Whether you're in Mary I, St. Pats, Marino, or any other form of "teacher training" college, you know that we as the future educators of our nations youth have a variety of problems that others just don't understand. From placement to assignments, we're subjected to a variety of problems that you just won't find anywhere else. So here is just a sample of the many student teacher problems faced every year:
The Subjects
Upon entering college as freshers, students are expecting to be challenged in terms of learning and amounts of alcohol consumed and while it's safe to say the latter is most definitely true, the subjects studied can sometimes leave a lot to be desired for. I once had to sit through an entire lecture on the correct sized writing for creating charts. Seriously.
The Stale Jokes
"Teaching? I suppose you're only in it for the holidays! hahahahahahahahahaahahah.....ha"
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This is pretty much what I had to sit through every time a family member, or a friend found out I was going to go on to do teaching. One thing you'll learn soon in your college lifetime is that everyone has jokes about teachers and you will hear them all, even if you have heard them 1000 times.
C'mon lads, get some new jokes.
Spotting Pupils In Public
I'm not sure if it's because I work in the City Center or if this happens to every student teacher, but I can't go more than a few days without seeing a child I had previously taught for a week or two.
Nothing moves quicker than a student teacher trying to avoid being seen buying a litre of vodka in Tesco on a Saturday and nothing sends a shiver down your spine quite like hearing a faintly familiar voice say "Look mum, that's my old teacher"
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Queue awkward wave and a quick departure.
Studying For Exams
Nothing is quite like a group of student teachers studying for upcoming exams. Tensions run high, people break down and you begin to convince yourself that primary school Irish has definitely gotten harder.
Have I gotten into a shouting match with a friend about whether a square is technically a rectangle? Yes. Am I still a little doubtful? Maybe. The important thing is that you definitely know 3 activities that can be done to develop students awareness of spacial visualisation....right? right? Ok maybe I should have studied a little bit more.....
Explaining The Course To Your Friends
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There is nothing quite like the look on your friends faces when you explain you can't go out because you have to make a powerpoint based on two websites for kids. There is little joy in having to explain your course to your friends simply because they will refuse to believe that what you do is tough, which makes the fact you barely passed a module even worse.
Placement
This is what every student teacher looks forward to. THIS is why you wanted to do teaching right? To stand up at the top of the class and see students learning material for the first time. You taught them this, they'd be nothing without your charts and materials and worksheets.
What nobody tells you is that those charts, materials, worksheets, etc take time. Spending 4+ hours preparing materials for the following day became a reoccurring ritual and the sound of a printer churning out worksheet after worksheets can make even the sanest man begin shouting nonsensical abuse at the machine.
Lord help you if you run out of ink or laminator sheets after the shops close.
