In pursuit of Health, Wealth and Happiness

Tete_en_l'Air

The thing is, I'm not at all bad with numeracy and literacy (and I suspect this is a recent test because I'm a hell of a lot better than most of the teachers I encounter!) but the pressure of the situation will put me off!

Birdie85

Tete_en_l'Air wrote: »

Birdie, how did you get on with a Gaga outfit? I did a quick google image search for inspiration but nothing seemed THAT outlandish, apart from a Kermit dress, which I actually loved. Did you know there are Gaga Barbies (I'm sure you did!)?

I'd love the Gaga Barbies, sadly they're special one-offs so not for general sale. No outfit sorted, rang my SIL last night and she's suffering with morning sickness (bless her) and really can't be bothered thinking about anything so we're just going to go dressed normally. Boring! Going to hit Claire's for some tacky accessories to funk it up though, and I'll get a load of glow sticks... just because I love them!

Good luck with the numeracy stuff, I've always been so bad at maths, I still can't do long devision! I'm going to have to re-learn it all (and hope it sticks this time...) so I can help my kids do their homework!

Well done sticking to the Shred, can you move your arms properly now?!

Lara44

Hey Tete

So glad to find your thread here. Your summary was really moving, and I thought Dinah's post was spot on when she said that you're funny, intelligent, lovely, kind and interesting. Hope you're blushing now :rotfl:

I can't believe you're thinking of teaching!!! If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. My parents are retired teachers of the jaded kind. Their talk about teaching was roughly nine negative words to one positive. I don't know if it's just them, but do take the negative friend's moans seriously. Then use your work experience to see if those issues will be relevant / bearable or not. In my view there's nothing to be gained in denial of any kind. A different, stronger kind of confidence about a decision comes from honest research and evaluation. I am aware that my goal to become a researcher is wildly ambitious given the amount of posts / experience needed / years spent skint trying to publish before getting interviews for f/t jobs / scarcity of post-doc money / declining Universities. Plus when I get there there's the politics and paperwork to look forward to. I will still love that job warts and all, but I feel better having checked there are no deal-breakers in there.

Might it also be interesting to keep an eye on the job market around you until next year? You never know what might come up that you might like to apply for. And if everything looks horrible you will be more certain about the path towards teaching. Anyway apologies for the unsolicited advice I am sure that you'll be very successful in securing a place and have no doubt that you will be a dedicated teacher with a lot invested in her pupils.

So glad to read the update about your Dad. Hugs!

Lara x

shrimpy_80

Hi Lara, I think that is very sound advice. I also think you get a different picture from older generation teachers as they have seen so many changes to the system, whereas younger generation teachers don't know any different.

I wasn't actually going to mention this in case it (wrongly) sounded negative, but I actually did start a PGCE around 5 years ago, but never completed. In my case though it was circumstance as opposed to the career path itself though so please don't be deterred! My experience in schools was very positive, and in particular my observations in Primary school (I did Secondary but this was a requirement).

Anyway, I decided to mention it for positive reasons, believe it or not! The QTS skills tests really aren't that bad. I did English as my degree but actually found the numeracy slightly easier than the literacy, but neither were as bad as I feared. (I'm assuming it hasn't changed of course). I wouldn't say they are easy, but they certainly aren't awful. I don't think you can do them before starting the course, but you can retake as often as you need to, and must pass before the end of the course to move on to NQT status. My course was a SCITT (mainly based in school, no idea if these even run any more) so slightly different but my advice would be to book and sit them asap to get them out of the way. You can sit them separately but I did mine at the same time. I hadn't done my theory test at that point but looking back now as I remember they were fairly similar. Please don't panic about them!

Kepp

A lot of the teaching stuff is going over my head but well done Tete for really getting on with finding out what you need to know/do.

And very well done for starting shredding again and losing 5lbs!

I'm back on dieting again as from today - I few times over the weekend I accidentally ate a McDonalds, a Chinese and some chocolate

Kittikins

The QTS have changed this year (just our luck) - you can now only retake twice, and then are excluded for a year (or was it 2? somewhere on the TDA website it says what to do) before you can take it again.

You also have to have applied for a course before you can sit the tests and have to have passed the QTS tests before you can start your PGCE.

Phew!

ruby_eskimo

Well done on the weightloss Tete! My scales have decided to stop working but I think I have definitely lost a little bit. Just need to up the exercise now as well as the healthy eating.

My mum is a cover supervisor in a primary school (basically she takes lessons when the teachers are doing their paperwork and is an LSA the rest of the time). I wouldn't say she hates it, but it has it's good and bad days. She's been in quite a few schools now (both primary and secondary) and it all depends on the type of children you have and the head teacher as well. I'm sure you'll do fine, and with being a teacher, you can go anywhere! One of my friends did languages at uni and she was the last person you ever thought would be a teacher. But now she's a French and Spanish teacher in a secondary school with views to move to South America to teach at an international school.

I'm rambling because I have to use a colleagues computer to do a quick report but my boss is still here. She told him not to let me do it because she doesn't trust me to get it right, but he asked me to do it anyway before he went on annual leave. She can be a bit strange and I can't handle to confrontation if she sees me doing it!

Tete_en_l'Air

I have just done the numeracy practice test and got 64% ... pass mark is 63% - eeep!

BUT. There were things on there that I've never even heard of (whisker diagrams??) and for a couple of the questions I had the workings right, but somehow ended up with a decimal point in the wrong place or something silly like that. So hopefully with a bit of revision I can make it a more comfortable pass.

Got 81% for literacy thank goodness (also 63% pass mark).

Tete_en_l'Air

Phew, have had SUCH a tiring day packing up the office ready for the move, really could do without it as I have so much work on at the mo. But I HAVE thought of a way I might be able to share my workload with workshy colleague - I'm a bit of a control freak and don't like to pass responsibility to anyone else but have thought of a way it might work - fingers crossed!

Birdie, could you even just get a massive bow for your hair or something, I think you need to make a gesture?!

I must confess re. the Shred: I swapped the press up bit for crunches Press ups make me pull all the little muscles around my ... decolletage I suppose, and it's so horrible and not worth it IMO. Arms are much better now but still feel like they're being toned from the weights.

Lara! Lovely to see you (I did blush!), and I've just remembered I promised you an old laptop before I went on hols, then promptly forgot all about it! So sorry! How was your trip?

Thank you for keeping me grounded. Of course, if I have any bad feeling on work experience then I will think long and hard, but at the moment I've weighed up the pros and cons (hypothetical ones of course) and the only thing that's making me nervous is fear itself if that makes sense. Yes I'm sure there'll be good days and bad and peaks and troughs throughout the academic year ... but I just keep thinking of my current position and there's so much stress and hard work and late nights involved yet none of the job satisfaction, it leaves me cold and I don't think I have anything to lose by trying something new.

Thanks Shrimpy - it's an interesting point about the different generations of teachers - I certainly see divides in the feedback we get at work for the courses we run (have I mentioned I currently co-ordinate CPD courses for the education sector?) What did you end up doing career-wise in the end (sorry if you've mentioned and I've forgotten)?

Hi Beccie - I had a Chinese on Saturday night too - you can still make sensible-ish choices. I tend to have some sort of chicken and veg dish with boiled rice (not the whole carton!) if I'm watching my weight. Something with noodles or fried rice and a whole bag of prawn crackers to myself if I'm not! Man I love those prawn crackers!!

Hi Kitty, thanks for the clarification - I found that part on the DfE site tonight and you're absolutely right. The first sitting is free, though it doesn't say how much a resit is. Nice incentive to get revising though!! How did you get on with your tests? Did DD crack the whip?

Hi Ruby, thanks for the insight from your Mum - yep that def seems to be the way - get a good Head and you're sorted! Did you manage to get the report done? Nice of your boss to have so much faith in you - are you going to see her glowing reaction to it then tell her it was you?

Tete_en_l'Air

So, my update for today:

Health - I have Shredded (Day 4/30) and all the heaving of boxes burned a fair few calories too so I've been able to eat a couple of extra things today.

Wealth - I've had a NSD and, ummm, found 3p in a drawer at work

Happiness - Had a go at the practice tests and I also printed out a year planner and marked on the school holidays so I can start to plan timescales (it's a start, no?)

Now I'm off to fall asleep in front of The Killing DVD, I'm shattered!