My first offical job interview

WOW, I applied thinking "not a chance in hell" and I get shortlisted.....While I am proud and very pleased at being given this opportunity I am scared to death. I started prepping and I am a firm believer in the more prep you do the better chances you have, but how do I prep for something I have never had any experience off?

I start using the web, if in doubt ask google, It is very helpful and I start to collect my thoughts on things such as "what are my teaching methods "how will I ensure equality in my classroom" I am starting to panic, I will never feel confident in any of this stuff (I am certain) but all I can do is give it my best. I have to provide a lesson plan for 60 minutes and provide a 20 minute micro teach on a subject which is a little out of my league "health and safety in  a care environment" so I again researched the subject and became enlightened.

Seems I know more about the field than I thought, I mean I did work in a care environment for 10 years.  so lesson all prepped I just have to read up and learn enough to get me through, again I think it is nerves which are holding me back. I found a helpful site which has guided me in my preparation https://targetjobs.co.uk/career-sectors/teaching-and-education/330747-perform-your-best-in-your-teaching-interview and even if I don't get the position I am very grateful for having the opportunity to just attend the interview as it is all great practise.

But promise you wont let my secret out...... I know I can rely on you lot..

Review of Learning with E's Blogging!

I spent a good few nights sat at my desk in the dark with just the only light coming from my screen to illuminate my face, looking for a good blog which I felt would be useful to me in my teaching  endeavour. There were so many to plough through (almost like a needle in a haystack), lots of  good pictures, catchy titles and great information but nothing really got me locked in. Until one night just by chance I stumble into this page  I am hooked. He uses all the right buzz words for me and my brain.

Steve Wheeler  states "I'm working through the alphabet of psychologists and theorists, providing a brief overview of each theory, and how it can be applied in education" and this fits perfectly with my outlook on teaching, I love theory and so need to read more on it but just don't have time, now I can read one post a day and all will be revealed.

The blog is set up in such a easy to use way and even has the options to change the design and layout which I think make it so interactive and for my dyslexic issues it makes it easy to read (as I can change the options which suit me best). He looks at how effective are the P L E 's and has posts regarding  the future of technology in education which can be seen here. Every post I come across I find I am super involved and just wish to know more for example what is digital learning.  The blog not only will be useful to enhance and assist my own teaching skills, but I feel the blog has such amazing insights and information it would be useful for almost anyone. I am very excited to have found his blog and that either makes me need to get out more or fully committed to my new role as an educator in the 21st century. Maybe I should let u decide?

power point of interactivity of power point

So we were asked to do some group work and put together a PowerPoint which showed the interactivity of PowerPoint. We were then asked to blog and embed our PowerPoint within a blog post. While the group work went very well and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know members of my cohort better, I did notice my presentation skills needed a lot of work. I found it easy to put the power point presentation together and enjoyed researching the interactivity of power point. I feel this will be very valuable to my teaching experience as I am able to make my subject interesting and enjoyable for all. I found embedding the PowerPoint into my blog a little more tricky but as I am part of a friendly and helpful group I was able to ask for help. I was shown by another member of the group how to get an embedded code via using Goggle docs.

Is this for me?

Ok so after two weeks of the PECT course I feel very anxious and nervous about my life choices. I am apprehensive if this is the right path for me or have I made a big mistake? The overwhelming feeling of failure (as I have learnt today is a barrier to learning) has got me into a state where I want to turn and run and never look back. After speaking to a few of my friends who have become educators it seems apparent that a feeling of not knowing what you are doing is normal when you first start but it doesn't make it any easier for me right now.

I keep thinking if I didn't care if I was going to be successful within the role or if it didn't matter to me that students do well then that would be a strong indictor that this wasn't for me. But given the facts that I do worry and care, surely shows that I would be suited to this field of work. This complicates things further. I am in panic that my micro teaching will be a blur and no one will have learnt anything at all and that I will feel pure anxiety about my abilities even though I know I am a great planner and will have the session planned methodically. So I decided  to investigate how other trainee educator's have felt to see if I can recognise any of the insecurities that lie within myself.
I found a very useful forum which enables you to have contact with others who are in the same situation and it has a live q & a facility which I found to be very helpful.  There is a  site which has links to the blogs of other trainee educators to. I will keep this thread running for my own purposes and use it as a tool for reflection to hopefully enhance my own experience which in turn may one day be used to inspire others. For now I am happy to research the internal way I feel and the external world in which I now find myself, which is all new and strange.
I also found this Ted talk which made me feel so much better !