Wednesday, September 19, 2007

PGCE - Day 12 in the Big Teacher House

I am really itching to get going but there is a real sense of 'the calm before the storm' at the moment. Turned up for a 10.00am lecture this morning on the theme of student services. The previous PGCE Secondary lecture overran, so we were subject to 3 rapid fire PowerPoint presentations. As the Pro-Vice Chancellor was finishing, the woman who was on next had whipped off the final slide of his presentation before any of us had even had a chance to jot down a vital phone number and web page. She was clearly in a hurry to be elsewhere because she spoke at a rate of knots and shot out as soon as she had finished her bit. I could barely follow what she was saying so Lord help any non-native English speakers among us. At the end, we impoverished and malnourished students were chivvied out quickly, past an appetising array of cream cakes and a plethora of tea cups which were awaiting a party of big wigs attending some sort of event in the lecture theatre after us. Presumably my £3070 fees were subsidising the catering! So, in all, I had struggled in for less than an hour (barely half an hour in real terms). Same thing yesterday - it took me less than 45 mins to have my qualifications verified and my student ID card issued. Tomorrow I am timetabled from 9.00am until 3.00pm with an hour for lunch. I have two-hour library induction (why? I know the library of old, it's rubbish - very pretty building and about 3 books!). The best is Friday - I am only there from 3.00 until 5.00 for an ICT induction. GET THIS GUYS, I DON'T EVEN WANT TO USE YOUR CRUDDY ICT - I PREFER TO USE MY OWN COMPUTER!! I have had a look at the Primary Strategy stuff on DVD-ROM that I was given on Monday. I can't figure out what we're supposed to do with them and didn't want to waste too much time. Hopefully our Seminar Tutor, Alison, will be able to offer some guidance on that one.

Already the rumour machine is in full swing - not only did one of the Seminar Tutors give everyone their preliminary attachment folders back and told them to redo them (these are the ones we are 'peer assessing' tomorrow) but apparently the PE sessions are like boot camp. I am just waiting for someone to hand me a marker pen, ask me to 'act as scribe for the group' and then 'feed back' to the class - I will have to use all my powers of self control to stop myself hitting them! But I shall try not to get carried along with mass hysteria - I keep telling myself "just play the game". The good bits of the day? I bumped into 'C' and 'L', two 'old boys' from my former workplace who are now training to be secondary school teachers. A couple of success stories, methinks.

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