Happy Easter!

Hope you all have a lovely Easter and enjoy a well deserved break!

We finally finished our Webquest! It is such a relief to have it completed as i found parts of it quite difficult to set up. The easiest section was probably coming up with an idea for the webquest in the first place. I am looking forward to seeing the other webquests in our group as most of the students in group 10 are modern languages students and it will be great to get some new ideas.

I have one class to teach tomorrow in school and then we're off for two weeks which i'm really looking forward to!

Only two days to go until the Easter holidays!

Tomorrow is our last lecture in EdTech so there's a last minute rush on to get everything completed! Other than that college is quiet for the moment although i'm sure once the Easter holidays end exam fever will set in.

School is going well at the moment particularly with the junior cycle classes. The students are in great form as the holidays are approaching. The leaving cert students are getting a little apprehensive as can be expected with oral exams coming up immediately after the holidays.

Since the clocks changed last weekend, the evenings are brighter for longer and everyone seems to be embracing the summer atmosphere. Here's hoping the summer of 2007 will be a good one!

Almost there!!

After a busy weekend, it was back to college today to continue working on our webquest. We spent six hours on it so it is really starting to take shape. I think the most difficult part of the webquest is the technical side - simply making everything link up and look good. I'm really looking forward to finishing up on Thursday!

School is busy at the moment so i'm still very much looking forward to the Easter holidays. Thankfully we still have no lectures in college this week as the block students continue to do their teaching practice.

Today has been really busy! One of the teachers asked me to correct mocks at school so i went in early to collect the exam scripts. I spent two hours correcting some of them this morning and they don't seem too difficult to correct.

I spent the rest of the morning and this afternoon working on the webquest for Edtech with Nicola. We have all our ideas gathered and between todays session and meeting up yesterday afternoon we managed to complete quite a bit. I like the idea of doing a webquest and definitely feel i could use it as a method for teaching French in the future, although i have to admit there is alot of work involved in making one.

The timetable for our summer exams came out earlier this week. We will be examined in five subjects/modules in the space of two days. It is a similar timetable to the first semester. It's a shame they couldn't give us a day off in between each exam to recuperate though !

This weekend i'm going to Dublin to do an interview for a summer job. I'm also going to meet up with some old friends from UCC which i'm really looking forward to. For the moment though, i have to head home and correct the rest of the mock exams!

I went back to school today after a lovely relaxing weekend at home. Having spoken to a number of parents at the parent - teacher meeting on Friday, i agreed to take some of the students for extra lessons which i started today. Hopefully they will be beneficial to the students.

I am also hoping to start a basketball club at lunchtime on Fridays with an another PGDE student and one of the first year classes which i'm looking forward to doing even though it's been a while since i played basketball!

This week the block students are out on teaching practice which is great as sequential students have the opportunity to catch up on Edtech assignments and lesson plans. I also have a project to do for Modern Language Methodology so it's just as well we have no lectures! Luckily it's only two weeks until the Easter holidays. And they say teachers have it tough!!!...

St. Patrick's weekend is here!

Finally St Patrick's weekend is here! After a busy week of interviews and preparing for my first parent teacher meeting i am looking forward to relaxing over the weekend.

I had my first parent teacher meeting this afternoon which went well. It was nice to meet the students parents as i feel it helps to get to know the students a little bit more.

I had an interview for teaching in London on Wednesday and another one for teaching in Quebec yesterday. I would love to get the job in Canada and have the opportunity to discover another francophone region, particularly as i had such a good time in switzerland last year. I'll have to wait and see if i get the job.

I'm going to sign off now and enjoy the weekend!

As usual the weeks are flying in and it's Wednesday already - nearly St. Patrick's weekend! School is going well this week. I had a leaving cert. oral language class yesterday and it went well. We were discussing the benefits of doing Transition Year. Having completed the year myself as it was compulsory in my former school, i think it's a great idea and definitely benefits students in many ways. We also discussed the new proposal by the minister for Education to increase the weighting of the leaving cert. Irish oral to 40% by 2012. I can understand why this proposal is being made. As i am a language teacher i realise the importance of practicing a language. I think Irish is a fantastic language and most definitely should be kept alive! I wonder if the same proposals will be introduced for modern languages?

I have an interview at 12.00 so i'm going to finish up. It will be interesting to hear about the job prospects and opportunities available for teachers in London.