How to pass the time!

WHO AM I - WENDY ATKINSON

So... 2 weeks ago, I submitted my final pieces of written work, completing my Lifelong Sector PGCE. At the time, I felt elated, free and happy in the knowledge that all the hard work was done and was totally ready to start my new job as a Maths Teacher!

Today... Ive found myself wondering - what is next? Further study? Settling into teaching and having a family, or something else... who knows! But I will need to find some way to fill the time!

TEACHER TRAINING HELPED ME TO DISCOVER...

" I WAS ACTUALLY ENJOYING STUDYING"

When I completed my Bachelor of Music Honours degree over 10 years ago, I somehow managed to base most of my final years credits on performance, limiting the amount of written work required for me to pass the course. But why? Well... academic writing has never been a strong suit of mine. Research, critically analysing and writing about music, dampened my passion, as it was extremely hard work. Hence avoiding this wherever possible, to concentrate on my true passion, playing my trumpet.

Several years down the line after trying out many jobs, I was working in a call centre, longing to be back in the classroom, but this time from the front; inspiring students and supporting them to achieve their life goals, and I knew it was time to do something about it. Once more I changed jobs to work at the local college and decided it was time to do my teacher training part time and work at the same time. Those who have done this will know, it was not easy! About 2 months in i had a meltdown and wanted to quit, but knew that I had to continue or never make it back into the classroom as a qualified teacher. So I pushed on, I made it through year 1 knowing that year 2 would be even harder... and I wasn't wrong. Interestingly, at somepoint in the last year, I noticed that I was rising to the challenge and had finally found a rhythm for research and academic writing that worked for me. I discovered that I was actually enjoying studying! Now I've finished the course, I feel like I'm at a loose end and that is why I am starting this blog, to share my experience with anyone who wants to read it. 

MOVING ON AND TEACHING MATHS

As the Spring term of 2020 started, it dawned that with only a few months of studying left, it was time to start the job hunt for a teaching role. Music is my passion yes but full time roles in this specialism are hard to find, and so I applied for vacancies for both music and Maths, a subject I actually find quite beautiful. The magic that people miss within Maths is that there are many many ways that you can achieve a set of results, some will make more sense than others to different students, and finding that key light bulb moment for a child who struggles is a-maz-ing.

In the interview for my new role, I was asked "You've clearly got a background in music, so why maths? My response... was that music IS maths, Aaron Sorkin claimed that music is what mathematics does at the weekend. Logically, music is based on patterns, sequences, rhythms, counting and emotion, well I don't know about you, but sequences and counting seems an awful lot like maths to me. I have found in the past that combining the two can have extra-ordinary effects on the outcomes of learners.

So how will I fill the time now that I've completed my initial teacher training? Join me over the coming weeks to see how I continue to cope in Life After Teacher Training.