Motivation & Wellbeing

Posted on by rebekahkitchell

When it comes to developing my understanding of teaching, I feel very motivated. This motivation comes from a drive inside of me – I want to be a fantastic teacher and do all that I can to ensure I am an effective teacher and that my pupils learn effectively during my lessons. My motivation for learning from home, however, is currently lacking.

Now, I’m not saying that I am not engaged with, or interested in the content I am learning – I am very engaged and interested in the content, in fact, I can’t wait to continue along this learning path over the next three weeks and over my teaching career. I am looking forward to implementing all of the skills and knowledge I have already developed, and will continue to develop this summer and I can’t wait to see how I teach my pupils in September.

But right now, the ‘struggle is real’ (I think that is a phrase used on the internet at the moment but I have no idea it’s source.) A mixture of tiredness, lack of social contact, the pandemic that is going on around us, straining at a screen and probably some cognitive overload is what I believe to be the cause of my lack of motivation.

Lets pick apart some of those points in more detail.

➤ Tiredness – this is something to be expected when participating in an intense course that prepares you for teaching. I am not surprised that I am feeling tired, especially as I get towards the end of a week – that weekend break is due and I am looking forward to switching off and resetting. It is very important that we take these weekend breaks and allow ourselves time to absorb and reflect on the weeks learning, without engaging in more content. Our well-being is very important and we have to make time for the ‘recovery’ part of our regulatory system.

Recovery allows us to: recharge our battery; pause and see the bigger picture; think creatively; build connections with people and it triggers a break. The recovery system slows us down and is very important for our wellbeing and in turn our energy levels and our ability to engage with our ‘Drive’ – which helps motivate us! I find it particularly interesting that I have listed ‘lack of social contact’ as one of the reasons for my lack of motivation. As humans, being able to make social connections is very important for our wellbeing.

➤ Lack of social contact – As we all know, humans are often social animals and the ‘recovery’ part of our regulatory system is linked to building social relationships and having social interactions. It is not surprising that a lack of social interaction has had a detrimental effect on my motivation. Last week (week 1 of Summer Institute) was much more social – we had the opening ceremony and we also had a group meeting with our Development Lead, both our live Seminar and practice group, as well as all of our BCU lectures. We were all new to the course, spending lots of time building networking groups and engaging with others, and while this is still the case, I think tiredness has overcome a lot of us – sometimes socialising can be tiresome.

However tiresome it might be, I think it is very important for us to continue to build on these networks, especially in the current Covid-19 climate, where some people may have been isolating this entire time (thank god for my my partner, I would have really struggled being on my own all of this time!) Next week, in an attempt to change this lack of social connection, I am arranging a group meeting on zoom for our development lead group on Monday and on Tuesday (both of these days are completely self-directed work, and can be quite heavy.) The idea behind these 30 minute meetings is to create a closer support network where we can: see & hear each other (much more personal than text); discuss any difficulties we’ve had with the content; discuss our wellbeing and just have a chat in general. I am hoping that these meetings will help motivate me and others in the group who may be struggling, or feeling overwhelmed.

➤ Staring at a screen – the pandemic has made screen staring a much more common factor in our every day lives. I realise that we spend a lot of time looking at screens anyway, it’s 2020 and technology is present in every aspect of our lives, but continuously staring at a screen can have a detrimental affect on concentration, wellbeing and physical health (oh I do love those headaches.) So while I know I still need to engage with the content of Summer Institute (which is all online), moving forward I am going to ensure I take more screen breaks. If I have a reflection to do, I’ll spend half an hour jotting ideas down in my notebook whilst away from my screen. I hope that actively taking extra screen breaks will help.

➤ Cognitive overload – something I have learned a lot about in the lead up to, and during Summer Institute. Our working memory is small and can only manage a certain amount of new information before it is overloaded. There is a lot of content to cover during summer institute and while it is important for me to engage with and absorb this information, I need to follow the various teaching techniques we’ve been learning about: present information in small steps; dual coding; spaced practice and retrieval practice, are which are great strategies for learning and something I can actively do to help reduce my cognitive overload and promote more effective learning.

As the week comes to an end, I am very excited to enjoy the weekend and take a well deserved screen break. I will reflect on the weeks learning and enjoy a lie in. I am excited to start a new week, especially now that we have our extra meetings planned on zoom. Hopefully these meetings will help us to overcome any motivational issues we may be experiencing on this home-learning journey.

Hope you are all managing your workload well.

R

Prioritising, Time management & Reflection

Posted on by rebekahkitchell

I’m sure I’m not alone in saying how important prioritising is when it comes to time management. It’s something often discussed in the introduction sessions to courses (or at least, it was for me for both of my degrees), and during the first year of my Bachelors degree, I was one of those students who rolled their eyes at the subject and laughed “yeah yeah, i’ll just do it all at the end of the module, it’ll be fine, Uni is mainly about fun, life experiences, right?!”.

When you choose a new career, University course or even a new hobby, you’ll likely hear a lot about time management and the importance of prioritising. Up until I went into my second year of University, I never really payed attention to all of that. My priorities were having fun and building ‘independence’ (and by independence I mean not living with my parents and being able to get up as late as, and stay out as late as, I wanted).

It wasn’t until I was faced with a bout of anxiety, stress and loneliness at the beginning of my second year did I realise just how important time management and prioritising really is. I’d like to think I was motivated to change my outlook because I had an epiphany or finally ‘grew up’. In fact, what motivated me was I was lonely and anxious and rather than spending time fretting over these emotions, I decided to dive head-first into my degree. (And boy, am I glad I did.) Not only did I find that time management helped me deal with stress and anxiety (deciding to do work progressively over the module, rather than at the end, really does eradicate some of that stress!) but it also helped me truly understand what it meant to be passionate and driven. This turning point in my life at 23 years old, really did change me – I would not be where I was now if I hadn’t decided to turn my negative emotions into a positive experience.

Now, I’m not saying I wouldn’t have arrived here eventually, I have no doubt (some may call me ‘big headed’ or ‘cocky’ – I call myself confident) that I would have made it here sometime – I may have just wasted a few more years prioritising “having fun and partying” like I did in my first year of University.

Prioritising and time management are two very important aspects to any career that involves study, research and constant personal and professional development. Take yesterday, for example, the first day of my Teach First Summer Institute (yaay!) having received our personalised timetable last week, I felt well prepared to start the day and had almost convinced myself that I could: complete the first two units; attend various live sessions; have a break for lunch and dinner; find time to network with peers and you know, still have a relationship with my partner! In reality, I could not complete both Units. I completed the first Unit and was disappointed in myself for not feeling like I had the energy to start the second Unit. Did I manage my time well enough? Why didn’t I manage to do everything I wanted to do? Did I spend too much time talking to people in my many new network groups? Did I spend too much time on my break? Etc. Etc.

While I may have experienced initial disappointment, these questions help me understand whether my disappointment in myself is valid. Did I manage my time well enough? Yes, you were up at 6:45am, working from 8am and familiarising yourself with the various platforms we need to use throughout Summer Institute and the programme in general. You networked, because it is very important to build these connections. As teachers (and professionals in any field) you need to establish support networks early on and use these to your advantage (and while personal support networks are great, it’s also important to build professional ones, with peers). Why didn’t I manage to do everything I wanted to do? As always, I set myself unrealistic goals. The allotted time to do both units was more than the time I had, when I factor in the live sessions, breaks, learning the platforms, completing one Unit and networking. I know this will be something that I’ll always struggle with, but I find it easier to set slightly unrealistic goals (and be disappointed for a few minutes if they aren’t quite met, and reflect on this) than to set goals that don’t challenge me in the slightest. Not only does this allow me time to reflect on my time management, it also helps me to understand where my priorities lie and establish whether I need to change things before the next day or session.

I read everywhere that time management as teachers is very important, but I also, somewhat contrastingly, read that teachers and schools are often ‘chaotic’. I begin to wonder what time management in this profession really means. Time management isn’t about being the most ‘put together’ person in the profession. It’s not about always getting it right and always hitting your goals the first time around. It’s about learning to prioritise the order in which you carry out tasks. It’s about holding yourself accountable, if you didn’t meet a goal, why was that? Can you change this next time to make it better? If you did reach a goal, great! How easy was it? Did you set your goals too low or was it just right? How unrealistic were your goals for yourself? Did you, in fact, spend too long procrastinating?

Time management, in my opinion, is as much about reflection as it is about doing. You won’t always get every part right. You will sometimes have to assess and change. As you develop as a professional in your field, you will learn how long certain aspects take. You will also be able to carry out these tasks quicker, the more confident and skilled you become. Your priorities and time management will change as you become more proficient in your field. For me, I’m pretty good at time management and being able to establish where my priorities need to be at any given time. (For example, before Summer Institute, I needed to complete my reading list. As much as I wanted to start reading a different, teaching related book, this could wait.) (And yesterday, I knew when these Units needed to be completed, and I knew that I had a whole other day (with no live sessions) to complete them.) So there is no need to be disappointed in myself for not completing them both yesterday, I prioritised what needed to be done, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Prioritising and time management isn’t something that will always work out and if you’re both as critical and confident in yourself as I am, then you’ll often over estimate how much you can do, and then criticise yourself for not achieving it! This is something, as a teacher, that I need to work on.

R x

Teach Like a Champion

Posted on by rebekahkitchell

As Teach First 2020 Summer Institute is just around the corner (we start on Monday) I have been spending a lot of my ‘spare’ time (when I say spare time, I mean time outside of my full-time job – luckily I finished this job on Wednesday) over the past couple of weeks preparing.

Unsurprisingly we were given a reading list to familiarise ourselves with prior to beginning the five week summer course. I am not the best at distinguishing between whether a reading list is something we need to just be somewhat comfortable with, or whether we’re expected to have read it all. I always opt for the latter – better to be over-prepared than under-prepared in my opinion.

The reading list included six fantastic texts, which I have found myself fully engaged in! Me and my partner have been getting into a better routine (up at 6-6:30am) and the first couple of hours of my day have been spent listening to instrumental jazz (my favourite music for concentration) and spending time engaging in and enjoying the reading list.

Teach Like a Champion (TLaC) is one of the texts on the reading list, and something I have thoroughly enjoyed reading (and watching). It has been challenging to imagine myself doing some of the techniques mentioned in the book, as I have no experience in schools – the addition of videos makes it so much easier to do this. While this book was written and is mainly based off of American schools, I can see how many of the techniques can be used in schools here, to help engage pupils and create a fantastic, supportive and safe working environment for pupils of all ages.

I will be teaching primary, lower KS2 and I am incredibly excited and interested to see how I implement these techniques in my classroom from day one. Before even starting my Summer Institute course, I already know some of my favourite techniques in the book. ‘Threshold’, ‘Cold Call’ and ‘Plan for Error’ are three of the many techniques that stand out to me. I can see myself creating my classroom culture from day one and implementing these techniques in one way or another.

Today I watched the Chartered College recent Webinar with Doug Lemov where he talks about the importance of “Building a Thriving Classroom Culture” and draws upon some of his favourite techniques from the book. During the webinar, he narrates videos of some of the techniques being used in schools. The addition of the narration really helped give context to these techniques and as an inexperienced future trainee teacher, this is very helpful. View the webinar here. (You’ll need an account, for student teachers it’s free!)

Other papers we have been asked to familiarise ourselves with look at research based approaches that look at the science and psychology behind how people learn and they were truly fascinating! As a person who feels her memory of childhood/early adulthood is lacking, I was interested to learn about our ‘working memory’ and our ‘long-term memory’ and how a lot of what we do is just information from our long-term memory. I find myself interested in finding ways to tap into this more to help influence my teaching. I also found that, when reading these articles alongside TLaC, I was able to find some of the scientific research that backs up the techniques in the book. As teachers, we need to use research based approaches (whether this research is field based, like TLaC, or scientific based) we cannot be expected to teach successfully and create the best environment for learning without using these research based approaches.

I love getting stuck in to research, it was always one of my strong points when studying my BA and MA in Photography. Learning the theories, techniques and reasoning behind photography and Artist’s work was something that fascinated me. (This could be because I am a inquisitive person, but I’d like to think being inquisitive is merely just showing interest in other people.) I’m extremely excited to start to develop a more critical understanding of the research I have done around teaching, and I can not wait to engage in more. (Goodness knows there is a lot of research on teaching out there). I need to be sure to find the right research and not be overwhelmed by the masses that are out there. Another technique I put down to my previous degrees’ is my understanding of the importance of being very specific with the research you carry out. Don’t just search generic terms, be specific, and use the experts you already have access to (be it tutors, mentors or colleagues) because they already know and practice a lot of the theories and techniques you need to learn – use them to your advantage! I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to point you in the right direction.

It’s crazy to think that my official journey as a trainee teacher begins in less than two days. It feels like a very long-time coming, and I feel terrified, excited, thrilled and privileged to be given this opportunity to help give education a brighter future in the UK. I’m excited to start my career as a teacher, one I hope to stick with for the foreseeable future.

Bring on Teach First Summer Institute 2020. While it may be virtual, I’m sure it will be just as challenging, enthralling and fascinating as it normally is.

I’ll check in again soon, take care.

R

Anxiety

Posted on by rebekahkitchell

Anxiety is an emotion I am sure we all feel from time to time. Many of us struggle with anxiety on a daily basis, and sometimes it becomes such a burden that it prevents us from achieving our goals. For me, anxiety comes in waves. I do not hate anxiety, it is an emotion that changed me from being a lazy person who was often late for things, to somebody who is always on time (well, 15 minutes early at the latest because being 15 minutes early is being on time for me), anxiety is an emotion that I often relate to caring.

Over the last 3 or 4 years, I have experienced much more anxiety than I had prior to that. Most of the time my anxiety is controllable, I use it to my advantage; to help me be more productive; to help me get back on track if I was procrastinating and to help me to prioritise what is most important. I had a burst of anxiety which was negative, and was lucky enough to have support from the NHS mental health service, where I attended therapy that really helped me deal with my negative anxiety. The ‘worry tree’ will always be my saviour when things begin feel overwhelming. If you don’t know what the worry tree is, then I’d advise you research it! To put it very simply – I have a worry, can I do anything about this right now? No? Forget about it. Yes? Fix it. The worry tree helps me control my anxiety and allows me to establish the difference between negative anxiety and positive anxiety.

An example of how this helped me this morning is as follows:
I am currently making my way through the reading list I was given for Summer Institute (which starts in less than 2 weeks). As I am reading and making notes on ‘Principles of Instruction’ by Barak Rosenshine, I begin to imagine what it will be like to implement some of these practices when I am in the classroom. This is challenging as I have no prior experience in the classroom and this makes me anxious. I then begin to spiral, having that dreaded feeling that I don’t know the content I am going to teach. At this point the worry tree would kick in. “Can I do anything to ensure I am more confident with the content I am going to teach?” Yes! 100% Yes this is something I can do! Okay, great, let’s implement a plan to do this.

From other research I have carried out and theories I have looked at in relation to teaching, I know that curriculum and subject knowledge are both very important. How can you teach something you do not know? So while I am currently prioritising my Summer Institute reading list, I also need to find time to advance my curriculum and subject knowledge. Re-familiarising myself with terminology and what is expected of pupils in my Key Stage.

Like many things, I find that 9/10, my anxiety shows itself for a good reason. It pops up to say ‘Hey, it’s good that you’re prioritising doing that, but you should also be prioritising doing this.” Being able to establish the difference between positive and negative anxiety is something I constantly work at, but I feel more confident in establishing this difference everyday. The worry tree is a fantastic and simple tool that helps me to wade my way through what is good and what is bad anxiety, allowing me to use my anxiety in a positive and advantageous way.

Hope all is well.

– R

Another Update

Posted on by rebekahkitchell

Wow, a lot has happened since I last posted here. Not only in regards to my own journey to becoming a trainee teacher, but in regards to life in general. Covid-19 happened / is still happening, a global pandemic that has probably changed life for everyone and we have been reminded, again, of the awful injustice that is still happening today around the world. At the moment, our concentration is on demolishing racism from this world. The Black Lives Matter movement is one that I will always support and will stand up and shout about. Racism is still very present in our society (even if many people may claim it’s only in America) we know it isn’t.

The importance of this movement reminds me of part of why I want to teach. I want to help instil knowledge and interest in children. I am going to be working with children from disadvantaged backgrounds and I can’t wait to help make education a fairer place for all. Part of the knowledge and information I will teach is how to treat everybody fairly, regardless of where they come from, their skin colour and more.

I was brought up in a foster family and was given a unique upbringing where I was an only child with over 120 siblings. This upbringing, and my parents in general, taught me to treat people fairly, to never judge a book by it’s cover, and to invest time in people and learn about their history, their lives and their goals. If I can help a group of children be open-minded, kind and treat people equally, then I will have mastered one part of teaching.

Alongside everything that is going on in the world, I have been completing a Primary Mathematics SKE with TES. This SKE has helped me develop my understanding of Primary Mathematics and the pedagogical skills I will need to successfully deliver this subject to my pupils. It was very helpful as: I was given a wealth of resources which will be used in school; developed on my own curriculum knowledge and began to develop specific pedagogies relating to this subject. All of the information and skills learned during the SKE will be applied to my teaching in September.

I am reminded about how important reflection is in life. I have always been a big advocate for reflection as I have had to do a lot of it throughout my degree’s. This is a skill that relates very well to teaching as it is very important for me to be able to critically look at my practice, research, skills and development as I progress through my programme and teaching career. Being able to be critical of yourself and not only see negatives, but see positives and learn from these will be key to my development as a successful teacher. The Mcber Report goes through this in depth and it a resource I will refer to in the future.

I am coming to the end of my current job; I leave on the 17th June 2020, just in time for the beginning of my Teach First summer institute programme. I am very excited and slightly nervous to start summer institute and ready start my journey to becoming a Teacher!

That’s all for now, but I imagine I will be posting much more in coming weeks as I fully immerse myself in the world of teaching. Stay tuned.

Hope you are keeping safe and happy in this very weird time.

– R

Update

Posted on by rebekahkitchell

Where did I go?

In all honesty, I didn’t go anywhere – life simply became busy. I now have a full-time job to keep me going until I begin Summer Institute in June. When this is combined with preparation for my Teach First course and my other commitments, I find it harder to find the time to blog (we also had Christmas, an Engagement and New Year, so I’ve just been very busy.)

I do aim to post more actively on here in the coming months as Summer Institute approaches. It has been helpful for me to take a little time away from thinking about teaching – there is a lot of preparation still to do, but I must keep a balance to avoid burning out before starting my course later this year! I have enjoyed the past few months away from preparation as I adjusted to working full time – but it is time to become more actively involved in my preparation for my course.

I have recently begun a Mathematics SKE through TES, it is a part-time course that will take place over the next 16 weeks and starting this has really brought teaching to the fore-front of my mind and I am beginning to become more and more excited to start teaching this September!

Alongside my SKE, I have been more involved in reading about teaching and improving my curriculum knowledge and I am exited to post more often on here. I hope to post once a week as a minimum.

Hope all is well for you.

R x

What is pedagogy?

Posted on by rebekahkitchell

If you are in the lead up to beginning your teacher training, you might be noticing the word ‘pedagogy’ appearing in much of your preparatory reading (I sure know I am). While this word may be familiar, it is not something I have ever used in my education. Mostly because it is directly linked to teaching – unless you are in this field, you are not likely to have any use for this word. Going forward into a career in teaching will give me a much better understanding of this word – as I will need to implement different pedagogies when teaching.

Today, reading TES, I came across a very interesting article that begins to discuss the meaning of pedagogy and touches on the 4 different pedagogies. This article can be found here. I found this article very easy reading – it discusses what a pedagogy is and the different pedagogical approaches without being overwhelming for people inexperienced. This knowledge will be something I am sure I will use in my future career as a primary school teacher.

To put it simply, a pedagogy is the method and practice of teaching. According to this article “it encompasses: Teaching styles, Teaching theory and Feedback and Assessment.” When planning lessons, a trained teacher will draw upon their experience of teaching that specific year group as well as using their knowledge of the different pedagogies. While I am yet to gain teaching experience, I can learn the different pedagogies – giving me a wider understanding of teaching styles that can be implemented from my first day teaching. As stated in the article, I am sure as a teacher I will develop my own style of teaching based upon these pedagogies and my own experience teaching.

The 4 different approaches are; Behaviourism, Constructivism, Social constructivism and Liberationism. (I am sitting with my partner discussing how much these words sound made up ‘liberationism’ is something I have never heard of before in my life!)

The Behaviourism pedagogy is based on the ‘Behaviourist approach’ in psychology. Behaviourism says all behaviour is learned from our environment. (Thorndike (1911), Pavlov (1927) and Skinner (1957).
The behaviourism pedagogy says the teacher is the sole authority figure in the classroom, the article states that “In a lesson using a behaviourist pedagogical approach, you could expect to see a mixture of lecturing, modelling and demonstration, rote learning, and choral repetition.” Behaviourism is often also referred to as a more traditional teaching approach.

The Constructivism pedagogy is based on the research by Piaget (1896-1890). It says that pupils come ready to learn and the teachers need to build the lesson around the pupils to assist in their learning.
The article says “Younger children work things through physically, whereas older children tackle symbolic and abstract ideas.” People who teach in this style believe learning outdoors can be beneficial to the learning outcomes. Constructivism is often also referred to as a more progressive teaching approach.

The Social Constructivism pedagogy was developed by  Lev Vygotsky and can be seen as a combination of two priorities – teacher guided, and pupil centred. Vygotsky argued that the learning didn’t only happen in social situations – he believed that learning had to be collaborative; the pupil and the teacher needed to work together.
The article says “The teacher would use group work elements, but would use smaller group sizes, and limit the choice in topics. The teacher might also use teacher modelling, questioning, and a mixture of individual, pair, and whole class instruction.”

The Liberationism pedagogy was developed by Paulo Freire. A Brazilian educator who “was the Director of the Department of Education, and developed an approach of teaching where he was able to teach illiterate adults to read in just 45 days. Freire focussed on removing the two barriers to learning: poverty and hunger.”
A Liberationism approach is where the pupil is put at the centre of all learning and the teacher is a learner themselves. The pupils voice is the centre of the lesson, and the classroom is democratic. The article says how “the teacher might use examples of literature that contain non-standard constructions, such as hip-hop, or graffiti. Students may take on the role of the teacher, and decide upon the topic of the lesson.”


When reading the definitions of each pedagogy mentioned in this article, I found myself trying to imagine what pedagogy I might use in the classroom. I can’t see myself only drawing upon only one pedagogy – surely they all have valid ideas that can be combined to teach. While I have no experience in a classroom yet, I myself drawing from my own experiences in school as well as other, classroom like, experiences I have had since – I have experience being an American summer camp counsellor and have been a lead mentor on the NCS programme in England. Both of which included running informal learning scenarios.

When applying these pedagogies to the classroom I feel I am likely to take aspects from each. I am sure many teachers do this overtime as you get to know your class and discover the best ways to engage your pupils. Some pupils will love going outdoors and learning by doing, others will enjoy engaging in group discussions and some may prefer the lecture-style lessons. All of the pedagogies mentioned in this article have good ideas and are based upon important research and theories.

I am already starting to think about ways to implement these pedagogies in my future classroom and thinking of ways I may adapt my own pedagogy as a primary school teacher and if you are wanting to know more about the different pedagogies, then I would advise reading this article! It is a great starting point that links you to the theories and research behind each pedagogy as well as pointing you in the direction of high-quality further reading.

Hope you are having a great weekend.

Until next time,

– R

Tips for jumping between year groups in primary.

Posted on by rebekahkitchell

Now, as stated in my about, I am completely inexperienced in teaching. I have yet to begin my training and will not be fully immersed into a classroom until next September (after an intense summer training programme with Teach First.) This does not mean I do not read important articles and try my best to keep up to date with new teaching ideas.
I have a subscription to TES and find it a very interesting read. I do not read every article in every issue – I try to pinpoint articles that are mostly relevant to my career and issues that surround education in general.

A particularly interesting article I read recently was titled “Primary: 4 tips for teachers jumping between years” and can be found here.

In this article, an experienced teacher discusses how difficult it can be to jump between years in primary school. She highlights how important it is to do your revision in preparation for the year change. She talks about how you should ask for help from the right people – including asking your SLT for support. (I honestly am still not clear on what the acronym SLT stands for in this context – I assume it stands for ‘School Leadership Team’ as she then goes on to discuss training courses you could take outside of work.
The article highlighted some interesting tips that I am sure I will need when teaching in a primary school. It also highlighted my lack of understanding of teaching acronyms (of which I know there are many!) but, more importantly, it reassured me – the author ‘Lucy Moss’ is an experienced teacher and even she realises she needs to revise subjects, she needs to re-familiarise herself with different year group’s expectations and she isn’t afraid to ask for help when it is needed. This is something I needed to hear – going into a career with an overwhelming amount of gaps of knowledge and understanding can scary. Knowing that even experienced teachers need help and still revise is very reassuring.

So if, like me, you are doubting yourself, just remember that even the most experienced people in your field need a helping hand at times.

Catch you next time.
– R

First steps.

Posted on by rebekahkitchell

After being offered an official place on the Teach First programme, I feel slightly overwhelmed by the amount of preparation I feel necessary (I am sure that I will never feel fully ready to start teaching – like any new job, I believe you can never be too prepared).

It has been over a month since I was offered a place and I am starting to feel more prepared as I begin to tick things off my list. I must spend the next 7 months familiarising myself with the primary national curriculum and filling in any gaps I feel I have in this curriculum.

Whilst doing so, I find myself lacking confidence in many of the areas. This worried me at first and I kept asking myself “How are you meant to teach this when you don’t even know what a verb is!” I really have doubted myself, however I just need to remember that I haven’t ‘learned’ how to write, read or speak the English language since I was a primary school pupil. Of course there will be gaps in my knowledge – but the information is there, I just need to tap into it! (I find this to be true as I re-familiarise myself with verbs/nouns etc)

So if you are in a similar situation to me – do not overthink how much knowledge you feel you lack. Trust me when I say that it will come back to you – it might take some time but if you really are invested in this career path (as I am) you will find that time and you will enjoy that time.

I would advise you to invest in some CGP books for the specific area you may not feel confident in, use online resources such as bitesize (they have some fun quizzes to test your knowledge as you learn/remind yourself) and don’t feel ashamed to ask your friends and family if you can test things out on them. (I spend a lot of time on Skype with my Mother telling her all about how the Romans invaded Britain and I will continue to tell her all about any of the areas I familiarise myself with as I progress.)

I am a very visual learner. I enjoy creative outputs and find creating colourful worksheets helpful when trying to remember information. I have a sketchbook where I jot down information on specific subject areas. I have a subscription to TES and try to spend time reading interesting articles that apply to my future teaching career. I printed off the National Curriculum for myself as I like to highlight things and prefer reading things that are physically in front of me and not on a computer screen.

But that is just me. Find the best way for you and implement it. Do not feel embarrassed to not be familiar with specific areas of the Curriculum. I am 27 years old – I have been out of primary school for a long time. I studied art and photography at University at BA and MA level. I haven’t had to think about the history of England for a long time, I don’t spend my free time doing science experiments and I do not need to think about the specific type of word I use when writing a sentence. This is what I tell myself when I feel overwhelmed or doubt my ability to teach. I know I will be a great teacher – and I know it will require a lot of work.

Will it be worth it? I am absolutely sure it will be. I am excited, nervous and a little scared to continue on this journey and I hope this blog will help me with these feelings of nerves. Maybe I will also help others in this situation. I do not know where this blog will go (or whether it will go anywhere, it could just be a personal journal that only I read) but either way I am happy to publish my journey and thoughts online. (I am sure there will be a lot of cheesy endings to blog posts on here – that’s just the kind of person I am!)


Take care, I’ll see you next time.

– R

Hello!

Posted on by rebekahkitchell

Good Evening.

I was going to write an introductory blog post here today. Instead, I have created an ‘about’ page, which has all the information you may want to know about this blog and my reasons for creating it.

Please view this page here.