# Useful advice for PGCE students...



## Dante (Sep 11, 2006)

Just had an email from my tutor last year asking for advice for this years batch of new PGCE students. And it got me thinking. 

What would you want to know about teaching before you sold your soul?

I've had a bad day, and with another 3 (at least) hours of planning ahead i can only think of the negative. 

<5mins later>
So much so that i've been trying to type something positive for 5 mins. But i give up.

Any inspiring words out there?

edited to add. crap, wrong squiggly pic on the thread title. Shows how long it was since i last started a thread


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## nonamenopackdrill (Sep 11, 2006)

There's so much though isn't there?

"Don't take much personally"
"Reward the positive behaviour. Ignore the negative."
"Focus on learning as your no.1 focus at all times."
"Smile" (though the "don't smile until christmas" applies in a way too imo - depends who you are)


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## Jayshat (Sep 11, 2006)

The PGCE is like a modern form of torture - my course had tears, tantrums, people dropping out, unsupportive mentors, favouritism, shit schools and teachers (backstabbing) and politics the likes of which Machiavelli would be proud of. Prepare for 9 months of very hard work and very little autonomy. 

However, once you qualify and start work, it is like the sun coming out after pissing down with rain   You get your bursary  You get paid a salary  You get a lot more self-belief and confidence, and understand why it is so satisfying as a profession . Don't get me wrong it is really hard work and the paperwork is still a nightmare but after the PGCE it seems like heaven 

Anyone agree/disagree?


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## Dante (Sep 11, 2006)

Good Point. I remember in my first placement looking forward to going to a school without all that political bullshit. Then Lookin forward to a job without it... Now i live in a department with two other people who wont talk to each other.

Always wondered about the smiling till xmas thing. Its all part of that act you are told to create, which imo is a load of bollocks. After all the other things you have to remember, pretending to be something you are not always struck me as going to far. 

In a way its like the not smoking thing that the heads always go on about. "The kids shouldnt know you smoke" Logical, when you are an important role model. But when one of the year 8 kids shouted out "you smoke sir" the resounding reply from the class was "so what". 

I guess that al lot of it depends on who you are, and what the school is. 

which heads me towards the advice that don't worry if you fuck up the first placement (as long s you pass) you can reinvent yourself if you want.


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## nonamenopackdrill (Sep 11, 2006)

The smoking thing is now to do with public buildings.

The PGCE is harder than the real thing imo.


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## scifisam (Sep 11, 2006)

Book yourself in for the skills tests as soon as you can. Otherwise you might find yourself left with no availabl tests except at the worst time of year (as a few on my course did), especially if you have to do a resit. 

Don't overburden yourself with paperwork. Just because a different student at your placement school is using a forest's worth of paper every day, it doesn't mean she's a better teacher or more likely to pass the PGCE. Check which pieces of paperwork are really necessary. 

If you can, get into school very early. Get all photocopying done as much in advance as possible. You never know when a photocopier's going to break down.

Opinions differ on this, but I reckon it's best if the pupils don't know you're a student teacher.

Near the end of your PGCE, don't worry too much if you haven't got a job, as a lot of jobs do come up just before Summer term. 

I didn't actually find the PGCE to be that hard work at all. I don't know, maybe all the predictions I'd heard along the lines of 'this will be the hardest year of your life!' set the bar so high that the reality coudn't actually be that bad.


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## brixtonvilla (Sep 11, 2006)

Think you got off lightly Scifisam. My advice:

Understand that they're trying to beat good habits into you in a short space of time, and that there is a large element of jumping through hoops. Things you do after every lesson (e.g. assessing every child against the learning objective) you will not have to do all that often.

Don't rely on technology. Any technology. Computers, printers, the Internet, photocopiers, pen drives, faxes - any of these can and will go wrong, espcially when you least expect it, so try to have a plan B at the back of your mind if necessary.

Praise the nice kid sitting next the class pillock. "It's not easy being sensible when others aren't, is it?"

Try not to shout when you're angry - most people get shriller and squeakier. A low, slow deliberate tone of voice can be far more menacing & effective. 

Don't thrash yourself when things go wrong, even when it's been meticulously planned. This is a craft, not a science.

If your class isn't working well, re-arrange it. Seating plans are key to any class working well, and any class is like a jigsaw puzzle. 

If you can possibly manage it, teach something you're interested in or passionate about, even if you have to shoehorn it in. Passion is infectious.

Above all, realise that when it's all over, the result of your hard work is that you'll just about be ready to begin to learn to _really_teach... but that that's the best bit.


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## treefrog (Sep 11, 2006)

Don't let the bastards grind you down

Don't get involved with office politics that have nothing to do with you if you can possibly help it.

Take advice on students but don't let that advice start you off on the wrong foot with them. 

Students can smell fear.


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## nonamenopackdrill (Sep 11, 2006)

treefrog said:
			
		

> Don't let the bastards grind you down
> 
> Don't get involved with office politics that have nothing to do with you if you can possibly help it.
> 
> ...



Yeah, be positive is really important imo.


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## scifisam (Sep 11, 2006)

brixtonvilla said:
			
		

> Think you got off lightly Scifisam.



Maybe. I do seem to be just very good at time-management. My PGCE was very hard in some ways - I got hit every day in my first placement, until my wrist was broken and the kids started treating me with a little more respect. 

Good advice from you as from the others, I reckon. Seating plans are particularly effective, even if you don't know the class that well, because it makes it clear that you are the one in charge. (Although actually I let them sit where they want on the first day, because that gives a lot of clues about their relationships with each other).


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## nonamenopackdrill (Sep 11, 2006)

Seating plans are great. It's your classroom. Expectations v clear. Sir Alan Steer suggested that every classroom in the country should have one. They don't have to be static though.

If you're doing something that requires collaborative work between different people to normal, put a new seating plan on the IWB and make it their bell work to find their place and complete some small task together.

Also, seating plans are important at the start so you can call kids by their names.

Also, when you first take the register, note the phonetic spelling of any unusual names in your planner so you learn them!


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## brixtonvilla (Sep 11, 2006)

scifisam said:
			
		

> Although actually I let them sit where they want on the first day, because that gives a lot of clues about their relationships with each other.



Doesn't it just? I'm at that stage now. "Enjoying sitting together, are we? Make the most of it..."


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## nonamenopackdrill (Sep 11, 2006)

brixtonvilla said:
			
		

> Doesn't it just? I'm at that stage now. "Enjoying sitting together, are we? Make the most of it..."



See, I never ever do. Expectations clear minute one.

Another thing that I think is important is to never make them right down rules when they first walk in.

Get them learning and excited about your lesson. Set them tasks, challenge them etc.

They know the rules. They've been the same since they've been at school (unless you teach reception).


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## brixtonvilla (Sep 11, 2006)

nonamenopackdrill said:
			
		

> Seating plans are great.



One of the most intriguing & satisfying bits of the job, IMHO. It's like a chess game, and once you get it right, so many problems disappear. Doesn't every classroom have one?


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## jbob (Sep 12, 2006)

What about pre-PGCE? What about things like the Students Associates Scheme? Getting experience? Knowing about whether you're cut out for teaching?


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## brixtonvilla (Sep 12, 2006)

Ask local schools if they want any volunteers, or ask for work experience (you'll need a CRB police check, which can take a few weeks). One thing I did was to do a taster course aimed at men considering primary teaching, organised by the TTA & South Bank University. I've no idea if you're male or considering primary, but the TTA might be a good place to start.


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## nonamenopackdrill (Sep 12, 2006)

I've never done it. I don't know if they're useful or not.

I remember my first day in school on my PGCE. I was


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## Dante (Sep 12, 2006)

jbob said:
			
		

> What about pre-PGCE? What about things like the Students Associates Scheme? Getting experience? Knowing about whether you're cut out for teaching?


Did The STAS thing during uni. signed on for 6 days was still there 1&1/2 years later...
Working 3-4 days a week, helped with the finance and got me into the IOE for the PGCE. 

I would suggest anyone at Uni to give it a go. It looks good on the CV and as any PGCE course needs to see evidence of classroom expereince, it covers that (should you decide to go into the job)


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## John Quays (Sep 13, 2006)

I'd have to add something about getting on with your mentor. 

I didn't, having argued with her early on about the utility of using French and French only in the ML classroom, and never managed to be friendly with her again. 

Dunno, I suppose the biggest effect on me in the end was that I felt ill at ease anywhere near her all year and avoided the ML staffroom wherever I could to go to the main one instead

I did pass though... then came to France to do the whole thing over again where the uni-based bit is fifty times as hard and with almost unlimited hoop-jumping, but then there were a legal maximum of 6 hours teaching contact a week, and I only had 5 myself. My girlfriend had 4, and whilst it was nice to have the free time it obviously wasn't enough.

In the UK I was one of the students with the fewest hours: 9-10 a week; where some had 20 or more.

Conclusion: I think that personality-led teaching, no longer well-regarded by PGCE teachers who preferred to see teaching as a set of applicable gestures and reactions, is what helps you survive and the learners learn. However, you can learn to develop the right personality for yerself, and ally this to good classroom practice.

I haven't got close yet though.


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## nonamenopackdrill (Sep 13, 2006)

John Quays said:
			
		

> Conclusion: I think that personality-led teaching, no longer well-regarded by PGCE teachers who preferred to see teaching as a set of applicable gestures and reactions, is what helps you survive and the learners learn. However, you can learn to develop the right personality for yerself, and ally this to good classroom practice.
> 
> I haven't got close yet though.



You don't have to have the right personality. You just have to be able to act and know what that personality is.

Which is what I think you're saying.


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## John Quays (Sep 13, 2006)

nnnpd - it was what I meant, yes.  

Not that only certain types of person can do it, but that you need to find the personality (okay, the act) that works for you.

And I think that is fought shy of in both UK and France, fwiw.


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## nonamenopackdrill (Sep 13, 2006)

I don't. I think you divide 'personality based teaching' from 'reactions/ gestures' etc artificially.


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## gaijingirl (Sep 13, 2006)

I haven't read the rest of the posts so sorry for repeats.

- Do the skills test at the beginning and just book yourself to do all 3 at once - don't bother with 3 separate trips.  Even if you fail 2 out of 3 you'll only have to go back once more unless you're really unlucky.

- Log on to tes.com and use the forums - you'll see that there are plenty of other experiencing the same as you.

- If your first placement is completely shit... just see it through - your next one might be better.  I threw up before going into school on several occasions - not from fear of the kids (and believe me they were tough), but from lack of support from my "mentor".

- Don't let one person (often your mentor) put you off.  My first mentor was frankly horrific.  My 2nd placement went really well (despite the school being in dire straits) and the students being extremely challenging.

- Try to ignore the extreme negativity that you'll hear from some members of staff.  In my first placement a young teacher had a bit of a breakdown.  She really cared and I felt badly for her.  In my 2nd placement there were staff who would basically say horrible horrible things about the kids/other members of staff and were extremely negative - "Why the hell are you doing a PGCE - it's an awful job" etc etc.... what seemed to be the case on further inspection is that these same people seemed to be actually quite dedicated to their jobs.  I think that it was their way of dealing with the stress.

Seize on every positive and try to ignore the negatives.

Don't lose sight of your reasons for doing it.  Give it time.

Get involved as much as possible in your school.  Don't wait to be introduced to the EAL/SEN depts etc.  Go along, introduce yourself, offer your help.  IME they'll be delighted.  Working with the EAL dept was the absolute highlight of my week and ended up with a job offer for me.  It's just one year - not even - make it what _you_ want it to be.

Try to understand the pressure the regular teachers are under and don't feel too angry with them if they don't understand what's going on with you.

As far as having an act - also don't be afraid to be yourself.  Be honest - not every teacher is super cool, bouncy, popular teacher - just as every student isn't.  I think it's good to have different kinds of teachers who will reach out to different kinds of students.   It's very hard to be someone who can reach everyone (iykwim).  

Don't forget your sense of humour.  Sometimes I couldn't help laughing when things got a bit ridiculous.  In the end it (often) helped dissolve tension in the classroom.  

Find a positive teacher who has not become too cynical to help remind you why it's worth it.  (I found someone on U75 who was very supportive and although we only exchanged a few pms it helped enormously.  I also found a teacher in each placement who was not necessarily the best teacher in the school, but the one who really believed in what they were doing and hadn't succombed to cynicism)


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## Deadman97 (Sep 14, 2006)

Also worth bearing in mind that you may well not have a job to walk into after you qualify- I passed my PGCE in June '05 and got through the last year on a few long-term supply contracts, with the same to come this year. I would say persevere, even though I'm finding it difficult to do just that at the mo.


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## John Quays (Sep 14, 2006)

nonamenopackdrill said:
			
		

> I don't. I think you divide 'personality based teaching' from 'reactions/ gestures' etc artificially.



Perhaps, yes. 

I suppose practising the second regularly can help develop the first, but I felt that tutors preferred to concentrate (politically motivated) on presenting teaching to us as a learnable craft, where it can also be an art (an act) with its share of uniqueness.

As for gaijin girl's bit about 'being yourself'... yes. Maybe I'm not terrifically cut out for teaching in the end - certainly I fell into it, as they say - but 'myself' is quiet, has a horror of leading people and thinks about something for days before acting. I haven't found these to be very useful traits in the classroom.


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## snoogles (Sep 14, 2006)

gaijingirl's post says it really well...


I'm not teacher but know plenty of them, it seemed to be the neverending paperwork that got them down during their PGCEs, along with the coursework being of little use to them when they actually got into a classroom. Still, it's not that long a course. Stick it out and there will be some great times ahead...


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## catinthehat (Sep 15, 2006)

Although I have not managed it myself I would guess most teachers/lecturers are happier if they stay clear of the politics and dont try and get into fights they wont win. 

 You do have to work your arse off to do a decent job and the paperwork, meetings and so on are a pain.  But the holidays are great, the pay is not the worst in the world and once the classroom door is closed its your world.  Sometimes the students will thank you and tell you that you have made a difference to them, and its great to see them grow and learn.  Best thing ever is to see a disgruntled little scroat who hates class, hates teachers, hates everything turn into a interesting and interested student.   First couple of years are the worst when you are building up your resources, honing your technique etc but after that it can be really rewarding.  Honest.


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