First Week Whirlwind

"I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think." - Socrates

So the fun has finally begun!

I started training on Monday, returning to the hustle and bustle of lectures, seminars and a little bit of drama which, I feel may have already given me a reputation as a little bit of a loud mouth (my course mates say confident, but I'm not so sure).

The importance of safeguarding and professionalism has been forced through our ears and pinned into our minds. The days are long and many times, I have been in danger of an information overload. So, as I spend a weekend trying to digest the buffet of information I have sampled this week, I find myself hovering over the horizon of 'it is only going to get worse'. As things stand at the moment, I do have some sort of idea of what I will be required to do. Through a combination of past occurrences, personal experience and perhaps a little luck, I am wading my way through this world of new ideas, contrasting opinions and trying not to fall on my face in front of my new peers.

In this sense at least, I've been lucky in the fact I'm surrounded by good people. The atmosphere is that of support, rather than competition. Compliments and advice are flowing freely and everyone has different ideas, which is providing a new way of thinking about things. We are all experts in different areas... Which, while providing an exciting and interesting exploration of differentiation, fills me with dread in relation to the actualisation of when I will be considered an 'expert' in something.

The work... teaching... experiences I have done/had I feel are difficult to explain. I react the way I do because of my past. I have faced the dark and come out fighting as it were, so some of my methods of empathetic thinking aren't exactly easy to explain... But I suppose, that's why we're all here, to learn from each other as well as learning to explain to each other and eventually, our pupils.

I suppose, to end, I am enjoying my experiences so far.

Though my next step is my first placement... A new set of challenges await.

I'm definitely not in Kansas any more.