About to start your PGCE? Here's my two pennies

I know a few people about to start their PGCE and I thought that I'd put together my top tips for getting through the year, lots of these are things that looking back now I realise that I should have done. Here they are:

• Don't worry, the PGCE is hard, it takes commitment and dedication but you beat so many people to just get a place on your course, which means that your interviewers saw something in you, they believe that you can do it, you just need to believe that too.
• Bit late for this one now but make the most of your summer - don't worry about reading every possible paper, magazine, article, website etc. Make the most of your friends, your family and having a life. You'll still get to have one during the course but not quite so much all the time! Enjoy it while you can.
• Everything you talk about at uni has a purpose, take it all on board.
• Have a bad day/lesson/observation? You know what, it happens to the best of us, don't beat yourself up, take onboard everything that you've been told, improve on it next time. I promise that if you do that, you'll get better and you'll smash that next one.
• Be organised, don't put things off when they need doing, they're often easier to do sooner rather than later.
• Make the most of your time, that way you don't need to stay up until all hours of the night burning yourself into the ground.
• Don't give up your life, not only is it really important to keep you sane but you don't need to! I started a new relationship half way through my PGCE, spent most weekends with him not doing work and I did just fine - just remember the previous two points!
• Take copies of every piece of planning, every resource etc. that you can from your placement schools, you never know when it'll come in handy. I did this and it's already been great, my school knew, in fact they encouraged it.
• You don't have to waste time reinventing the wheel, if someone else has already done something, use it! Just make sure that you adapt it to fit your class.
• Make the most of your TA, they're there to help you, just don't take advantage of them and make sure you appreciate them.
• If you need help, ask for it. You're learning, you're allowed to not know all the answers!
• Don't spend hours making powerpoints/IWB slides, keep it simple, they don't matter that much and you have better uses for your time.
• No matter how you feel, walk into that classroom like everything is alright in the world and soon, those kids will have you feeling like it is - hopefully!
• When teaching, don't use 100 words when 10 will do, keep it simple!
• When it comes to behaviour, despite what they say you can smile before Christmas but be firm from the start, it's a hell of a lot harder to go back, believe me, I know that from practice.
• Don't assume that children know something you haven't taught them before, you know what they say about when you assume...
• Follow your gut, if something isn't working, scrap it.
• Go with the flow, if the children are taking the lesson in a different direction that still has them learning something, go with it.
• Most of all, be yourself. Don't try and be the mini me of the class teacher, what works for him/her won't necessarily work for you because you're not them. As Judy Garland said - Be a first rate version of your, not a second rate version of someone else.

So they're my top tips, if I think of anything more, I'll add them alter.

The worried mind of an NQT

This past year during my PGCE has been full of highs and lows. I've loved it, I've hated it. I've been outstanding, I've been unsatisfactory (only once thank goodness!). I've laughed, I've cried, I've wanted to give up and I've found the motivation to keep going. I've worked with fantastic teachers, I've worked with some not so fantastic teachers. I've learned a bit more about me, about my style, my way of teaching. I've become more confident in myself and my ability. I've learned what APP, AFL, AfL, CPD, PDP, CEP and what feels like a million other acronyms!

I can't believe that this time last year I was preparing myself to begin my PGCE, full of many of the same nerves and excitement that I have today. The year has flown by in a flash, I feel like I blinked and it was gone. There are some amazing memories that I've got from the past year, some children (and teachers) who I'll never forget and some moments that will be ingrained on my memory for ever but most of it? I can't really remember, it went too quickly, it's all a bit of a blur.

There have been some uni sessions where I've learned so much and others where, well, I might as well have stayed in bed. At least I understand the jargon that comes with teaching now though! It must have all done something though because I feel far more prepared to teach than I did this time last year... but am I REALLY ready?

That's what I keep asking myself at the moment. Not just daily, hourly! A PGCE is one thing, but my NQT year? That's something else! That's my very own class. My very own class to screw up. It's me being accountable to myself, not another class teacher, I am the class teacher. There are some things that absolutely terrify me if I'm honest. The responsibility of having my own class is something that's weighing heavily on my shoulders, I feel like there's so much to mess up, so much to get wrong. All that planning to do, no-one to say plan this. The daily APP for 30 children rather than the occasional APP for 6. The pressure to get it 'right', to please people, to fit in and most of all - to pass my induction year. All the preparing in the world won't help if I'm just not cut out for it. I think I am, I hope to god I am, I just still worry if I really am!

On the other hand, there are some things that I'm really looking forward to this year. I'm looking forward to finally having my own class and my own classroom, being able to do things my way rather than trying to fit the mould of the other teacher. It's my classroom, my displays, my behaviour system, my table lay out. Finally, I'm a real life teacher, not a pretend one in someone else's room with their class! It's going to be amazing to get to really know the children and see them develop over time in a way that you just don't get to during placements. What am I looking forward to most of all? Christmas! Finally, my first Christmas in a school. I'll admit, I get far more excited about Christmas than most, I've already got Christmas activities planned out in my head and even Christmas RE things planned on paper!

I'm stepping out of a rollercoaster year into what is bound to be a year with even more highs and lows, I might struggle but I'm sure as hell going to give it my best shot.