Didn't see that coming!

On Monday I got "the 'phone call" - the one every TeachFirst participant waits for, the one telling you where you are going to be teaching in September. This 'phone call was going to clear up all those things that couldn't yet be resolved like where I was going to live. Except that my 'phone call wasn't what I was expecting. Instead of "Hey Mary, we'd love you to go and teach music in such-and-such a school in Coventry/Leamington/Rugby ..." it was "We have to reduce our music places from 6 to 2, and so we offering you the opportunity to teach your other degree subject ... RE!!" ... ... ... I was, you could say, underwhelmed.

Now, I know that RE is an interesting and important subject, especially in today's global society and schools of mixed ethnicities. But it's just not what I was looking forward to teaching. I tried. Tried to convince myself it would be good, I would be a fantastic RE teacher, my pupils would love and respect me, we might even occasionally have "fun". But I just couldn't. Then I reasoned with myself "this is a guaranteed job for 2 whole years! You could buy a house, get a dog, grow vegetables, have the children in their own bedroom." Somehow I just couldn't get beyond the "but it's RE" moment.

I've um'ed and er'ed. I've drunk gin. I've bored my friends. I've spoken to RE teachers.
And then this morning I remembered. When I originally applied to TeachFirst I had absolutely no expectation of being successful. It's an incredibly tough programme to get on. And I had already worked out that if I didn't get on I would do my PGCE in the usual way, getting a student load and the funding I'm entitled to and it would be fine. So that's what I've done. My application to Birmingham City University is winging its way across the ether and now I just have to wait to be (hopefully) asked to attend an interview.

So, it means I have to live in my little flat for another year, not get a dog for another year, look out onto a car park for another year and live off my ex for another year. But at the end of it I will be in control of where I apply to teach and I will be teaching the subject I actually want to.

And they all lived happily ever after ... well, until the next major twist in the road anyway.

Grit your teeth

Today has been grim. I set myself the goal of writing up as much of my School Orientation Experience (SOE) as possible. This is the latest bit of TeachFirst paperwork and is making my brain feel like it's gone through a shredder. The observation week was great, and I took all the necessary notes etc. etc.. But I'd forgotten just how painful I find writing up. I am definitely a practioner rather than a theorist. The act of committing my thoughts to written text is almost physically uncomfortable. I've looked for all sorts of distractions, have needed to get up and walk around, make a hot drink ... but it needed to be done. Sadly it's not finished, but I've done nearly half, so that's a good start.

As for the other stuff, well I found another online drawing course last night http://www.klinecreative.com/free-online-art-lessons.htm and I've made a start. The first couple of lessons have been simply about pencil control, so lots of drawing straight lines, but the bloke on the video is engaging and so far I'm enjoying it even if the practise is tedious. But I guess like anything "no pain, no gain". So as promised, here are my first, uninspiring exercises.  I'm sure it will get more interesting ...

And my other great discovery today was a whole set of YouTube videos exploring the traditional music of nearly 150 different countries! I've been needing to get my head around various world music traditions, as it is a big feature of the current GCSE and A Level Music syllabus but was hardly touched on when I was at school and university. For those of you who are interested, take a look at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA3A1D292BFB1B6DF. It has everything from Bavarian um pah pah music to the music of Myanmar and Tajikistan. Fab resource with some very nice photographs to go with it.

Tomorrow I have to steal myself for C25K day 2. I hope it's not going to be throwing it down in the morning. In the meantime, I'm off to escape in the magical World of Warcraft as my reward for being a good student today.