Supply teaching

Advantages: Well paid, can work when you want, no planning
Disadvantages: Behaviour, unpaid holidays, lack of social side

...I have been doing supply teaching for over a year now. I thought I?d write about my experiences and give some advice to those who might be thinking of supply work. BACKGROUND: I trained to be a teacher in 2006-7. I had never wanted to be a teacher, it was never something I always dreamed of being. I had always planned to be a lawyer. However, after studying History at university I knew that I wanted to work with the subject. I went on to do a Masters in museum studies and thought seriously about working in that field but the money was really bad and there were a lot of people trying to get very few jobs. I took a year out to think and to earn some money. The ex-Mr Tart wanted to go into teaching (he was also a historian) and I thought that seeing as I wanted to work in History there were worse things I could do. Not...

tartlette83 06.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of Supply Teaching

Teaching for Beginners

Advantages: Great all round assessment of skills
Disadvantages: None

...This book would make a great introduction for anyone considering taking up a career in teaching, or interested in acquiring skills that would help them in their Teacher Training coursework. In fact, I suspect it may already be a set work, if not, it should be. The chapters cover the following topics: Developing your teaching skills Planning and preparation Lesson presentation Lesson management Classroom climate Discipline Assessing pupil's progress Reflection and Evaluation. It is all presented in a no-nonsense way, with the emphasis on developing and evaluating practical skills acquired during teaching practice. This is firmly backed up with constant reference to other textbooks and teaching theory. For example, lesson management is considered from the point of view of the experienced teacher who knows from past...

aspebbles 18.01.2009 (20.01.2009) · Read review
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Review of Essential Teaching Skills - Chris Kyriacou

Do you want to teach

Advantages: Ultimately satisfying in the long run
Disadvantages: Can be gruelling, tiring and pressured hard work

...Ok – I know that some of you are by now fed up of my constant references to teaching (and languages) but a couple of people out there have actually followed-up the teaching bit of my random personality as they have aspirations of becoming a teacher themselves (good luck to them – I would always encourage people to go for it!). In this case, what I propose is a quick run down of the basic training you need to go through in order to get qualified as a teacher in secondary education (sorry, but I can’t comment on the primary sector). THE BASICS First things first though, before we even get to the qualifications bit – before becoming a teacher you have to ask yourself some basic but obvious questions. Amongst others, you have to ask yourself if you see yourself actually ‘being’ a teacher...

julietta 28.08.2001 (30.08.2001) · Read review
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Review of Teaching

Primary teaching

Advantages: interesting, enjoyable, rewarding, fun
Disadvantages: huge workload, irritating children

...I am in the fourth and final year of my teaching degree, which will qualify me to teach in both a primary and secondary school setting although my specialist subject is ICT. As part of my teacher training I have spent two placements teaching in Primary Schools and two teaching in Secondary Schools. This review will take a look at what it is actually like teaching in a Primary School based on my experience. My first primary placement was for several weeks in a year three class in Portslade. All pupils were from a very socially deprived area. My second primary placement was in a school in Hastings where the children were also from a socially deprived area. Curriculum & Planning The primary curriculum can be quite enjoyable to teach although planning in a primary school is exhausting. Being with a class all day means that you end...

ilusvm 10.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of What is it really like to teach in a primary school today?

Lifting the lid on bad science in the media

Advantages: Fascinating insight into media manipulation and disinformation
Disadvantages: Hard to read at times

...INTRODUCTION Ms Larsbaby pointed me in the direction of this book which a friend of hers had read. The point of the book seemed to be to debunk myths around science and in particular the "pseudo-science" peddled by groups as diverse as nutritionists and journalists. Famous health stories would be examined in detail and taken apart where appropriate. My interest piqued, I had a look to see what all the fuss was about. BRAIN GYMS, HOMEOPATHY AND NUTRITION The author's targets in the book for peddlers of bad science are many and varied. He highlights some well known cases to highlight his point, though is at pains to point out that many other people are just as bad. The book examines the Brain Gym initiative, promoted in schools as a way to improve children's results, but what is it actually based on? The findings...

larsbaby 03.12.2009 · Read review
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Review of Bad Science - Ben Goldacre

  Teaching, part of life's rich tapestry.

Advantages: Satisfaction, holidays, pay
Disadvantages: Some snotty parents, ribbing about holidays

...'t think of anything else to do and, as you went to school once, you feel that therefore you know all about teaching; or fancy a nice little earner whilst you study. You will really struggle. ~But I DO want to do it~ OK, so you feel it is in your veins. Great! Congratulations! You are on the first rung towards a very satisfying goal. First you need qualifications. You don't have to be the cleverest person in your year to be a teacher; in fact it is often the case that people who have found everything really easy find teaching hard because they don't truely understand what it means to not understand; however you must be reasonably bright, particularly in today's teaching climate, to be able to handle the demands made. You need a C or above at GCSE in Maths, English and Sciences, and A' levels in suitable subjects, (I think most are...

Mini_Minx 03.08.2004 · Read review
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Review of Teaching

Teaching me ECDL? Well, sort of...

Advantages: Clear instructions, Interactive, Inexpensive
Disadvantages: Variable sound quality, Uses older version of Office

...Over the last three months (November 2007 to February 2008), I have been using my spare time to study for my European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL - for more details see my previous review, "I've passed my driving test"). One of the great advantages of this course is its flexibility, which meant I was free to teach myself the syllabus using materials of my choice, rather than attend classes, be formally tutored by distance learning, or have to buy expensive set texts. This made gaining the qualification a good deal cheaper for me, and meant I could work at my own pace rather than the pace of someone else's course. I also felt I had sufficient prior knowledge to be able to teach myself the bits I didn't know or was less confidant about. I bought myself a textbook ("The Complete Coursebook for Office 2000" for £15, currently £20, see...

Collingwood21 23.03.2008 · Read review
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Review of Teaching You ECDL

Teaching For Dummies

Advantages: challenging and gratifying
Disadvantages: not very well paid and tiring

...I have been teaching languages for children, teenagers and adults in private language schools for almost five years. I have also taught in a public school for a very short time just after the university. One of the best things you can use in the teaching profession is a genuine interest. One of the worst things you can possess, and more so if you are thinking of teaching children or teenagers, are illusions. Young children might be innocent, but they are essentially disorganized, their attention is often distracted, and some of them are lazy. For all that, they usually love you. Working with children from 5 to 9 years old is enormously gratifying if you are good at explaining simple things in a simple way and playing games. They love games, and they usually learn fast. Try not to be false or tense, be cheerful and relaxed, be firm...

happy_hamster 24.03.2001 · Read review
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Review of Teaching

Primary teaching in Scotland (male probationer)

Advantages: Holidays, better pay than you'd think, relatively short wkg hrs overall
Disadvantages: Long hours at times, time constraints...

...Having always wanted to pursue a career in teaching I'm delighted to say I've realised my dream and I'm very happy to share my thoughts and views on the profession with you now. Having studied social sciences at the University of Glasgow (so as to allow me to teach in a secondary school if I wanted to at the end of my degree) I decided to apply for the PGCE course in primary teaching at Glasgow. Firstly, I decided to go down the primary route because I really wanted to have one class to focus on for a whole year, each and every year, as opposed to teaching a variety of classes in one day as is the norm in the secondary sector. Furthermore, it is a common misconception that secondary school teachers get paid more than their primary school counterparts. Let me set the record straight and tell you that unpromoted teachers in both...

The_Honest_Truth2006 09.11.2006 · Read review
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Review of Teaching

Not Weird Science - Bad Science

Advantages: debunking some of medicine's myths & misinformations, funny read
Disadvantages: man on a mission and with an agenda but who can blame him

...Ben Goldacre is the very outspoken mouthpiece against really rubbish claims made by modern medicine or television charlatans. He is a medical doctor and journalist with a column in the Guardian newspaper with an uncanny bullsh*t detector second to none. I can?t remember when I first came across his ways of thinking but it must have been when I was looking for an answer to Gillian McKeith, a woman that makes my neck hair stand on end, someone I find appalling to the n-th degree. Lately I have seen him voice his opinion on London?s 6 o?clock news regarding LBC?s Jenni Barnett and her rather stupid musings on the MMR back in January and the other week on Watchdog when he was asked what he thought about some modern detox products. I bought the ?Bad Science? paperback when I was ordering a number of books from Amazon quite a few months back...

Tempus_Fugit 13.04.2009 · Read review
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Review of Bad Science - Ben Goldacre