even came to my house for a barbecue last weekend, so he's even seen my life outside of work (and saw me a bit tipsy if I'm honest). Yet I will probably never see these people again.

I've met my new colleagues for my new workplace, and again, we're just a bunch of people who share the same profession. It's strange to meet them and know that inevitably I will learn things about them, possibly even attend their weddings (two are engaged) and they will become my new workplace family. It's all very surreal. I guess it's the same with teaching. I spend ages with a class of young people, then they walk out the door into the real world and I barely even remember them a few years later.

The good thing is that despite these huge changes in my day-to-day contact, I feel pretty confident that I will find myself to be an accepted and vital part of the team. I don't struggle to find things in common with others and I'm pretty good at making friends with people. It's the walking away thats hard than the walking towards. It's sad to leave a place. And a house. And a village. There'll be a lot of goodbyes over the next few months.

I am incredibly excited about moving back to Nottingham though. My friend has already told me she wants me to join a ceramics class with her, although I might try to steer her towards textiles (I'd rather have too many cushions than too many pots). I'd never have done that in Leicester. There a lot of friends I can reconnect with and that prospect is mega-exciting.

How do you cope with leaving a workplace?

Well, well, well... Something to think about

If you've been following this blog for a while, you'll know I have been working in some jobs that I haven't exactly loved. I have been teaching Functional Skills - a lower level qualification, and GCSE English to students who haven't already passed at GCSE. Most of the students don't like English and have enrolled on vocational courses such as hairdressing, bricklaying and public services. Suffice to say, they're not the easiest to get interested in English.

I interviewed for a job in Nottingham last week. I applied for it at the last second, mostly because it is in Nottingham, includes A level teaching, and is more money.  After the first round of interviews I got an email saying sorry, you don't have the job. I emailed them for feedback (for the first time ever) and received a reply saying - we've made a mistake, you did get through. During the second round, I didn't think I had a chance as in walked a woman interviewing for the same position who was head of deparment at her current workplace and has nine years' teaching experience. However, I found out this morning that.... I got the job. Little old me. Apparently I did great in the teaching interview and I am great with teenagers... but I already knew that.

Now I need to weigh it up and decide if it the right route to take. It would definitely add some skills to my CV - teaching A level English being a key one. I would also be on more money. The downsides are I would need to move from the home I have recently bought and live with my Mum Monday-Friday, only seeing my boyfriend at weekends. The long-term goal would be to spend the extra money on doing up the house and moving to Nottingham. The other worry is that I would be the ONLY English teacher in the school. I'm used to working on my own, but I would be responsible to the entire GCSE achievement for English. It's not as bad as it sounds though. There will only be year ten students in the first year, and after a year I imagine they'll need another English teacher on board so we could then share the burden.

Another thing scaring me as I swore I would never teach in a secondary school. I didn't want to deal with teenagers. However, teaching in Further Education isn't really very different - I teach teenagers who don't like English. In fact, at least in school I'd be teaching students for the first time, rather than pushing them through a retake. I'd also get to teach the students who will get an A-C, so some might actually listen to me, and do homework!

It's a really daunting prospect, but I think I will probably go for it and hope I swim rather than sink. Teaching will never be easy but the worst think I feel I can do is sit still - I always want to be acquiring new skills and trying new things. Also, I would really like to teach Psychology at some point and this could help me in two ways - in a year they may want someone to teach Psychology at the new job, and being employed by a secondary school gets my foot in the door if I want to apply to other secondary schools in the future.

Why did you decide to take the job you are in?

Job interview - do you use a sick day?

Luckily I don't use my real name on my blog, so I can tell you, I had a job interview yesterday. It was for a new school in Nottingham and would be fairly big pay increase. Originally I had an informal interview at the end of a day last week, so didn't have to take a day off work. Then I was told I didn't get through, so I emailed and asked for some feedback anyway. They replied and said they'd made a mistake and I had got through after all!

The interview was mid-morning yesterday. I had a dilemma. Do I not go to the interview, tell my current work I'm sick, or tell my current work I'm looking for a new job. I've only been in my current position for 4 months. I didn't get the kind of work I applied for when I joined, and since joining I have been told the college is in a lot of debt. As I'm still in my initial 6 months at the college and have been there for less than two years, I could be dismissed for looking for work (particularly if they are making cuts to staff, which they are!). Therefore I decided to tell them I was ill.

I have already taken two sick days this year. One was because my boyfriend had some bad news and needed my support (I won't go into detail), and the other I was genuinely ill. My boss informed me today as I arrived back into work that, this being my third ill day means that I am not allowed to take any more days off until January next year for sickness or I'm in breach of my contract. To be honest, I don't think I've got much chance of getting this job (I met another interviewee who had nine years teaching experience!), so I was planning on continuing to apply for other jobs. However, now, I can't claim to be sick if I get an interview so I would be forced to tell my current employer that I'm looking elsewhere. I'm worried I'll get treated differently if I do happen to stay - rubbish timetable, rubbish groups.

Basically I need to either get this job or stay where I am for another year. It's an awful position to be in as the job I'm currently in wasn't as advertised and I don't feel they listen to staff suggestions of how to improve. Therefore I'm stuck. For the long term. Or I risk being fired for taking too many  days off ill. I really want a job in Nottingham, or at least one that I feel happier in.

What would you do?

Glamourless

Friday January 10th 2014

Number of times regretted becoming a teacher: 17

Horrible week of long days and not enough hours. Stress is building up. Feeling swamped and over-put upon. Hate the way that I am blamed for teenagers not wanting to learn. Am meant to either physically force them with threats, or make lessons so fun and interesting they feel like one big game and they want to come, whilst also teaching them something at the same time... not fucking possible.

 Actually have a weekend at home this weekend but need to catch up on washing and ironing. All my clothes have dog hair clinging to them and feel like everyone at work things I'm dirty. Come to work looking bedraggled and tired. If only I could drag myself out of bed with time to put on make-up with care and make my hair look less like a bird's nest. Have also discovered the horror of 'greasy fringe'. Will be stocking up on the dry shampoo.

Week was ruined more by Facebook-stalking of a former colleague who seems to have everything. She is constantly travelling the globe with devastatingly good looks. For a while at least she seemed to be single, but now she is back with her high-school sweetheart and posting photos of her reading books on balconies in Barbados which he adoringly takes. Shouldn't she be confined to a glossy magazine so people like myself can imagine it's all celebrity airbrushing and people don't actually live like this? 

Feel like my life needs to be injected with a bit more glamour, rather than my priorities being getting through the day without having to shout at an acne-covered teenage boy for skipping my lesson before spraying my hair dry shampoo in the work toilets. 

Is your life glamourous?

New Job Blues

What do you do if you apply for a job, and it is completely different to the way it was advertised?

The terrible thing about this situation is, your previous employer is likely to have replaced you, so you either put up with the situation, or end up with nothing. This is where I am at the moment. I've left a position teaching GCSE English at a college with A levels and Access courses (despite my job description saying Functional Skills teacher - I worked my way up from this), and found myself teaching Functional Skills (apart from a measley two GCSE classes) after responding to an advert for a GCSE teacher (so my job description says GCSE English but I'm actually teaching Functional Skills). What's more, I have been given all the horrendous naughty groups that other teachers didn't want any longer. It's genuinely soul-destroying.

Annoyed and upset, the first thing I did was make a complaint at my work. I wrote a letter stating that had the job I am actually doing been advertised I would not have applied for it. They tried to stroke my ego by saying that they had chosen me as a specialist in English and would value my help in improving English, and also suggested there might be some GCSE teaching available at their sister college. This has amounted to nothing. Not only have I not been given any extra teaching, I have been given the impression that my views are not valued, and steps will not be taken to change the structure of English teaching at the college. Instead, the staff are being expected to work hard and complete a greater number of admin tasks in an attempt to counteract the poor structure of English teaching.

Not only am I upset about this current position, but it is a shame to see that all colleges seem to have the same problems and that no matter where I work, I'm going to be faced with the same issues. The only way out of this is to find a way to teach A level, yet these jobs are rarely advertised and often have someone in mind. My only option seems to be to take another terrible position at a college that delivers A levels and gradually work my way into that department, which could be a long and frustrating process assuming whoever is in front of me in the queue doesn't suddenly drop dead in my first year.

The problem for me is that I went into FE teaching to teach either special needs or higher-level qualifications. However, the funding for special needs teaching is reducing, and the higher-level courses are being run at sixth forms, largely attached to schools and looking for people with a generic secondary school PGCE. I could retrain, but with a mortgage to pay this would be difficult, and I resent the need to as I am currently working as a teacher with far more difficult pupils than I would in a school and all the experience I would need to be a secondary teacher.

When will the government make the transition from FE teaching to schools easier, and, more importantly when will I get a job that I can tolerate, perhaps even enjoy?

Needs must

I've just booked in a client for private tutoring at £20 an hour and near my new work! On one hand this is brilliant. I need the money for my renovation project. On the other hand, I don't have enough hours in the day as it is. Here are all my current commitments:

Working as a teacher - 37.5 hours a week (plus marking and planning)

Travel - 1.5 hours a day currently. Soon to be 30-40 minutes a day (hooray).

Psychology MSc - currently doing about 3 hours a week but need to do more to get a better mark.

Renovation project - currently doing 10 hours a week stripping wallpaper, removing bricks, cleaning, installing skirting boards.

Blogging - currently about 2 hours a week but I would like to spend longer

Family - 24 hours every two weeks

Boyfriend's family - about 5 hours a week

Add on tutoring, around 2 hours a week and it's gonna to be pretty packed. I really need to start to organise my time and find a way to achieve everything as well as getting some time to relax as well.

I'm hoping that tutoring is as easy as I think it is. I can set some work, mark it when I arrive while the students is doing a another piece, and tailor the pieces to the individual's needs. I can also bring some work resources home also. I may have to read a book or two though if they're studying literature (or at least look it up on Sparknotes).

How do you manage all your commitments?

Money makes the world go around.

In the words of Liza Minelli, 'Money makes the world go around'. Since signing a contract committing to buy my own home, I've found myself more concerned than ever about the amount in my bank account. I used to have a healthy couple of thousand saved, steady income and outgoings and enough money at the end of the month for an outfit or night out. Now, I can cover the mortgage, but I'm worried I won't have enough cash to cover the work needed for the property. 

That famous song from Cabaret

My boyfriend and I consider ourselves to have fairly decent jobs. He's a social worker and I'm a teacher. Yet in our quest to get on the property ladder we have had to resort to handouts and loans from family members. We bought a cheap house in a good area in order to keep costs down, but the house is unliveable without having a certain amount spent on it.

It makes me wonder how others cope. Gone are the days of a 100% mortgage, and people are starting to learn the dangers of signing up to numerous credit cards. How do others manage to afford to live? Particularly single parents or those on lower incomes.

 

There are so many things that I have to pay for each month.

• Rent
• Food
• Petrol (£200 a month just to go to work and back each day and my Mum's now and then!)
• Dog walker
• Travel to London for foot treatment
• Foot treatment
• Car insurance
• Contents insurance
• Car servicing/MOT/upkeep
• Electric and gas

I was sitting at home a few days ago, and the phone rang. I answered and it was the gas company asking for £200 to cover gas bills at my previous rental property! It seems that there is no rest from people asking for money.

 

In order to help the house renovations I'm planning to advertise my services as an English tutor. It's around £20 an hour and would be something that would be fairly easy to do on the side of work without extra stress. I was thinking of doing some bar work in the evenings but with the Master's and full-time teaching I just wouldn't be able to cope.

How do you make ends meet at the end of each month?

New job!

Just a short post today.

(My god I have freakishly small fingers!!!)

After two years of moaning about the poor management of my workplace and the problems, including:

Nepotism (principal's wife only one interviewed for one job and all his former colleagues being given management positions)

Lack of planning impacting on results (GCSE being taught in 1.5 hours a week resulted in poor results subsequently blamed on teachers)

One-size-fits-all approach to lessons (1.5 hour long lessons for all subjects- way too long for some, too short for others)

Difficult work environment (people consistently knowing each other's business. Stressful observation procedure. The list goes on...)

So, finally, I can say GOOD RIDDANCE to a work place that offered me no support and no career development opportunities. I know other colleagues have moved to this college and have reported back that they are much happier.

I am working at my current place of work until 27th October and then I'm free to go on with my life in hopefully better working conditions. Hooray for me!

So hopefully you won't be subjected to as many post whining about my terrible views of my workplace. How do you view your workplace? 

How do we decide what makes a good teacher?

I know I moan about work a lot, but they KEEP giving me things to moan about!

The latest idea is having students grade the teachers. They will give them a grade for a number of criteria, such as: does the teacher put up objectives? Does the teacher have high expectations? Does the teacher tackle discrimination in class?

In theory, this is a good idea. Learners should be comfortable in a classroom. In reality, learners have a very different idea of a 'good' teacher in comparison to staff, parents or managers.

A teacher's idea of a good teacher

• Cares about the students
• Will go above and beyond to support learners to achieve (but not do the work for them - which requires some interest and commitment from the students)
• Is fair
• Has a good sense of humour and good communication (I accept - not all teachers value this but I very much do)
• Learners know that if they do their best, they have done enough
• Commitment to help the student when they ask for help
• Takes time to learn about the students personally
• Know your students and how they are coping with each lesson and whether or not they understand the teaching
• Adapt to help students

A manager's idea of a good teacher

• All students pass
• Lessons finish on time
• Students always follow college rules
• Everything students do is tracked
• Keep clear records of EVERYTHING
• Do endless amounts of admin
• Never lets students use their phones in class 

A student's idea of a good teacher

• Lets students leave early
• Chats to students about things they're interested in
• Doesn't mind if they get their phones out
• Lets them break the rules and mess around
• Doesn't tell them off

Ok, so this is a bit simplistic, and not all students want to sit and mess about all lessons, but there are a lot who would if the teacher allowed it, and get annoyed when the teacher pushes them to do work. I'm just trying to highlight that what the students value right now isn't necessarily what they will value when they get their results, or when they're older. One of my students said to me "My Mum would be a great teacher." I answered "Why?" She said, "She'd be cool. She'd let us have a fag out the window if we wanted". The student was aged 19. If that is what students want in a teacher, how are they going to grade the ones who actually work hard to get them to complete work? It's getting to the point where teachers can't win. They either please the management or the students, but either way they get told they're not good enough. Who would want to be in a career where you have to be on-guard, responsible for a group of people and work really hard to make sure they have the best opportunities when they will say you're no good when asked? These are the reasons why so many teachers leave the profession, and why I hope to move into Educational Psychology in a few years. Teaching is a job that people do for the love of inspiring others, and yet find it an uphill struggle and continuously criticised. Teachers can never win.

What do we do about it? Offer support to teachers? Give them a different set of standards to live up to? I think we need to accept the difficulties in evaluating teachers and create an attainable set of criteria. We also need to help teachers to enjoy their jobs rather than growing to resent them. The continual criticism and pressure becomes hard to take.

Are you a teacher? How do you feel about this?

If you're not a teacher - do you think you could have fairly assessed your teachers when you were in education?

Another year of poor decisions

It's happened again. The future does not look bright. The future does not look orange. It looks the same as last year, and that's no good thing.

This isn't me, but I wish it was. It's hilarious!

It is looking very unlikely that I will be teaching Psychology next year (despite it being on my timetable) as people are kicking up a fuss that it's not part of my contract. All I wanted was the opportunity to try new things, and use my Master's qualification, but apparently I'm asking too much.

The thing that annoys me is that as a member of staff I have been distinctly flexible and hardworking. Because I LOVE lists, here is a list of the things that I do that I feel are above and beyond my job.

• Spend hours working mark to make sure it's in early (you could argue this is part of my job, but it's during time I don't get paid - evenings and weekends)
• Plan lessons during evening and weekends to make sure they are good lessons, rather than the bare minimum (again, you could say this is part of my job. However, other people do teach the bare minimum, and print off worksheets from websites)
• Share my resources with others. I give give give my resources, but I rarely receive any back from other people.
• Teach from 5-6:30 twice a week. No one else has been forced to teach after their normal working hours. That was this year. Next year I will be....
• Teach from 7-9:30 (at night) twice a week. I can't imagine how many others if they were asked would say yes to this, but they'd be a minority that's for sure! That makes a twelve and a half hour working day for me two days a week, plus 45 minutes travel either side, which means getting home at 10 ready to get up for work the next day.
• Create and teach a short course that has nothing to do with my department, from 5-7 over three days. The person who teaches English within the department has refused to teach it, so I have to write, teach and mark the course. I'm not contracted to do this, it isn't my job, but I'm doing it because I'm a conscientious  employee and I want to make myself known. Does it get me anywhere? No.
• Create Schemes of Work. There are a number of English teachers - both Functional Skills and GCSE English at the college. Yet I am creating the Scheme of Work for both courses. I'm not even meant to be teaching Functional Skills next year. I could refuse to do it, but then no-one would, and we would all get blamed. I wouldn't mind doing it, if I got some damn recognition!

So basically I feel I work hard, go above and beyond to be a good employee, work self sufficiently, am flexible and I am really encouraging and helpful to my students despite them not being bothered if they pass or fail in my classes. I don't honestly know what else I could possibly do to be regarded as a good employee, and yet I am continuously ignored, under-valued, and anyone I am working hard to impress is only my line manager for a short time and then leaves or goes to manage another deparment. I would love to name and shame this college as the poorly run, terrible place to work that it is, but I dread the day I get called into the Principal's office because of something I've written in my blog. Suffice to say, the day I leave, I will be naming and shaming the instititution in big, red letters!

Don't ask, don't get.

Finally some positive work news! I am teaching Psychology next year! It's for adults as part of an introduction to higher education programme. I'm so excited!!

The only reason I've been offered it is someone has left, and the A level teacher doesn't have time to do it all, and won't work evenings, so I'm probably in for some naff timetabling. So, I'm not being appreciated or looked-after, but if it gets me where I want to be, then never mind. The only reason I have these opportunities is I organised a meeting (or a few) and directly asked for opportunities and to be considered for roles, which goes to show it pays to be pushy!

In fact, I haven't even been officially told. I only know because I was emailed by a colleague asking which modules we are going to teach this year, and another colleague asking for my contribution to this as I'm teaching one of the groups. I said I didn't even know until she told me, which was a little embarrassing, but what I've come to expect around here.

So another positive of that is there seems to be enough teaching for me to do that and GCSE English teaching, which means I won't have to teach any Functional Skills... Hooray! Functional Skills isn't a terrible course, but the students never want to do it so it has the most behavioural problems. They won't be little angels in GCSE but they'll be a little more motivated and it's a little more interesting to teach as you look at books and discuss plays.

So, things are looking up. Although I don't really like the institution, mostly due to poor management decisions and clear nepotism, I may have a slightly better year here next year, and it will hopefully get me some experience that will benefit my long-term career plans. I just hope I'm not teaching more than 2 evenings a week!

Would you go above and beyond your job to get where you want to be? Do you ask for opportunities at work?

Not enough experience

At around 4 job interviews now, my feedback has been: we really liked you, but someone else with more experience. We really liked you and want you to reapply in the future. You came across really well, and if we could hire two people, you were second on the list.

Since when did 2 years experience mean that you are inexperienced? I understand, there are others out there that have more experience, but how do people gain experience without being hired? It's the chicken and the egg question, how do you get the experience, if they won't hire you and offer you the experience?

Please don't think I'm being bitter. I wouldn't have hired me for the job either. It's a position being the only English teacher within a new school, and I don't feel I know enough about the exam boards and setting up the course to be able to fullfill the position. It would have been a lot of pressure and there wouldn't have been anyone to ask for help. I've only been teaching GCSE English for two years, so I can see where they are coming from.

Yet, it does make me wonder about how Newly Qualified Teachers gain experience. If everyone wants someone that's already done it all, how do people get on the career ladder? Perhaps they are all doing supply work. Is that the standard route?

Also, in other careers, how do people gain the experience to be hired for a graduate position, if others who have been working for longer are beating them to it. Are they being expected to apply for lower and lower paid positions. What's the point in a degree if it doesn't prepare you for a position where you are using the information you have learned?

I have been told that I interview well, and I'm still not able to overcome lack of experience. What do those that struggle in interviews do?

Any insight guys? How was/is your job hunting?

Nepotism and being overlooked at work.

I have only worked in two places since University, both being further education colleges. One, I was a support assistant, and completed a teaching qualification. I moved to the other job because I wasn't being offered teaching in my current workplace. In both places, it seems one thing is true: It's not how good you are, or how hard you work - it's who you know.

I recently applied for a position at my work with a little more responsibility and a lot more money. I fit the criteria for the role, but was not granted an interview. Who was the only person that they interview? The principal's wife. Who got the job? The principal's wife.

Did I ever have a chance of getting the position? I think it's unlikely. Although they say that it's a fair process it definitely isn't. I have been to countless interviews where I have had a great interview, the feedback has been excellent, but they had someone already in line for the job who had been working at the college. Again and again I attend interviews which are largely pointless because I don't have a chance.

Ok, that's all understandable. I'd be upset if someone new got chosen over me at interview when I know the college. It is rubbish, but it happens. Now though, they new people who have been employed into the college I currently work at are being offered my teaching hours.

Basically, I teach both Functional English and maths and GCSE English. I hate teaching Functional maths and only have a GCSE in maths already, yet have a degree in English, so it's ridiculous that I teach maths. I have now heard that the new employee (principal's wife), and someone who currently teaches adults, have been promised GCSE English teaching next year. Working out the number of hours we have, that means my timetable would be completely made up of teaching Functional Skills.

In order to prove myself as a teacher of GCSE I took on extra teaching on top of a full timetable, in the evening, last year. Yet someone who has never taught it before is being given the hours I worked hard for. I have been to see people asking for opportunities to teach Access English, or A level English, which has gone completely unnoticed. I have even volunteered myself for extra teaching of adults this year for no extra pay. I am not on the radar, not regarded as important, and overlooked. How does this make me feel? Well, not like a valued member of staff, that's for sure!

What can I do about this? The first thing I've done is sent an email to the person making decisions detailing my concerns. I've already been to see them earlier in the year, after which they forgot who I am, so I'm not sure it'll make much difference. I either fight back and remind people of what I want and what I can do, or I roll over and take it, and I'm not prepared to roll over and take it. In my opinion, if something is unfair then something should be done about it, and people should know. If nothing happens as a result of that, I'll continue to remind people of what I want and who I am. Other than that I don't know what else I can do other than leave the company, but without more experience I won't be hired elsewhere.

Onwards and upwards

So, I am on the reserve list for the salaried primary PGCE. There are 5 of us on the list, and I don't know where abouts on it I rank. So fingers crossed that comes good, and I'm offered a place (with all my training paid for!)

If not, I am considering my other options. I have an interview on Monday for a job teaching learners with PMLD (Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties). I have experience of teaching those with learning difficulties before, but not those with profound and multiple difficulties. It's at a residential place that also has education and lessons for the students.

I have to teach a lesson about friendship to a group of 8 students with profound and multiple learning difficulties, for 45 minutes. I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do! It's difficult to understand what level the students will be working at, as it says they use a range of communication devices - so their motor skills may be affected, and their ability to communicate. This rules out anything that requires: jumping around, shouting out or writing, as it would be inclusive.

I am thinking of reading out a story about friendship and having them hold up green or red cards to say whether the behaviour in the story is good or bad (positive or negative). This is something they should all be able to join in, and if possible I can encourage a bit of conversation.

I'm hoping to bring in something sensory, or that they can grab or feel, but not sure how I could link it into the topic of friendship. Perhaps I can make some cards and they can put them into categories - positive behaviour or negative behaviour to use with your friends. It's a tricky one!

Does anyone else have any experience of teaching entry level 1 learners with disabilities? Any clues as to what I can plan for my group?

School Direct Primary: The Results

I was contacted by Northampton University on Saturday (well, that's when the letter arrived) to let me know if I had gotten on to the School Direct Primary Scheme.

I couldn't look, so the boyfriend opened the letter while I shut my eyes. He read for about a minute and then said "well, it's not bad news." What does that mean?

He was right. It wasn't bad but it wasn't amazing exciting news either. Basically, I had been put on a reserve list for the salaried placement, but offered an unsalaried place regardless. It's great to think they want me and think I'm good enough, but without the salary I can't afford to do the course. With rent to pay, a new dog (we've still got him!) and saving to buy a house it just isn't possible to give up a year's pay.

Now I have the long wait to see if someone doesn't take up their place, plus the added issue of whether or not I accept the PGCE place. If I say I don't want it, that would also give up my chance of salaried as they just said they would change the offer to salaried but my main school would be the same. Right now, they'll be organising a school that fits my interests and location and I don't want them to stop doing that. I also don't want to keep the place to the last minute and then drop out because I haven't been offered salaried, because at what point do I give up waiting? Would someone possibly drop out in September after I'd given up the place in August?

I plan to phone one of the organisers this morning to discuss the issue with them. Has anyone else ever been put on a reseve list? Did you get in? Any ideas what my chances are?

Please keep your fingers crossed for me lovely readers!!

School Direct Interview Number 2

I completed my second school direct primary interview at Northampton University on Wednesday. I had to teach a science lesson for 25 minutes. I did a dissolving experiment where the kids predict what will happen and then find out.

The lesson went ok. The children were engaged and responded well. I had 6 children, but I could easily have coped with more. They were raising their hands (which was so nice after teaching teenagers!) and wanted to answer questions... and I didn't have to tell them to put their phones away once, because they didn't have any! Bliss.

The lesson went to plan, although we finished a couple of minutes early. The children met the objectives and learnt the meaning of soluble and insoluble. I could probably have pushed their science knowledge futher about why things dissolve but I didn't want to aim too high considering they were Year 4 kids. The observers noticed my explanation of evaporation wasn't too great, but I stated that I was just signposting the next lesson and that wasn't part of my objectives. I had brought lesson plans and evaporation was on the lesson for next week, so I was giving a very basic idea when I said 'the water goes up in the air'. I probably should have planned what I was going to say then in a  bit more detail though.

I'm now waiting to hear if I got through. I applied for the salaried place, so they're very very difficult to get. The school basically employs you and pays for your training. If I don't get it, I will be a bit gutted, but everything usually turns out for the best so I'll take it as 'not meant to be'. I would miss the teenagers a little, although the kids were lovely and really keen to learn which was such a breath of fresh air.

Has anyone else had a school direct interview recently? How did you feel it went?

Should we take on a dog?

Remember when I wrote this post?

Things to think about before getting a dog

Well, my boyfriend and I dog sat a gorgeous dog at the weekend. It's my boyfriend's sister's dog, and she lives with her Grandad who is 93 so she just can't care for him. She's one of those impulsive people who buys a pet without thinking and then gives it away not long after.

He looks just like this gorgeous boy

 

At the moment the dog isn't being walked much. He gets taken out in the car a lot but she leaves him in the car while she completes her errands and then takes him back home.

My boyfriend and I just fell in love with him over the weekend. I went to work yesterday while he had a day at home, and when I got back the dog was so pleased to see me, it was adorable. The problem is he is a husky alsatian mix, and we both work full time. I can't help but feel it's cruel to take on a dog in that situation.

My boyfriend and I were thinking about it, and were thinking that perhaps we could hire a dog walker. His sister has offered to walk the dog while we're at work, but I would probably feel more confident if I was hiring someone to turn up at the same time every day. They cost around £10 a day, which ends up at around £200 a month, or £2400 a year! However, we wouldn't need to hire someone in holidays and as a teacher I get a fair few of them.

Another issue is we would like to travel, particularly living in Australia. It wouldn't just be a dog we'd have to consider in that situation though, we have family that needs a lot of our time and would struggle without us being around. We would have to think about a dog if going away on holiday. This would make a difference particulary for weekends away. Thankfully I think my Mum would be happy to dog-sit, but I don't think she was thinking of a big dog when she suggested that!

Cost is another issue. If he needs vets bills that would eat into our savings. We both work full-time in fairly well paid jobs though, so at least we are in a position where we would be able to cope. I'm sure a lot of other people own pets in less financially secure situations.

We also don't own our house. I don't think the landlord would particularly mind, but if she does, or if we want to rent elsewhere, it would be very difficult to rent with a large dog. I think we would have to buy a house which would add a massive headache to relocating.

Looking back at the post I wrote about dog owning before, I put 'you need to be sure about your life'. I am so much more sure than I was when I first wrote that post. I live with my boyfriend and it's great and we're very committed to each other. I'm looking for other teaching positions but I'm pretty sure teaching is the career I want to stay with (just perhaps not with teenagers). I'm happy to start thinking about owning my own home and finding a long-term job that I can blossom in.

The most I will commit to at this stage is a trial run with the dog. However, I can feel us falling for him and I don't know if it would be a good idea just to put my foot down, and walk away from the hassle. I'm sure we could find him a loving home with committed owners if we advertised him well. It's a tough one. In many ways he's ideal as I would like a dog that I can take running with me and he's good with children and other animals. What do you think? Do you own a dog?

Applied for another job!

So, my primary teaching interview is on Wednesday.

Today I have also applied for a teaching position working in the Essential Skills department where I currently work, working with young people with Special Educational Needs. It would be a much nicer, lower pressure position. Here's hoping.

If you haven't noticed, I'm working really hard to make sure I'm not doing the same thing next year!!

I've also been dog sitting this weekend, so I've been mega busy. I'll post some photos of the little (or quite big) rascal soon!

Sorry it's a short post but observation week is over so I'll be posting more soon!

Too much stress, not enough love

The life of a teacher. Observed and graded every year by a senior member of staff who can appear in any lesson at any time during observation week. Ofsted observations now and then. Isn't that enough.

Currently, the place I am working at have found a way to add more stress to teacher's lives.

Here's why I feel stressed about work:

• If I'm observed and don't achieve 'good' or 'outstanding', I am reobserved again two weeks after, in any session. If I get 'good or 'outstanding', I still have to be observed again. If I don't, I am placed on performance management. Reasons that I may not achieve 'good' or 'outstanding' incude - students misbehaving, students using phones under the desks, students not completing all the objectives, not having spotless paperwork showing every eventuality. Basically, if the students aren't in the mood for the lesson that day I'm stuffed.
• Ofsted are due to visit the college soon and will only give 48 hours notice
• The college has paid to hire in BW consultants who observe our lessons, look at our paperwork and give us grades. These are not related to Ofsted, but are supposed to be a 'practice Ofsted'. However, people are nervous because we don't what will be done afterwards to put more pressure on us if we don't come out with 'good' or 'outstanding' based on the views of these people.
• Continuing redundancies being made to all departments. So far they have got rid of over 50 staff in the past year.
• Staff have been told we could have a 'mini-observation' in any lesson at any time.
• No real positive encouragement or teaching on how to improve but constant criticism outlining why we are not excellent teachers continually knocking the confidence of staff.
• Everyone at full timetables means there is no cover if staff are off sick. New members of staff have been walking away from the job after a number of weeks due to the pressure on staff.
• Attempting to teach GCSE English in 1.5 hours a week is setting my students up to fail as it is not enough time to cover all topics in enough detail.

When I went into teaching I thought it was something that I was good at, that I can make a difference and engage students. However, I am beginning to feel either I'm not good enough, because I'm struggling with all this pressure, or bad management decisions are going to make each year a poor experience for me as a teacher. Is it really worth it to constantly be fighting a losing battle? Management have made it clear that they are not interested in teaching staff's views, and that we need to like it, or clear off (which saves them having to fire us). If I treated my students as they treat me, I would me considered a terrible teacher. Why is it ok for me to be treated like this by my place of work?

Are you a teacher? Do you feel valued in your position?

The 3 things that make you feel most grown up

Most of the time, being aged 26, I feel like a child pretending to be an adult, trying not to get caught out. However, there are a few things that once they begin start to make you feel like a real grown up. Here's my top 3 of things that make you feel like an actual grown up. I've only included things I've so far experience, but I'm sure once I buy my first house or have a baby, those things would make it onto the list too.


1. Earing a salary

There's a real difference between earning as you work, and knowing you are receiving a salary. Having a set income every month helps you to make plans, but also feels very serious. When you're younger you tend to put in the hours knowing they mean extra money. As you grow older, although you earn a higher amount, extra hours don't make more pay. At that point it's up to you to decide how hard you work for that money. Staying an hour extra after work may mean you are more organised, but doesn't equate to more money. It's about having a different approach to work and taking responsibility for your own career. Saying that though, it's a shame that employers in the current work climate are almost expecting extra time from employees without financial rewards. Most people I know work harder than they would have done ten years ago in the same poistions but without a comparatively higher salary.

2. Being able to drive

There's nothing like hearing those two little words "You've passed!" after your driving test (although my examiner actually said "I'm going to give you a pass", which isn't quite as snappy). Being able to drive opens so many more doors for a person: being able to work in places that aren't on a bus route, visiting friends that live further afield. Being able to drive, and actually owning a car is one of those transitions that makes you feel more grown up and is actually really exciting. Can anyone say 'Road Trip?'.

3. Having bills to pay

I'm constantly being asked for money. Sky TV, rent, electricity, water, gas, car insurance. It's endless. Not being able to spend your money on clothes, new make-up and shoes is one of the things that has recently made me feel very grown up. Every time I feel like going clothes shopping, I remember all my money has gone on food, petrol, rent or house items. It's not a hugely bad things, but it does make me miss the times when I was so excited to buy a new outfit that I was sure would change my life and make me a whole new person. Now I do like getting a new item, but it tends to fit into my 'work-style', nothing too extreme.

I don't mean this to my a depressing post. Growning up is a fact of life. These are all things I've grown to accept, and my prioritys have changed since reaching my mid-twenties. I am spending a lot on a Psychology masters in order to redirect my career slightly. In terms of my priorites now, I would rather have more education that a great wardrobe of clothes. In some ways that's a shame, but once I'm doing the dream job I can update my wardrobe with 'flirty-thirty' outfits that make me feel classy and stylish. Either that or spend all my money on baby clothes and nappies. We'll see what my priorities become in my thirties!!