They think it’s all over… it is now!

Firstly I must apologise for not making a new post for what seems like an eternity! I’ve been very busy at university and I’ve actually seen my friends recently!

Finishing at School 2 was a rather joyful occasion. I was so excited on my last day! They didn’t seem to fussed that I was leaving – even my mentor didn’t realise it was my last day. But I went out and celebrated with my non-teacher friends in the evening. I really feel I owe so much to them. They’ve put up with not seeing me for ages and have been very supportive through Facebook. And I’ve always known I can call them for a chat or a cry! Crying is something I did a lot at School 2. Whether it was because of the pupils or the teachers I’m not sure.

We’ve done a lot of work on Learning Outside the Classroom at university recently. This could be because it’s a key research area for some of our tutors! But it also provided a bit of relaxation time for us trainees. I say relaxation, but it’s been mighty stressful – I didn’t realise how draining it is to not only plan activities but also to supervise pupils for five hours straight. We were asked at the end of each day how we felt – “shattered” was the general concensus! During teaching practice we felt emotional drained – this was physically draining.

We spent three days at Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew and three days at the Natural History Museum. One day was for orientation/familiarisation, one day was for planning and the final day was with pupils. The pupils we had at Kew were ones we’d never met before and the ones at Natural History Museum were ones from School 1 – it was lovely to see them and David! It reminded me of how good I had it before, before I became cynical and lost all confidence in myself. I’ve always doubted the educational value of school trips – when I was at school, I just liked the shop! But now I’ve realised that the “educational value” only applies when you’re applying for permission or funding – it really is important that pupils see you outside the classroom and that they can have fun once in a while!

I must admit that I think I enjoyed Kew much more than the pupils did! The last time I went to Kew Gardens was when I was in Year 7 – nearly eleven years ago! And I thought it was boring – plants were boring. To me, plants were green, some had flowers. Only by studying some plants at Kew in depth have I realised just how incredible some of them are – how they’ve adapted to their different enviroments is amazing. And some are just beautiful. I hope I never revert back to thinking: “Plants are green, some have flowers.” I hope I always see them for the awesome things they are.

I start at Penguin High in a few weeks’ time and I’m really nervous. I’m just worried that School 2 anihilated my teaching ability and I’m going to sink. I’m also worried that I’ll get a reputation as a bad teacher before I “really” start in September. I suppose the key is to be harsh now and ease off later if necessary.

So although on paper I haven’t finished my teacher training, the hard work is over. I can’t believe I survived. The last four months have been the hardest of my life, much harder than when I was doing my Master’s! One of my friends is thinking about doing teacher training and I don’t want him too because I love him too much and don’t want him to go through the hell I’ve been through. And I’ve heard that the NWT year is harder. Wish me luck!

Happy birthday, Mr Darwin

Even though I am, by degree, a physical scientist, I can’t help but be fascinated by Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. The more I think about it, the more I am amazed by it – how it all just makes sense and, as my boyfriend put it, how incredibly simple it is. The idea that all species are related to one another is just so… elegant. Having been born and raised a Roman Catholic, I had never though of the idea that humans could have evolved from other animals – after all, I had believed that God created Adam from soil and later Eve from Adam’s rib. How grateful I will remain to my parents for not sending me to a faith secondary school and for helping me to develop a curiosity for science that is not clouded by religion. Anyway, I will stop wittering on.

As I am sure you are aware, 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his awe-inspiring, revolutionary book, On the Origin of the Species. In honour of this, the Natural History Museum in London has been running an exhibition, Darwin, since November 2008. (It closes on 19th April 2009.) As it was half term this week, I decided to treat myself and go to it. It contained some incredible artifacts, for example Darwin’s beetle collections and his notebooks. It was a very thoughtfully created exhibition, which appealed to pretty much anyone with an interest in science that was at least 8 years old. Unfortunately, because the exhibition catered for the masses, I found that I didn’t really learn much from it – however, as I did mention, the artifacts were brilliant. It depends on what you want from an exhibition. I’d certainly take a group of more able Year 8 and/or 9 pupils, but not a group of A-Level biologists. It’s worth visiting if you’re in London, but don’t make a special trip. (Word of warning though – you MUST book tickets in advance as they’ll be sold out on the day.)

On a similar Darwinian theme, I was gobsmacked by the programme the BBC showed a few weeks ago called Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life as part of its Darwin Season. Maybe it’s BBC’s production skills, maybe it’s Sir David Attenborough’s wonderful way of explaining things. That programme was incredible.