Ideas for short courses for Junior Cycle

crappyireland

Hey all.

Just looking for some advice.
I'm almost finished the PDE (History & English) and now starts the FUN bit of getting some form of subbing or teaching (slim to no chances!!)
What I am thinking about is ideas of short courses for the new Junior Cycle and what I could get involved in.

I was recently talking to my current placement school on what they are thinking of bringing into the school and to be honest no-one had any real suggestions.

I'm thinking of getting involved in coding asI am very interested in technology (do not have an IT qualification however)

I'm just wondering if you or educators you know have given any thought to ideas for short courses or any suggestions on what I could get involved in..
Since I am going to have lots of time on my hands from September onwards I would like to use the time wisely and make myself as employable as possible.

Look forward to heading your thoughts

TheDriver

I would think the vast majority of schools will use the NCCA short courses and by the time you do the necessary full courses and short courses, schools won't want to touch self made courses because its risky and unknown. I would say try to get onto NCCA type of development

mick kk

There is a project in Trinity college called "bridge 21"...One class from our school went to them for a day and it was very good...its a bit like the students being involved in "the apprentice" i.e. working in teams, making videos etc. Students loved it. Our school got involved as we hope to use it to plan for short courses. They use students from trinity to help out as volunteers. If you wanted to do some voluntary work with them, you would get a free lunch voucher! They have a website so if you google "bridge 21" you will find it.

Heydeldel

So are the NCCA just doling out short courses or do school have to come up with their own? Bit confused?

rainbowtrout

Heydeldel wrote: »

So are the NCCA just doling out short courses or do school have to come up with their own? Bit confused?

Both. NCCA are going to provide a syllabus for a range of short courses but schools can create their own. Great in one way but in another could lead to wide variations in standards between schools.

spurious

It could work, with external checking, something like the old VPTP local courses we had in the 80s. Alas, anything that costs won't be considered, I fear.

rainbowtrout

spurious wrote: »

It could work, with external checking, something like the old VPTP local courses we had in the 80s. Alas, anything that costs won't be considered, I fear.

Isn't that the problem with the short courses though, that all marking will be conducted in house with no external monitoring?

spurious

Yes, I meant more in terms of the design of the actual courses, rather than the work done by the students, though that is of course a huge failing of the proposed 'new' JC.

In the VPTP times, you could design a local course emphasising specific local resources (e.g. woodworking with an emphasis on turning and veneering, if that was what the local teacher specialised in) and an external person would come look at the local syllabus and 'OK' it or not.

I think there would be some great positives in the freedom to do that, but if there is no central control or standardisation it makes a joke of the whole thing.

Heydeldel

How will this work for the likes of English or is it select subjects that run short courses? Will all subjects offer a short course?

As an eager NQT is this an area I should be stressing when applying for jobs; a willingness to get involved ( or create a short course) ?

thefasteriwalk

One of the NCCA course is Digital Literacy - or something to that effect - alright, but there won't be 'extra' English modules per se. Every student will be doing more English though, thankfully.

By the by, have you had any luck finding work since your UK interview, Heydeldel?

Heydeldel

thefasteriwalk wrote: »

One of the NCCA course is Digital Literacy - or something to that effect - alright, but there won't be 'extra' English modules per se. Every student will be doing more English though, thankfully.

By the by, have you had any luck finding work since your UK interview, Heydeldel?

Great to hear there will be more English; some good news for us Eng teachers.

Nope, haven't had much luck. I had an accident which prevented me for working for over two months so only just back in action since that really. I'm volunteering in a school and casual subbing.

Feeling positive for the coming academic year though. I hope my couple of jobless months won't affect my chances for Sept. ?

thefasteriwalk

Sorry to hear about your accident. I hope all is well now. How is the volunteering going?

Ugh, don't talk to me about September! I'll be back on the trail again now as soon as the jobs start coming out. The thoughts of spending my summer superintending, correcting, applying for every possible job, following up on possible jobs and - hopefully - interviewing, has me feeling wrecked already. The sooner these baby boomers make their way to secondary the better.

Heydeldel

I'm worried my measly 2 -3 months work will rule me out of the running for next year. How can NQTs compete with all the more experienced teachers out there?

Job - hunting is tough; it must be exhausting to have to do it at the end of the school year.

thefasteriwalk

You'll be grand, don't worry about it. It's not as if you weren't willing to work. There are just too many English teachers, so I think it's more a case of building up the experience or getting really lucky.

Yeah, I'm getting pretty fooking wrecked now at this stage alright. Keeping my 3rd and 6th years on track and focused everyday has me drained.

thefasteriwalk

Also, what about the place you're volunteering and doing the casual subbing? You've a foot in there. Any chance of some hours arising?

Heydeldel

I've put a lot of time into that school over the year but there doesn't seem to be anything coming up. I'm a bit feiced having only one subject.

thefasteriwalk

Oh yeah, that's a pain the arse. Are you looking toward getting a second subject? I'm lucky insofar as I'm qualified with three, although in my current school I'm only teaching English as most of the teachers only teach their first subject.

Heydeldel

I've had a think about it. Can't afford to pay fees at the mo. Also not sure what would be the best subject to pick up.