The first week of a new career

So I have just finished the first week of my Primary PGCE. It has been an interesting week and I will be very happy if it continues in the same vein for the rest of the year. That is not to say  that I am not extremely tired and brain dead - I am not used to concentrating so hard for 7 hours a day and then coming home and doing another 3-4 hours work (as well as looking after the family)!

So far this week I have had two maths tutorials on calculation (ok so far) and a day of language and literacy which brought back memories of several OU modules! A science tutorial where we melted ice and looked at how to make fruit and vegetables sink or float; a music tutorial and an art tutorial where my comfort levels were severely tested ( I am not artistic in the slightest and being given the word 'jagged' with which to create a collage almost finished me off!), and a history tutorial which I really enjoyed. The lectures have been interesting and I have met a wide spectrum of people - some like me coming from a very different working environments and some straight from their under graduate courses.

I was slightly put out to discover I was the only person in my tutorial group who had children - I am definitely one of the older people on the course but I do feel that gives me some advantages over those who are fresh from under-grad courses. Thankfully my teaching group seems to have a slightly wider range of people, although I am still one of (if not the) oldest.

I am looking forward to finding out next week where my placements will be - this will have a big impact on the rest of the course. There is a lot of work related to placements so it will be very important to get on with my school mentor and the rest of the school.

Monday is a study day and I already have a long list of work that I need to do over the next three days. For every hour at uni, I am supposed to do an hour of self-directed study. I'm not sure there are that many hours in the day! The reading list is about an inch thick! Ah well, they told us today for the English Audit that littel and often is the key - I think I'm changing that to a lot and often. Basically, if I'm not in uni, I should be doing some other work in some way, be it reading or writing an assignment, or preparing for the next tutorial.

So I need to accept that I will have no life for the next year. My family won't see me much; they certainly won't remember that if I'm last home they need to save some food for me! I will be permanently tired and possibly a bit grumpy. Yet I will be learning loads and finally doing the one thing I have always wanted to do.

It will be worth it.