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Career Change


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  • 1 month later...

Passed my first placement on Tuesday. Meeting expectations in most areas good in two. Finish in this school next week, two weeks off to write another essay, two weeks back in uni with tons of assessments and then straight into my next placement. Its fucking intense. 

 

Hardest but most rewarding thing I've ever done. I don't know how i used to get myself out of bed to sit in an office every morning. I've not had a single day, even when I've had a 'mare (which had happened) that I've regretted jacking my job in to do this. 

 

 

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5 hours ago, Paulie Dangerously said:

Passed my first placement on Tuesday. Meeting expectations in most areas good in two. Finish in this school next week, two weeks off to write another essay, two weeks back in uni with tons of assessments and then straight into my next placement. Its fucking intense. 

 

Hardest but most rewarding thing I've ever done. I don't know how i used to get myself out of bed to sit in an office every morning. I've not had a single day, even when I've had a 'mare (which had happened) that I've regretted jacking my job in to do this. 

 

 

Fair play to you mate. Glad your enjoying it 

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On 2/2/2019 at 8:19 PM, Paulie Dangerously said:

Passed my first placement on Tuesday. Meeting expectations in most areas good in two. Finish in this school next week, two weeks off to write another essay, two weeks back in uni with tons of assessments and then straight into my next placement. Its fucking intense. 

 

Hardest but most rewarding thing I've ever done. I don't know how i used to get myself out of bed to sit in an office every morning. I've not had a single day, even when I've had a 'mare (which had happened) that I've regretted jacking my job in to do this. 

 

Glad to see it's going well Paulie, sadly I can't say the same for mine.

 

I've switched from being really motivated and on it while doing my access course to barely wanting to even go in there of a morning. 

 

It's thus far been an absolute nightmare to the point I'm debating either switching courses, switching uni or maybe just knocking the whole thing on the head.

 

Last year was really challenging having to work at stuff and getting back in the swing of things, really hard but I enjoyed it. 

 

Motivation has just plummeted to the point I can feel myself just on that verge of a full blown depressive episode, I'm already struggling to sleep or get myself motivated to get out of the house. So something has to change. 

 

On 2/4/2019 at 9:38 AM, iPlop said:

Anyone done Computer Science at Uni (Bsc)? No tuition fees in Scotland so I'm thinking why not.

I did my access course with a couple of people who are now doing Computer Science and are enjoying it.

 

Lots of Calculus though, so if your Maths isn't strong you probably want to do something Maths related first. 

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If you want I have some workbooks on it that I can send you, in fact I have a whole series of about 50 workbooks which cover the basics for pretty much anything you will ever need to start doing anything Engineering or Scientifically based. 

 

Depending on what you did statistics wise you may have done some differentiation for error propagation but that's fairly mild really.

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18 hours ago, chevettehs said:

 

Glad to see it's going well Paulie, sadly I can't say the same for mine.

 

I've switched from being really motivated and on it while doing my access course to barely wanting to even go in there of a morning. 

 

It's thus far been an absolute nightmare to the point I'm debating either switching courses, switching uni or maybe just knocking the whole thing on the head.

 

Last year was really challenging having to work at stuff and getting back in the swing of things, really hard but I enjoyed it. 

 

Motivation has just plummeted to the point I can feel myself just on that verge of a full blown depressive episode, I'm already struggling to sleep or get myself motivated to get out of the house. So something has to change. 

 

I did my access course with a couple of people who are now doing Computer Science and are enjoying it.

 

Lots of Calculus though, so if your Maths isn't strong you probably want to do something Maths related first. 

Sorry to hear that mate. It's a huge shock to the system when you do such a massive change in direction. Stick it out. You wanted it for a reason. Get through 

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2 hours ago, Paulie Dangerously said:

Sorry to hear that mate. It's a huge shock to the system when you do such a massive change in direction. Stick it out. You wanted it for a reason. Get through 

 

Thing is last year it was a pleasant shock when doing the Access Course.

 

My issue isn't so much doing something different, my issue is that a lot of the faculty seem to be completely incompetent. Which is compounded by the fact that I am student rep and they threw me under the bus last week because they haven't been reacting to shit that has been being raised.

 

Based on semester one we have one lecturer who is genuinely absolutely fantastic, by far and away the best teacher I have ever encountered, teaches things which are quite difficult in a way that makes sense, is patient, really helpful and an absolute credit to the profession.

 

Then one guy who is good but not great, however, he's highly entertaining and I've ended up getting on really well with him, to the point I pop into his office for a chat in general.

 

Two who are so-so but there is enough material that you can make up for it.

 

The remaining 3 are incompetent to the point I can't actually comprehend that they actually have doctorates. 

 

Long story short we have a module which has a really high failure rate and has done for a number of years, they keep asking why, then when they get responses about the teaching quality say they know better and the students are wrong. We had a 2 hour exam, one section of which contained at least 3 hours of Maths to complete it, not only that it contained 2 questions out of 5 on things which weren't even taught or mentioned in lectures. But apparently it's down to the students and not the people running the module.

 

If I was to hazard a guess on the upcoming exam results we're probably looking at 80%+ as an average on the pure Maths exam (which is where we have the phenomenal teacher), 50 to 60+ on the exam for the guy I really like in general and then you'll probably be lucky if they are averaging 30% on the other module. Yet they won't accept that there is an issue in the module itself and the teaching. 

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  • 3 months later...

After this half term I've only got 3 more weeks left in school before I'm finished.

 

Just got the results of my 2nd assignment which was a pass (just) but with my first one in which I got a distinction that means that all being well I will graduate at distinction level.  I'm currently borderline "good" rating on my teacher standards (basically a grade) which I am disappointed about because I want to be outstanding but I accept that having never taught a class of children before September I've come an awfully long way which is something to be celebrated.  I've got to sit down with my Edge Hill mentor and discuss my experiences.  Barring me throttling a child or a catastrophic drop in the quality of my teaching I'll be recommended to the DfES for Qualified Teacher Status. 

 

I am absolutely exhausted but no rest for the wicked as I'm trying to get myself a job for September.  All this "crying out for teachers" really doesn't apply in Merseyside as there are 2 unis pumping out 300 teachers each a year.  Every job has upwards of 60 applications for it and even the vetting of my letters by the head of my current school hasn't so much as got me an interview yet.  The M&M (male and mature) factor which people keep telling me will help me is also a myth it seems.  That's the thing getting my down at the minute.  Each application takes hours to tailor to the school and you don't get so much as a "fuck you very much" back.  If I end up on supply in September it wouldn't be the end of the world but I'd much rather have something permanent in place.  Get my NQT year done and then MrsD and I can look at where we want to be. 

 

 

 

 

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It's really hard to get a teaching job where I live as well. I've never heard this "crying out for teachers" thing either. Teachers College is something I've been thinking about, but that has really put me off.

 

Are there not greater chances for you to get a job where you did your placements, Pauly? The people I know who are teachers were basically retained by the school where they did their placements. 

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1 hour ago, 3 Stacks said:

It's really hard to get a teaching job where I live as well. I've never heard this "crying out for teachers" thing either. Teachers College is something I've been thinking about, but that has really put me off.

 

Are there not greater chances for you to get a job where you did your placements, Pauly? The people I know who are teachers were basically retained by the school where they did their placements. 

There are and I am involved in a "cluster" of schools so those ones are more likely to take us on. Most schools who take on Trainees take on multiple ones and might only have one job going. Was up at 7 today doing applications. 

 

I believe Salford is desperate for roles but it's outside of my comfortable commute distance. 

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  • 1 month later...
On 20/06/2017 at 10:35, Paulie Dangerously said:

I'm considering applying in 18/19 (missed the cut off this year) to re-train as a Primary School teacher.  I'll be 35 and don't want to be doing a series of meaningless finance jobs until I retire. 

 

Has anyone re-trained this late in their lives?

 

Well I'm all done and dusted.  After 120 days on the job training, two torturous assignments and a lot of stickers handed out I'm an officially qualified teacher. 

 

It's been a real roller coaster of emotions from being completely out of my depth in my first placement to absolutely smashing my last one and knowing I've made an impact on children's lives.  I was signed off as Good in all areas, will graduate with a distinction in my PGCE and will be donning a cap and gown in a month.  Fair play to MrsD who's put up with me being unbearable at times with stress and moodiness. 

 

Looking for jobs has been less fruitful but, like buses, yesterday I found out I have 2 observation lessons for jobs.  One tomorrow and one next Tuesday.  I'm not too fussed about the one tomorrow as it's not the year group I want to teach in but I think knowing the format of these interview days will be helpful.  

 

Feels like a huge step and that I've managed to engineer my life to move in a new direction when just a couple of years ago I felt I was stuck on a straight rail until I retired.

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Thanks all. I can teach from 5 to 11. I prefer the younger age groups years tbh as you can have more fun with them and they view my mediocre ukulele playing like people view Hendrix and Woodstock and every picture I draw is greeting with gasps of amazement. 

 

I let mine go to the toilet within reason but encourage them to go during their breaks as well to minimise disruption. 

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11 hours ago, Paulie Dangerously said:

Thanks all. I can teach from 5 to 11. I prefer the younger age groups years tbh as you can have more fun with them and they view my mediocre ukulele playing like people view Hendrix and Woodstock and every picture I draw is greeting with gasps of amazement. 

 

I let mine go to the toilet within reason but encourage them to go during their breaks as well to minimise disruption. 

Younger age groups you are a God to them. 

 

Soon as they hit puberty they turn into cunts. 

 

Good luck Pauly in landing an assignment for next year

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