Yes September the 5th I start my Graduate Teacher Programme at Pool Hayes Arts and Community School with Newman University Birmingham. I finally got qualified (it only took 7 years!!!!) and I got a place at one of the countries outstanding training providers in the UK with a salary and training grant. So what a great 6months I have had.
I went through a lengthy process to get where I am now and some of you reading this may want to go into the teaching profession like myself. I will be posting some posts on the whole application process.
My posts will cover
What is the difference between a PGCE and a GTP?
Which one is best for me?
Putting together a strong personal statement and CV.
Looking for a PGCE course.
Finding GTP providers.
The September 2012 GTTR application.
Interviews.
Presentations
Plan B
Plan C!!
GTP providers and the TDA
Making the right choice
Paperwork
GTC application
These are just a few areas that I will write about. I hope you find it useful as all of this was overwhelming when I first started to apply for courses. I also know that it is time consuming and difficult to motivate yourself into doing as most of you will be completing your degree. However if you don't you will be too late as these courses and places get snapped up before you know it, believe me it happened to me.
I will be posting soon, take care
:-)
Friday 22 July 2011
Graduation
So graduation day was a success I didn't get to wet and I didn't fall over. It was fab, everyone looked great and should be very proud of themselves.
So my degree is over, and I got the what I deserved as I worked very hard. I had one goal and I reached it, so I have proved that a little determination and time can get you what you want. For me it was a 1st Class Honours.
So what come's next, you will have to watch this space......................................................................................................................
So my degree is over, and I got the what I deserved as I worked very hard. I had one goal and I reached it, so I have proved that a little determination and time can get you what you want. For me it was a 1st Class Honours.
So what come's next, you will have to watch this space......................................................................................................................
Thursday 7 April 2011
Sunday 23 January 2011
Saturday 8 January 2011
The End is Very Near
Firstly, Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.
Well that was a stressful 4 months. I can honestly say I wasn't expecting a dissertation, a job, months of applications for a GTP & a PGCE and interviews all at the same time would be that hard!!
Initially I knew it would be difficult as I have never had to produce a dissertation before, however it wasn't really 12,000 words now was it. Mine totalled to 18,000 after contents, references, appendix, learning logs and comments. I didn't think that all of the preparation and applications for PGCE & GTP's would be that difficult, but they are, and they are time consuming. They then lead to interviews where presentations need to be planned.
So four months of hard graft. Done.
So what next?
Presentation. I am still unsure whether I will be presenting mine in person or over the phone, as I have some interviews coming up for my GTP and could be unlucky if they happen to fall on the same day. So, as I don't know the dates of any I have to prepare for a presentation anyway!! Fun.
It's hard to believe that its over. Where did the last year go?
Abbi
Well that was a stressful 4 months. I can honestly say I wasn't expecting a dissertation, a job, months of applications for a GTP & a PGCE and interviews all at the same time would be that hard!!
Initially I knew it would be difficult as I have never had to produce a dissertation before, however it wasn't really 12,000 words now was it. Mine totalled to 18,000 after contents, references, appendix, learning logs and comments. I didn't think that all of the preparation and applications for PGCE & GTP's would be that difficult, but they are, and they are time consuming. They then lead to interviews where presentations need to be planned.
So four months of hard graft. Done.
So what next?
Presentation. I am still unsure whether I will be presenting mine in person or over the phone, as I have some interviews coming up for my GTP and could be unlucky if they happen to fall on the same day. So, as I don't know the dates of any I have to prepare for a presentation anyway!! Fun.
It's hard to believe that its over. Where did the last year go?
Abbi
Wednesday 5 January 2011
Log 4- Critical reflection on your learning across the BAPP course
Since enrolling on the BA Honours Professional Practice course in September 2009 I have learnt and experienced a variety of things. The course has taught me a lot about myself, the way I learn and respond. I am a kinaesthetic learner however throughout the course I have been allowed to develop and my confidence has increased and now feel I have more to offer in the academic field.
When I graduated from the Northern Ballet School in 2004 I went on to Preston College to complete my dance teaching diplomas with the ISTD. It was at Preston where I developed an increasing passion for teaching. I soon realised that I could not develop my skills or future in teaching without a PGCE which requires a degree. This is the pure reason for enrolling on the course and I feel it has given me the skills required for teaching in the future.
Looking back to September 2009, I had no idea what the course would consist of and I was concerned that it would be to demanding as it had been a while since I had undertook any academic writing. I had no idea what long distance learning would actually be and I was surprised how easy and enjoyable it was to learn from home and to deliver work within the specific deadlines.
On the first Cat Hill Campus session we met the advisors and other students on the course. We were informed that we would be required to set up a Blog. At the time I did not know what a Blog was and was unsure about whether I was going to be able to use one. However after a shaky start to the session I set up my blog and started “blogging”. I appreciated that work could be posted and shared with advisors and peers. This contact is how we would all communicate and learn about each other over the duration of the course.
In the first term, we were tasked to write a CV and write about people who inspired us. This was really helpful as I got used to writing again. The lectures were very helpful and it created opportunities to meet the other students and have discussions about the work, these I feel enable the tasks to be carried out to a high standard as they had been discussed.
Later on in the year I learned how to write indifferent styles. The main styles practiced were academic, descriptive and marketing. Academic style was the style that I needed to practice the most and I feel that I have come a long way from my previous writing style as when I look back at my work over the year I can see how I have improved. This has been beneficial outside of university as I have recently had to write a personal statement for my PGCE application and an essay on my teaching experiences.
The second term was focused on a project proposal in preparation for my research project. It was this term where I had to decide my project area and come up with suitable titles for my project. The module was designed for us to research different types of research methods; once we had learned different types of research methods we could decide what methods would be appropriate for our research project.
The project proposal was the base for my research project, and the feedback from advisors and peers enabled me to produce my research project to the best of my ability.
The third term was a very different term; it was the term where everything I had learnt over the duration of the course would come together. Writing my 12,000 word dissertation was a rollercoaster of emotions. I had moments where I loved writing it for example conducting my focus group, and them moments where I was frustrated with it, when I had applications for PGCE courses and an increased work load and couldn’t find time to do it.
I found the third term the toughest as time management and organisational skills were really important, and even though I did take time to plan my dissertation I did not realise how easy it was to go off plan. I was however able to discover findings that will benefit my work and found that I would like to do some more research on women and body image.
I have learnt a vast amount on the Work Based Learning course and I feel that it is a course designed for very type of learner; I also think that it is cleverly designed in which it accommodates people in the arts and students that are rarely in the country. I am grateful for the support from my advisors and fellow students and I feel that I have developed as a person and as a learner. I feel my progress through the course has been consistent as I aimed to improve in each module and get the desired result I wished for the day I enrolled on the course.
When I graduated from the Northern Ballet School in 2004 I went on to Preston College to complete my dance teaching diplomas with the ISTD. It was at Preston where I developed an increasing passion for teaching. I soon realised that I could not develop my skills or future in teaching without a PGCE which requires a degree. This is the pure reason for enrolling on the course and I feel it has given me the skills required for teaching in the future.
Looking back to September 2009, I had no idea what the course would consist of and I was concerned that it would be to demanding as it had been a while since I had undertook any academic writing. I had no idea what long distance learning would actually be and I was surprised how easy and enjoyable it was to learn from home and to deliver work within the specific deadlines.
On the first Cat Hill Campus session we met the advisors and other students on the course. We were informed that we would be required to set up a Blog. At the time I did not know what a Blog was and was unsure about whether I was going to be able to use one. However after a shaky start to the session I set up my blog and started “blogging”. I appreciated that work could be posted and shared with advisors and peers. This contact is how we would all communicate and learn about each other over the duration of the course.
In the first term, we were tasked to write a CV and write about people who inspired us. This was really helpful as I got used to writing again. The lectures were very helpful and it created opportunities to meet the other students and have discussions about the work, these I feel enable the tasks to be carried out to a high standard as they had been discussed.
Later on in the year I learned how to write indifferent styles. The main styles practiced were academic, descriptive and marketing. Academic style was the style that I needed to practice the most and I feel that I have come a long way from my previous writing style as when I look back at my work over the year I can see how I have improved. This has been beneficial outside of university as I have recently had to write a personal statement for my PGCE application and an essay on my teaching experiences.
The second term was focused on a project proposal in preparation for my research project. It was this term where I had to decide my project area and come up with suitable titles for my project. The module was designed for us to research different types of research methods; once we had learned different types of research methods we could decide what methods would be appropriate for our research project.
The project proposal was the base for my research project, and the feedback from advisors and peers enabled me to produce my research project to the best of my ability.
The third term was a very different term; it was the term where everything I had learnt over the duration of the course would come together. Writing my 12,000 word dissertation was a rollercoaster of emotions. I had moments where I loved writing it for example conducting my focus group, and them moments where I was frustrated with it, when I had applications for PGCE courses and an increased work load and couldn’t find time to do it.
I found the third term the toughest as time management and organisational skills were really important, and even though I did take time to plan my dissertation I did not realise how easy it was to go off plan. I was however able to discover findings that will benefit my work and found that I would like to do some more research on women and body image.
I have learnt a vast amount on the Work Based Learning course and I feel that it is a course designed for very type of learner; I also think that it is cleverly designed in which it accommodates people in the arts and students that are rarely in the country. I am grateful for the support from my advisors and fellow students and I feel that I have developed as a person and as a learner. I feel my progress through the course has been consistent as I aimed to improve in each module and get the desired result I wished for the day I enrolled on the course.
Log 3- Summary of main findings
The main findings are that pole dancing is riding a wave of popularity as a form of exercise to increase fitness. Within the classes and competitions there seems to be a mutual understanding that different women want different things out of pole dancing. Pole dancing burns calories, tones body muscles, increases flexibility and improves fitness. No matter what shape, age, size or fitness level, pole dancing is for everyone.
However its place as a sport is not yet clear, there is no clear definition of what constitutes a sport and people’s views are varied and often dependant on their personal experiences. Even so due to professed ideas, pole dancing continues to be seen as somewhat injurious to women, whether this is due to inappropriate endorsement or old fashioned views, pole dancing is finding it difficult to dispose of its reputation. Nevertheless, women are still willing to participate with belief that it can build their confidence.
However its place as a sport is not yet clear, there is no clear definition of what constitutes a sport and people’s views are varied and often dependant on their personal experiences. Even so due to professed ideas, pole dancing continues to be seen as somewhat injurious to women, whether this is due to inappropriate endorsement or old fashioned views, pole dancing is finding it difficult to dispose of its reputation. Nevertheless, women are still willing to participate with belief that it can build their confidence.
Log 2-Reflections on working collaboratively using Google Docs
Google Docs is a great way to store and share documents, and in that sense it is very similar to Delicious. You can choose what you wish to upload whether it’s saved work from your computer, USB or simply from the internet. Once you have chosen what you want and completed the upload into Google Docs it stays safe in your own library.
I have been using Google Docs to store my personal data and excerpts of my own work e.g. copies of my dissertation chapters and PGCE applications, whereas I have been storing information not directly from myself on Delicious. Why? Well to be honest I am more than happy to be bookmarking and sharing work that has been published by somebody else, it was their personal choice to make it accessible to people worldwide and benefit someone else’s learning. After all I have personally learnt a lot from bookmarking and sharing myself, however I’m not entirely comfortable with sharing my work. Reasons being I feel that my work is something I have created and spent many hours writing and is a reflection of me and my capabilities. I therefore am not comfortable with sharing examples of my work with people that I don’t know when I can’t guarantee that it’s going to benefit them. My work is not at a stage where I am completely satisfied with it yet, it is still developing because I am still developing my skills. I am a perfectionist and a performer; I think it’s natural not to want to submit anything that isn’t perfect to a public I don’t know.
I have however shared my personal work with Danielle Stacey. Danielle and I started collaborating via our personal emails as this was more personal than commenting on the blog and our hotmail was something that we both accessed on a daily basis, as we both agreed that visiting our blogs took more time than reading personal emails as we both tended to start visiting other peoples sites which is time consuming.
At the heart of Google Docs is a wiki a collaborative or shared document that people can edit, add, subtract or contribute to the development of a document. The most popular wiki is Wikipedia and this online encyclopaedia brings together users from around the world, therefore there is no one editor as it is edited by the community. I recently contributed to a wiki shared by some members of the BAPP course about “What does professional practice mean?” This was a way of reading how people define professional practice and broaden the minds of others.
Overall I was dubious about setting up Google docs because of time however If in the future I carry out further research, I will endeavour to use Google Docs and I will use the time to make the most of the applications.
I have been using Google Docs to store my personal data and excerpts of my own work e.g. copies of my dissertation chapters and PGCE applications, whereas I have been storing information not directly from myself on Delicious. Why? Well to be honest I am more than happy to be bookmarking and sharing work that has been published by somebody else, it was their personal choice to make it accessible to people worldwide and benefit someone else’s learning. After all I have personally learnt a lot from bookmarking and sharing myself, however I’m not entirely comfortable with sharing my work. Reasons being I feel that my work is something I have created and spent many hours writing and is a reflection of me and my capabilities. I therefore am not comfortable with sharing examples of my work with people that I don’t know when I can’t guarantee that it’s going to benefit them. My work is not at a stage where I am completely satisfied with it yet, it is still developing because I am still developing my skills. I am a perfectionist and a performer; I think it’s natural not to want to submit anything that isn’t perfect to a public I don’t know.
I have however shared my personal work with Danielle Stacey. Danielle and I started collaborating via our personal emails as this was more personal than commenting on the blog and our hotmail was something that we both accessed on a daily basis, as we both agreed that visiting our blogs took more time than reading personal emails as we both tended to start visiting other peoples sites which is time consuming.
At the heart of Google Docs is a wiki a collaborative or shared document that people can edit, add, subtract or contribute to the development of a document. The most popular wiki is Wikipedia and this online encyclopaedia brings together users from around the world, therefore there is no one editor as it is edited by the community. I recently contributed to a wiki shared by some members of the BAPP course about “What does professional practice mean?” This was a way of reading how people define professional practice and broaden the minds of others.
Overall I was dubious about setting up Google docs because of time however If in the future I carry out further research, I will endeavour to use Google Docs and I will use the time to make the most of the applications.
Log 1 - Commentary on sharing resources using delicious
Delicious is a social bookmarking site, social bookmarking allows you to share the
bookmarks you would normally keep to yourself on your internet browser. Delicious
enables you to store, and best of all share useful resources and information that you
have chosen to bookmark. Once you have bookmarked the sites they are visible to your chosen network of friends. Delicious makes it quick and easy to access as there is a clear, direct link to the websites that you have stored; you can also personalise your bookmarks with tags so that they are organised into categories for example Research Methods, Dissertation & Literature.
At first I was slightly apprehensive about setting up a Delicious account as anything that requires me to set something up on a computer scares me as without a demonstration. I personally think I am hopeless with computers, however the module handbook has a guide on how to set a Delicious account up and Danielle Stacey attached a video link on her blog with a video off you tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeBmvDpVbWc. I was apprehensive about setting up a Delicious account because in order to have one you have to have a Yahoo account. I didn’t wish to have another email account as I already have two email addresses and I didn’t think it was necessary to have three as it was going to be another username and password that I needed to remember. Nevertheless regardless of my initial negative thoughts I set up my Yahoo account and chose my Delicious username.
To begin with I felt that the majority of my network were bookmarking their specific project topics like “Confidence in children” and “Social skills in children” so I started to bookmark my own dissertation subject, I realised that although I find peoples dissertation subjects interesting to read I didn’t find it directly relevant to my learning. I started to find myself indulging and spending too much time reading articles and documents on topics that are nice to know, but not relevant to my learning. However, recently I feel people have started to share some really useful documents such a Michelle Wallbanks who has shared many documents on “Mixed Method Approach”, I have found these really useful as although I had done sufficient amounts of research on mixed methods what she found read a lot easier which is perfect for my learning style as complicated text I find harder to digest.
I have found Delicious useful, as before I knew about Delicious I was copy and pasting the URL address next to text about the site which of course is time consuming and easy for errors to occur. Whereas Delicious won’t delete any sites unless you physically request it to. I also find it efficient as I can access all of my bookmarks and those created by other people via any computer or phone providing there is an internet connection. This has given me the freedom to access all my bookmarks in one place without the need of being directed continuously to a number of different sites.
On the whole I think Delicious is clever and it is easy to use when you learn how to set it up! I think it will be a site that I will start to love when I get totally clued up on how to use it to its full potential. For now I will use it as a work library and give my USB a holiday for a little while.
bookmarks you would normally keep to yourself on your internet browser. Delicious
enables you to store, and best of all share useful resources and information that you
have chosen to bookmark. Once you have bookmarked the sites they are visible to your chosen network of friends. Delicious makes it quick and easy to access as there is a clear, direct link to the websites that you have stored; you can also personalise your bookmarks with tags so that they are organised into categories for example Research Methods, Dissertation & Literature.
At first I was slightly apprehensive about setting up a Delicious account as anything that requires me to set something up on a computer scares me as without a demonstration. I personally think I am hopeless with computers, however the module handbook has a guide on how to set a Delicious account up and Danielle Stacey attached a video link on her blog with a video off you tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeBmvDpVbWc. I was apprehensive about setting up a Delicious account because in order to have one you have to have a Yahoo account. I didn’t wish to have another email account as I already have two email addresses and I didn’t think it was necessary to have three as it was going to be another username and password that I needed to remember. Nevertheless regardless of my initial negative thoughts I set up my Yahoo account and chose my Delicious username.
To begin with I felt that the majority of my network were bookmarking their specific project topics like “Confidence in children” and “Social skills in children” so I started to bookmark my own dissertation subject, I realised that although I find peoples dissertation subjects interesting to read I didn’t find it directly relevant to my learning. I started to find myself indulging and spending too much time reading articles and documents on topics that are nice to know, but not relevant to my learning. However, recently I feel people have started to share some really useful documents such a Michelle Wallbanks who has shared many documents on “Mixed Method Approach”, I have found these really useful as although I had done sufficient amounts of research on mixed methods what she found read a lot easier which is perfect for my learning style as complicated text I find harder to digest.
I have found Delicious useful, as before I knew about Delicious I was copy and pasting the URL address next to text about the site which of course is time consuming and easy for errors to occur. Whereas Delicious won’t delete any sites unless you physically request it to. I also find it efficient as I can access all of my bookmarks and those created by other people via any computer or phone providing there is an internet connection. This has given me the freedom to access all my bookmarks in one place without the need of being directed continuously to a number of different sites.
On the whole I think Delicious is clever and it is easy to use when you learn how to set it up! I think it will be a site that I will start to love when I get totally clued up on how to use it to its full potential. For now I will use it as a work library and give my USB a holiday for a little while.
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