Teacher Training Week 1a

    After having another baby nearly four years ago, I decided I wanted to move from teaching in the Further Education field to teaching Secondary. I haven't yet asked myself why. I suppose this is a good sign so far.  Others have asked me why and my answer is: As a child, my grandmother heavily influenced my development in English as a subject.  She encouraged me to read books until I was overly excited to visit the mobile library once per week to borrow different books. This along with what I was taught at school, consolidated my experience of English as a subject.  

    During my working years, I reflected on how best to utilise the attributes I possessed to develop others.  English was a favourite of mine and therefore, there was no doubt that I wanted to teach English. I also wanted to explore the boundaries and limitations of English and how this impacted on others’ development and experiences of the language. I've worked in a voluntary capacity within the Primary School setting for quite sometime now and I am always amazed at how excited children become when learning new things and learning them in creative ways.  Creativity was always a strong point for me. During those moments of reflection that you do when you're on maternity leave (don't judge), I thought about the children I have come into contact with who were in Secondary School.  I observed remarkable differences in the attitudes to learning of those in Primary compared to those in Secondary schools. I suppose, as you transition to puberty, interests change and somewhere along the line it is vital that a more robust approach to teaching children in Secondary schools becomes more prevalent. I want to help them prepare for the working world and adulthood.

    Yesterday, I started the first week of a five week intensive Teacher Training Programme. Over these five weeks we are expected to gain sufficient knowledge, skills and understanding of the National Curriculum, the principles of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and become familiar (through induction) with our placement school.  This programme is fostered by Teach First. As I reside and is placed in London, I have been enrolled with UCL as the teacher trainee partner University. When I first applied for this programme, I thought to myself, I have teaching experience and various qualifications that would help me to sail through this programme and be ready to stand in my own classroom come September.  Sure. Yes I have the knowledge and skills being covered on the programme, what I don't have is the flexibility and time as I have felt these last two days.  One of my barriers to learning at University these past three years, were my children.  Having a toddler and a pre-teen is challenging.  Having a jam-packed timetable with several online learning platforms and a lot of reading is borderline mental.  On a serious note though, I made it through day 1 as it was semi-relaxed. Today, day 2, was highly demanding and by the end of it I felt drained. I had my toddler running in and out and piling my desk with toys.
I had to remember to wake the pre-teen so she wouldn't miss her zoom learning session. Of course, I remembered to feed them and use the toilet but it was challenging.

    Let's see how I feel by the end of the week😉

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