My first day of Professional Experience was not great. Really really not great. OH! But I was wrong from last week, there are iPads, 6 for the school, I am not allowed to download anything and my mentor said I most likely wont find anything useful to use on them so there’s no point looking at them. She allows 40 minutes of computer use per week, only using the same software and nothing extra, and 30 minutes of iPad, dedicated purely to math, she has an interactive whiteboard but only uses it as a projector, nothing interactive about it. I spent hours, more than 30 minutes in the morning, all big lunch and over an hour after school trying to suggest ways I could implement ICT into a lesson plan… she came back with ‘What I normally do is google images for students to copy at art time or google a YouTube clip if I really need to.’ I am SO deflated. I actually really tried to be persuasive, which is crazy difficult for me, but I really tried, and I got nowhere. I have asked my liaison for advice on the matter. So much more, but I do not need to go into every detail.
I am so much more stressed now than I ever was before.
Oh and did I mention that my mentor is the mother of a guy I went to school with. The guy hated me beyond belief because I assisted in getting his best friend expelled. So there is no doubt that when my mentor goes home tonight to talk to her son about the crazy coincidence that I am her pre-service teacher, he will express his dislike for me, and she will not see me the same again. I am SO STRESSED right now. Honestly had a panic attack as soon as I got in my car to go home. Great first professional experience back after taking a year off. Just great.
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Melanie J Lacey's Blog 
Hi Melanie. I’m sorry your first day of prac wasn’t good. I experienced a similar attitude with my prac teacher in my last subject, as well as the first prac teacher I had after deferring for a year and a half. I spent both drives home on the first day crying my eyes out and having an anxiety attack. So I know exactly what you are going through. I hope you are able to convince your mentor that this is about YOUR subject, not her regular classroom structure. It is important that our mentors realise this is a learning experience for us, not just a regurgitation of their information for us to relay to the students. I would definitely contact the liaison and maybe even let them know there’s a conflict of interest there, as it would be very awkward for you to have to deal with someone who is affiliated with a school bully; especially when they’re the mother of that person!! If you ever want to chat, then send me a message on my blog and I will be happy to chat 🙂 x
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Thank you for your encouragement Emma. I do not think this mentor will change her ways unfortunately. She is behind on a lot of work and moderation is coming up in a week so she’s trying to condense everything at the moment. It’s not great that I’ve gone into the classroom at such a stressful time. I have contacted my liaison and she has said to just keep going, working within the confines I’ve been presented with. So that’s what I’m doing. I just hope I don’t get marked down for it.
I’m sorry your first days didn’t go well either. I really hope yours gets easier too. Good luck for a new week starting tomorrow. 🙂
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