Hi, I’m Jess, writer and original owner of Modern Day Girl Blog.
Now, I’m a full-time secondary school teacher of Geography (with R.E. and History sprinkled in here and there).
You’re in the right place if you’re a woman looking for tips and advice on anxiety, stress, and self-care whilst navigating the pressures of the late 30s.
Trust me, I’ve got bucketloads of experience!
This blog is as a result of an unearthing of an ancient page I started when embarking on my teaching journey.
I’d completely forgotten I even started a blog about this.
Starting this blog was also compounded by a memory that came up on my FB feed recently where I was interviewed on BBC Radio Nottingham by Mark Dennison. I was ridiculously nervous and still feel awkward listening to it – I still can’t believe I was even on local radio!
Anyway.
As you can imagine, once I started my PGCE, any dedication to blogging the journey went straight out of the window. Heck, this unearthed blog was started in the March of 2019. Months before I even started the course later that year in September of 2019.
I ummed and ahhed about sharing the original post I wrote. But, through the cringiness, I thought I may as well!
This was what I found:
“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”
― William Arthur Ward
Today, I started a week-long taster week in a school. This is the first time I’ve ever spent any time in a secondary school (being a student at sixteen does NOT count!). Having left secondary school nearly fifteen years ago now, this whole experience is nerve-wracking and exciting at the same time.
Tomorrow, I get to experience three full days of a full geographical timetable. I get to see year eight through to year 11 in all of their glory. I am SOOOO excited!
To some, I suppose this would instil pure fear. But, this career choice has been a long time coming. I’ve put serious thought into this difficult but rewarding career. Only now do I feel confident in my actions and my ability as a potential teacher.
For the past few months, I’ve been preparing for the long nights, working weekends and fifty plus hour weeks. I’ve been watching “Tough Young Teachers“, that documents the lives of Teach First teachers after having only six week’s worth of training.
Yet, I find myself looking for tips from this programme, whereas others would know that this career may not be for them. I think to myself that I have never been so ready to teach in my life as I do now.
Trust me, I am under no illusions as to the difficulties that are to come. I know that a PGCE is hard, hard work. See quote below:
Just 62% of newly qualified teachers were still in the education sector a year after qualifying according to the latest figures available (for 2011) – Academy Today
As such, I want to gain as much knowledge and experience as I can before I start. However, I wanted to gain a proper insight into the experiences of a teacher in training and found none that really resonated with me.
I found no real blog or website that I was hooked on.
So, I decided to start my own account of the life of a prospective PGCE geography secondary student. Hopefully, my experience will motivate and inspire those also looking to go into the profession.
I’ve not even started applying yet but plan to; ready for September. I’ll be documenting a variety of areas as I go along.
I hope that you find this blog useful, honest (sometimes brutally) and realistic. Hopefully, it proves useful to you at some point!
Yes, I know. Bit gross reading that now 😂
But my intentions were in the right place at the time.
To make a long story short, I’m excited to start writing again about mental health. I’ve learned from my mistakes of the past, and hope my own mental health won’t come between things again.
If you want to read a bit more about me, you can read the About Me page here.
I can categorically say that this blog won’t cover any of those original expectations. I will touch upon teaching topics, but from an anxiety/mental health perspective.
What you can definitely expect now, since you’ve landed here, is:
- Mental health advice for women
- Anxiety toolkits from personal experience
- Quick and comforting self help tips
- How-to guides
- A nine part series focusing on supporting students through various challenges and needs
- ADHD coping tips
- *Trigger warning* trauma topics (I will always include trigger warnings for these)
And so much more.
Honestly, I’ve got a list as long as my arm of topics I want to cover!
Either way, thanks for stopping by – it’s massively appreciated and welcome thoughts or ideas you’d like to see/read about!
Lots of love,
Jess xoxo
Leave a Reply