Monthly Archives: September 2011

Preparing for my first school experience placement

MY NOTES FROM THIS MORNING’S LECTURE ON OUR FIRST SCHOOL PLACEMENT “How can we establish a good working relationship with our mentor?” Most of the mentors are very experienced and should know what they must do for us. Do some … Continue reading

Posted in PGCE week #03 | Leave a comment

Lesson plans for PGCE ICT programme

Today we have to submit a two-page lesson plan to our personal tutors. We were free to choose any subject and I choose a database lesson for key stage 3 / year 8. I based mine on a murder-mystery PowerPoint … Continue reading

Posted in PGCE week #03 | 1 Comment

How to copy a CD to an ISO file from the command line (Ubuntu Linux)

Brasero Disk Burner on Ubuntu Linux has a copy disk feature that should allow you to copy a CD / DVD to an ISO file but this doesn’t work on my computer without installing additional software. Instead, I found this … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 2 Comments

PGCE ICT Study Day

Today is a “study day” for the PGCE ICT programme at King’s College London. That means there are no lectures and we are free to visit the university or stay at home. There’s plenty of work to do and I … Continue reading

Posted in PGCE week #03 | Leave a comment

Student ID number to apply for Student 18+ Oyster Card

Until now I haven’t been able to apply for a Student 18+ Oyster Card as I didn’t have a London postal address. I phoned the helpline to check this and they confirmed that my application would be rejected if I … Continue reading

Posted in PGCE week #03 | Tagged | 1 Comment

Didn’t enjoy school? Sorry, you can’t be a teacher

After attending today’s PPS lecture on Primary to Secondary Transfer, we assembled to discuss this topic in our seminar groups. I described my transfer as “unmemorable”, and one colleague seemed especially shocked when I confessed that I had disliked my … Continue reading

Posted in PGCE week #03 | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Prezi zooming presentation manager is more exciting than PowerPoint!

For me, the PPS (Professional and Policy Studies) lectures on Monday afternoon are the highlight of the week. The speakers and their presentations are dynamic, relevant and informative, and today’s lecture by Meg Maguire was no exception. As an ICT … Continue reading

Posted in PGCE week #03, PPS notes | Tagged | 2 Comments

Presentations, archives, and waiting for the placement to start

Monday started off with another PowerPoint presentation from our tutors. The presentation was long (28 slides in this one) and packed with information rather than short bullet-point style information. I can see pros and cons in this and it is … Continue reading

Posted in PGCE week #03 | Leave a comment

Moving home next weekend

After a weekend of searching for somewhere in London to live, I started today feeling shattered and unprepared for the week ahead. Nevertheless, I did at least find somewhere cheap and convenient to live — for my placement school and … Continue reading

Posted in PGCE week #03 | Leave a comment

First school teaching placements

My first school placement starts on October 5th, and although it hasn’t been confirmed, I have provisionally been told the name and location of the school. Based in West London, it would be impossible for me to commute by train … Continue reading

Posted in PGCE week #02 | Tagged , , | Leave a comment