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After graduating from university in May last year I was at a loss as to what to do with myself.  After spending all my life in education I had no idea what I was doing to do with my life now.  I spent a couple of months applying for very dull and boring jobs before finding myself tangled up in the exciting but fickle world of poker.  In some respects I had the best year of my life, doing what I please, travelling around the UK and Ireland, and meeting some fantastic people along the way.  But as the months began to draw on I started to feel empty and disillusioned.  Poker had become everything, and nothing else really mattered.  My family was worried about me because all I did was eat, drink, sleep, and play.  It took me a while to realise it, but earlier this year I decided that enough was enough.  I had been living with my mum since I came home from uni so I decided to use the money that I had in my bankroll to move out and get my own place.  I still didn't have a clue what I was going to do with myself, and started applying for more monotonous office-type jobs which didn't exactly fill me with joy. 

Music degrees are funny things.  Obviously the music industry is very hard to get into, especially for me not living in London, so there aren't many specialised jobs where a degree in music is going to be very useful.  One of the only things a music degree is useful for is if you want to become a Music Teacher.  Having done a fair bit of instrumental teaching in the past whilst I was doing my A Levels and my degree I thought maybe I might enjoy it.  Although I never really appreciated it as a kid, I just love the school environment.  I think it's great.  So I decided to apply in July this year, and got accepted on what's called School Centred Initial Teacher Training  (SCHITT) in Luton, to become a secondary school Music Teacher.  Most teacher training courses are run at universities, but this course you learn in schools from day one so it's much more hands on. 

Between June and now I have been living in a flat on my own, with little money (because it all went into buying furniture, paying rent etc), and a crappy work from home job where I type all night for 12 hours straight and then get paid £30.  Sometimes I didn't see anyone or leave the house for a week.  A lot of the time I didn't think I was going to make it to September, and I can honestly say the last three months have been the hardest of my life.  Everything went wrong if I am honest, but I somehow managed to drag myself out of bed every day, because I knew that in a few months I would be starting my teacher training, and that was something I was really looking forward to.  I have several people to thank for helping me get through, without them I'm not sure I would have got there.

So yes, the point of this long post is that yesterday I had my induction day at Challney High School.  Although it was just an induction day I was really worried.  What if something else had gone wrong and I wasn't going to be able to do the course?  What if I hated it?  What if I made myself sound like an idiot in front of all these other graduates?  But as soon as I got there I realised that I didn't need to worry.  Everyone was so friendly, the other trainees and the staff.  I met the three other music trainees (there were about 50 of us altogether, but all different subjects) and we had lunch together and it was really great.  We all got given brand new laptops to keep for the year which I definitely wasn't expecting.  I spoke to the Course Director at one of the breaks and he was telling me how much funding the government is putting into these SCHITT courses.  Apparently they are part of some government initiative to create "outstanding" teachers. 

The whole day just felt right, like this is what I meant to be doing with my life.  I drove back up the motorway with the biggest grin on my face, it was such a good feeling.  The course is going to be very tough, I know that, but at the end of it I am going to have a career, and hopefully something I will enjoy for the rest of my life.  I love music, always have done and now I'm going to be able to pass that on to these kids.  I'm sure there will be days when I feel like crying, and I'm sure the kids won't be angels by any means, but after yesterday it just feels like everything has been worth it.  I'm back in on Monday for another lecture, and then I start at my school for real on Tuesday.  It's a catholic school so hopefully it shouldn't be too bad.  I'd imagine the behaviour at a catholic school is a bit better than at a normal comprehensive.

Sorry for the ramble, but I'm so excited I just had to write it all down!  I'm not a morning person AT ALL and communiting to Luton is going to mean a 6am start everyday, but I don't care, this is what I'm meant to be doing.

Assuming your SCHITT is for real ( I just can't believe that......) .

But GL with all this.  It sounds like you've got a genuine enthusiasm going.

All the very best in the world to you. Don't be afraid to work hard, even if those around you fall short.  You more effort you put in, the more you'll appreciate yourself, and all that.

 ;applause;  ;applause;  ;applause;

GL for the course, I did a Uni centred PGCE course (but even when you do that 2/3 of it is in school like your one).

To be honest I think the government pushing for this type of course is because it is cheaper and easier to run than the Uni centred one - so hopefully you get the same level of back up as the other type.

I taught maths so I don't think there's too much overlap with your course - but all the best for the rest of the year.

Chalney Boys or Girls?

Apart from the dodgy acronym this sounds absolutely fabulous -- the very best of luck

congratulations, gl with the new job!

Boy's, but that's where the training group is based so I'm just there for lectures and stuff.  I'm at Cardinal Newman for my actual placement.


Yeah the fees are only £1200 a year for us, whereas all the uni's tend to charge the maximum £3000.  I'm not sure what the uni based PGCE course is like, but it seems like we get an awful lot of support on this one.  I generally think uni's quite often just tell you what you need to know, and then it's up to you to do the work and make sure you keep up.  The impression I got yesterday is that they are going to drag us kicking and screaming through this course and make sure as many of us as possible pass it (obviously in a nice way).  Before yesterday I thought that maybe this type of course wouldn't be as good as a "normal" PGCE.  You know how it is, they bring in all these vocational qualfications and try and to claim that they are as good as normal academic qualfications, but employers still don't see them as being as good as traditional qualifications.  But with this course I really get the impression that it is going to be as good as, if not better than a normal course.  I certainly hope so anyway! 

And obviously the huge advantage is the long holidays, perfect for poker if you ask me....

Well done Pocketlady and all the best, it sounds great. Working with kids and music is fun and you got the best of both worlds.

I don't think the behaviour at a catholic school is going to be better than anywhere else. Kids will try it on to find out if they can get away with it so keep your foot down from day one and teach that lessons can be fun without ripping it out of the teacher.

Let us know about the challenges you face and how you handle them. I look forward  to your news and well done again :)

Mad

Don't know if it's relevant nowadays, but I was told by a teacher a few years ago the best thing she learned was not to smile for the first 3 weeks.

If they get to think you're a cow and get used to doing what you tell them straight away, you can loosen up and relax a bit more with time.

If they think they can push you at all in the first few days, you'll always be fighting them.

Sounds good to me, but then, I've always been a git.

All the best in your new career.

 ;indestructable;

Good luck Miss

Gl, i actual went the opposite way to you 3 years ago and left teaching to play poker/ other gambling income.

Like JonMw I did a PGCE in Maths, which suited me at the time as I had come straight out of university and i got almost a years transition from student to real job. It is hard work no doubt, there is a lot of paperwork and a bit of stress while training. Yet you certainly will never be bored in teaching, everyday is different.

To my knowledge a Catholic school is likely to be better a school results and behaviour wise compared to a standard comprehensive. Yet each school is different and alot of how "good" a school is how it is run by the headteacher and senior management.

gl teaching is an awsome job if u get the right kids and school :)

I wish you all the very best, and believe me if you NEED to do something it can be done, but only you can do it.

Good Luck and keep us updated

My image of this course is just an image, I don't know anybody that's done one (that's my disclaimer).

On my PGCE we spent a bit of time learning some teaching theory, then a bit of time applying it to teaching some small groups who had difficulty with particular problems. Then the last 2 terms were teaching at 2 different schools. My impression of the school based one was that you were more 'thrown in at the deep end'.

But what you've suggested about the support you're getting makes me think that might not be entirely accurate.

Both ways fundamentally involve a lot of teaching so I don't see the final result being judged any differently.

I heard this theory as well - fundamentally I think it might be a sound one.

But I always smiled, and I always got on with my pupils, and they never misbehaved.

I failed the PGCE on classroom management - the feedback I got was that I wasn't making them behave, they were only behaving because they liked me.

(Also another reason for me not to give any advice, as I didn't actually pass the course)

Wow that is pretty disgusting imo, as long as the kids behave and learn, the teacher is doing their job imo.

There are many different teaching styles that are effective, from scaring the life out of them. To gaining a general respect from your pupils through basically being a likeable person.

The one thing you do have to do is get the class to respect you and your authority. Consistency is absolutely key here, kids like boundaries of what they can and can't do.

I would advise going in with a pretty strict attitude and once you have got them where you want them. Then you can ease up and let your natural personality come through into your teaching. I learnt this the hard way, where I was too soft in my first few weeks in my first school and it was a hell of an effort to bring them back in line.

Yes I shouldn't imagine it's too different.  We have a lecture on Monday mornings, and then Thursday evenings for subject specific knowledge, and then 3 days a week in school which is gradually built up to 5 days a week by the final term.  I think it's the law that you have to do 120 days in school so it probably works out roughly the same.  Although I will come out with a PGCE it's slightly different because the uni based courses it's a Postgraduate Certifcate in Education, but I'll get a Professional Certificate in Education, or something like that.  Still get the same opportunity to do work at Master's level, but I'll see how it goes...

The teacher I would most like to be like was my history teacher that I had in the last year of my GCSEs.  Until that point I had been predicted a C in history.  I hated it, my other teacher was horrible, really strict and no sense of humour.  I got into a lot of trouble that year and got suspended for other reasons, but when I came back we had a new history teacher who was a complete breath of fresh air.  She was great, and actually made learning that boring syllabus fun.  The first lesson she told us we would have a test the next week to see how much we knew, and I went home and revised so hard for that test just because I wanted to impress her.  But even though she was fun, you knew that you couldn't mess her about, right from the get go.  I ended up getting an A in my history GCSE and it was all because of her, she made me WANT to learn, which was something completely new for me. 

The good thing is that we are not going to be introduced as "trainee teachers" or "student teachers".  Although kids are pretty astute and will probably pick up on it eventually, we are introduced as teachers straight away which will probably help a bit with classroom management.  It's somehow finding the balance between being fun and being respected.  I'm sure I'll work it out as I go along, I hope so anyway!



Thanks to everyone for the nice messages.  I'm sooo excited!  Bad thing is I've got to go to bed in like 2 hours which is ridiculous.  I think this transition from getting up at 4pm and going to bed at 6am to getting up at 6am is going to be my first big obstacle...

GL PL, hope it all works out for you :)

Good for you........finding a way through this life appears to get harder and harder and to have found a path that makes you want to get up and do is a great discovery

I wish you every success..........funnily enough I always wanted to become a teacher or a writer......not sure how I ended up selling graphics tablets....ho hum

Delighted to hear it's worked out for you and all the best for the future! 

Well I'm about a week and a half into the course now and it's going great!  The school I'm at is absolutely amazing, I literally couldn't have asked for a better place to train.  On my first day me and the other two trainees who are at my school were met by the Assistant Head, who also happens to be an ex-Olympic Athlete (PE teacher funnily enough!) and an OBE and the nicest woman in the world.  She introduced me to my mentor who is the Head of Music and also happens to be bloody brilliant and is obviously an excellent teacher. 

So far it's mainly been observing lessons and getting involved with group activites, but my mentor told me today that I can start teaching as soon as I feel I'm ready.  To start off with I will probably teach sections of lessons gradually building up to teaching full lessons with supervision, and then eventually I'll be left on my own!  There's only one A Level Music student in the sixth form so I've already done some 1 to 1 teaching him.

After experiencing it for a week (and yes, nothing has gone wrong yet) I'm positive that this is what I am supposed to be doing.  In every job I've ever done until now after two days at it I'm sat there day in day out watching the clock until it's time to go home.  Everyday so far I've been shocked when the last bell goes and it's home time, and today I was even a little dissappointed!  I'm sure the disappointment will wear off after a few weeks and I'll be happy to go home, but it's just so nice to be doing something I seem to really love. 

Over the last year or so I've oftened wondered why I even bothered doing a degree, or A Levels, but I remember why I did it now.  It was so that when I'm a grown up I won't wake up every morning thinking "Oh ffs, work again", and I think I've actually got there.   

The only downside is the immense amount of paperwork I have to do as a trainee.  Most of it is done online now which is a blessing, but it just seems like enourmous amounts of waffling for the sake of waffling.  But other than that, I can't fault anything at all.  The thing I like most about it is that everyone, the teachers at school, the lecturers, are all obviously so passionate about what they do, and that's such a great atmosphere to be part of. 

Roll on tomorrow! 

Just seen this

All the best, gl!

+1

lets put this back up the top again

Congrats with teaching thing PockerLady. I was a lecturer in a college for 6 yrs before turning to the darkside and playing poker for a living and being a teacher is deffo a very rewarding job at times plus the holidays are lush :-) glglglglgl

wtf

you look about 16 in your picture

While in reality he looks about 35, lol.