Words: Matilde Erco, ALL Student Ambassador
Dear student teachers,
You may have heard that the first year as a trainee teacher is very hard. You may also have heard that it is going to be one of the most rewarding years of your life. So which is true? Which should we believe? To begin with – the best part is that teachers and people involved in education are willing to share a wealth of suggestions, tips and resources with us. With their help we start our training feeling as prepared as possible to succeed in this intense course that will lead us to becoming inspirational teachers!
As an ALL Student Ambassador, I have looked at the ALL website to see how it can help us during this busy year.
ALL’s website has a whole section dedicated to students, which you can find here. It is a really helpful tab where you can discover more about the different paths one can take to become a teacher, it includes many articles on topics of interest for language teachers and you can find out about the application process to become a member of ALL.
The student area is divided into six sections:
This section contains all the information you need to know to become a language teacher: the benefits of becoming a language teacher in the UK; a summary of the steps you need to take; the requirements you need to have in order to apply and how to prepare for course interviews. Share with any inspiring language teachers wanting to become part of next year’s cohort!
“Starting out” is intended for those students who have already completed their first year and are starting as Newly Qualified Teachers. ALL offers you a membership package, information, guidance, peer-to-peer support and primary and secondary CPD events.
This section contains reviews by experienced ALL members of a variety of resources. For example: a review of the book “¿Por qué? – 101 Questions about Spanish” or “The Transition Toolkit”, the go-to resource for teachers at Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 that contains example activities in French, German and Spanish.
Here you can find articles that focus on specific language learning and teaching matters. They are intended to spark your curiosity and encourage you to engage and find out more. If you have a great idea to share with others, you could contribute with an article! If you are interested, then please get in contact with: [email protected]
It may be difficult to find relevant events suitable for student teachers and NQTs. This section lists all of these: from cultural to language related events, either organised by ALL or run by external bodies involved in language teaching or learning. Take a look at the main News & Events page to find out about all ALL events and in particular where your nearest ALL CPD events are being held.
Barry Jones was a highly influential teacher educator and prolific writer. Before he died in 2015, he selected a few of his publications, which he felt were particularly useful for future student teachers. His readings, created to help us become critical thinkers and to learn something new every day, have been grouped under six headings: Target language, Learning strategies, Creativity, Cultural awareness, Grammar and Teaching boys. The introduction to his work contains the advise:-
“The problem for you as a student teacher is keeping perspective. You may feel that you have to have all of the answers to all of your questions on the first day of your course. But you can’t. That’s not healthy, nor is it possible.”
I believe it is important to keep this in mind, because we haven’t arrived in this world with all the answers. This will be a year full of little improvements; we are trainee teachers not “perfect teachers”!
The ALL student page has a wealth of useful information. But this is just the start….there is much more you can gain from your ALL student membership. More on this in Part 2 …coming soon!