Nearing the end..

Tomorrow is the last day of Work Experience, and to be honest I am not looking forward to it all being over. I have really enjoyed getting to try out different forms of employment, and I have loved having the opportunity to meet lots of amazing, kind, and interesting people. I am really going to miss the world of work, and getting up every Wednesday to head off into the working world. I will really miss the people that I have had the chance to work with...

St. Vincent De Paul has got it all :)

This is my third placement of TY work experience, and I have to say, it is absolutely wonderful after just one day.

I really wanted to secure my last place with S.V.P for the simple reason that it meant I could get some experience in the retail industry, whilst also getting to give back to my local community. S.V.P Celbridge is a totally non-profit shop, where all of those who work there are working there on a voluntary basis. The shop itself serves the entire community, and sells clothes, accessories, shoes, bric-a-brac, books, CDs and DVDs, and even toys and some home wares. I had always been someone who loved to pop in and see if I could find some really nice things for a really amazing low price, and by doing this, I was not only getting myself a great deal, but I was also helping people. I personally have bought I'd say 7 items of clothing from there and they are all in great condition as the shop doesn't put things out that are not fit for sale.

I was actually part of the process of deciding whether the items donated were fit for sale, and what price they should be sold at. I got to rotate the stock, and tag the clothing as well as putting them on the racks to be displayed. I sorted through all of the donated items which was really interesting actually. The people there are the most friendly, helpful, sweet people I have ever come across. They treat you like one of the S.V.P family, like I had been working with them for years, and I really appreciated that as I was a little nervous not knowing anyone at first.

They are all such hard working people, who dedicate their time to working, voluntarily, to run this shop that not only provides great finds at low prices, but that is a charity that helps thousands of people each year. All the customers are regulars by now, and everyone seems to know everyone and I love that whole atmosphere. If you never shop in charity shops for whatever reason, please give them a chance, they are doing such great things for our community, helping so many people, and you can find some really fantastic things for incredible prices too.

Please support your own local St. Vincent De Paul, it is really appreciated, and the people behind these shops are just simply wonderful people.

Whoopsies...

Oh my gosh...shame on me. Shame on me. Tut tut Lauren.

Yes yes...I do realize that I have not blogged on this blog for an inexcusable amount of time. Dave five was the last day I blogged?? Oh my...
Well, it has been five more work days since then, and my time at the Liffey Champion Newspaper has come to an end. I really was very sad to be leaving, as I found that I was becoming the most confident nearing the end of my time there. While there I learned new skills, as well as improving on the skills of writing I already had. I met some amazing people, and got a closer look into the world of newspaper writing, editing and journalism.
My last five days (which I shamefully did not document) were just as brilliant as I was hoping, getting to write interesting stories, have them published, and getting to call up people and find out information for myself.

I have loved my time at the Liffey Champion, and I will never forget the wonderful experience I had.

Fifth Day :)

Today was a really fantastic day at my work placement, I had loads of work and research to do so I was kept busy all day right up until leaving time. I was initially sent out to get a copy of the newspapers main competitor "The Leinster Leader". I had no idea where the shop was but luckily I ran into another TY doing her work experience at the paper and we found the shop together.

I read through the paper to see if there were any of Liffey Champions leads after being printed by them. Also to find out if there were any of their stories that we, as a paper, needed to cover. After finding a few that needed coverage, I got researching and writing them up. Along with this I had other stories being sent in to my folder on the server, so along with having to do research for my own stories, I had to do up some of the press releases into stories.

I made a good few phone calls on this day, which is unusual because I don't often get to use the phone. I rang up a new SVP Shop in Maynooth, I rang up the CSO (Central Statistics Office), along with one of the papers photographers to find out about an event he had been attending at a local primary school. My final phone call was actually to my own school, requesting any photographs from the mini-company competition be sent to me at the paper for publication.

Unfortunately the school never got back to me, and I had spent so long on the article all about our schools success in terms of the competition, I was worried that it wouldn't be put forward for print due to the lack of images. However, I did get printed in today's (7th Feb) edition of the paper, along with four other articles. I would probably say that this has been my favourite day so far, simply because I overcame my anxieties about having to do phone research, and also was alot more comfortable in what I was doing, and I no longer felt like the TY in for work experience I felt like one of the news team. 

Finally Settling In :)

On my fourth day at the Liffey Champion Newspaper, I was finally beginning to fully settle in. This was definitely my best and busiest day of my work experience so far.
Including myself there were three people on work experience, one girl from college and one from another school who was in T.Y. she was lovely and it was nice knowing there was someone there in the same situation as me.
The day started as it was to continue, with loads of press and media releases. I had to read through them and  write them up into stories, which I really really love :)
I was doing this pretty much for the whole day, along with some research and also a phone call or two. I did give myself a few little breaks to get a cup of tea despite being super busy...
Final duties of the day were to proofread some stories that were to be printed and then hand them into the editor with any corrections underlined. They were then sent on upstairs to be corrected for printing.
I got a few things published again this week and I super pleased with that :)

Love this placement.

Second and third day :)

My second and third day of my work experience in The Liffey Champion Newspaper, I have decided to write about together as many of the duties I had are pretty much the same each week. (And I also forgot to write about week two earlier...apologies)
So, on both the second and third day, I got in some press releases, and some media releases, and wrote them up into stories.
I also got to make a few phone calls which was a good experience, ringing up people to find out what you need to know is a useful skill.
I am continuing to get more comfortable in my placement there, and I also continuing to  have my writing published so I'm really glad I secured the placement when I did :)

Liffey Champion :D

My second work experience placement is at the Liffey Champion Newspaper in Leixlip. I was so so glad of securing this placement as journalism is something I have a huge interest in. When initially turned down, I persisted, and got the place!! :D I was over the moon.
My first day was really very nerve wrecking, as I going to be way out of my comfort zone. However, when I got there and I met my supervisor, I was instantly put at ease, she was lovely. I was given press releases, and even Facebook Statuses and I had to make them into stories or articles.
As Wednesdays are the day that the paper goes to press, it is a super busy day so I have plenty of things to write to keep me busy.
The experience was fantastic and I also had my own articles published, so overall it was fantastic !! :D

9th day...only one week left?? :O

On this day of my work experience, reality set in. It was my second last day. I realised just how much I would love to do all my placements in the school.

Today was...simply fantastic. I absolutely loved this day. I spent the morning with a great third class group. I really had a great time in there as I got to play several maths games with the class, and they were so lovely and allowed me to join in to play myself. Then I got to hear some of the children reading me extracts from their favourite school library books. I even got to have some Stone Age projects presented to me by the students with the best ones. After all this "show and tell" I got to do some real maths helping work. Teaching them how to multiply by ten and helping with their four times tables. Really rewarding experience working with the class.

Again I was with the junior infants, (little balls of energy). They can be really hard to keep track of, and really hard to tame, but with praise and patience, they can be really fantastic to work with. I didnt stay there long so I havent much to say about my time in that class. After, I looked down at my timetable, and was absolutely delighted to see that I was in with the same fourth class as the week before :)

I love love love this class, the teacher is amazingly friendly and really allows me to get straight in to the teaching and throws me right in at the deep end, which I love! The class itself, as in the children, are also incredibly friendly, all polite, they like to laugh and joke with me but also will take my instruction without any moans and groans. They are so welcoming and enthusiastic, and, for helping them, the teacher and students presented me with a Christmas Candy Cane as a thanks. I left the school and walked home in the single best mood I have been in, in ages. :)

Work Experience 8 :)

This day at work experience was really a funny one, with lots of laughs had by all.

In the morning, the vice principal who usually sets us out what we are to do, was absent. Myself and the other girl doing the placement with me, had no idea what to do and where to go. We went in search of tasks, and another teacher informed us that there would be a DVD launch about the history of Celbridge the next evening. What does this have to do with us you ask? Well....for this event, the school wanted to decorate the hall will some balloons. Us girls got the task of blowing them up.

There was just one minor issue with this. Neither of us were any good at blowing up balloons, or tying them for that matter. We were kindly provided with a pump but it broke halfway through it was being used so vigorously. It should probably have only taken two average balloon blowers a couple of minutes, it took us...well...lets say, quite a but longer than that.

After this I was able to go and work with some actual classes, this was great because again, I got to be really interactive with the children. I was in with a class of junior infants (which are very lively to say the least) and then I was in with fourth class. This fourth class, I absolutely love working with. The teacher was so kind, so welcoming and incredibly friendly. The class were enthusiastic, and totally willing to work properly with me in the lesson I was teaching them.

This class has left a lasting impression on me, and I really hope I get to work with them again before the end of my work experience at the school :)

Sixth Day :)

Hello again...another week, another day of my work experience :)

Today was really hectic and I had a lot to get done in a small space of time. I was supposed to be in with the one teacher, and one class, all day. Unfortunately the teacher was absent this day and the class was split up to go to other classes. On the plus side though, the classes were all in the process of swapping their library books. This meant that I was in for one hugely busy day....

Basically the system is, each book, in each class library has a small paper pouch in each one, stamped with the school stamp. In each one of these there was a small piece of card with the books title. When a child takes a book, they insert the card into their own card pouch that they have with their name on it. Usually the students personal cards on stuck up on the wall. This is the schools book borrowing system and it works really effectively.

My job for the day was to check every single book from all the first class libraries. Any ones that didn't have either a stamp, pouch, or card, were put in a pile. I then had to stamp, cut and stick...I had to make the pouches and cards for those books that did not have them. This took up a lot of the day, nearly all of it actually, but it really helped the teachers out so I didn't mind at all.

Once all the books had everything the needed in them, I swapped them all around. Now each of the classes had brand new books to read. I only had about a half an hour left of the day once all this was done, so I went to help out a teacher whom I had heard needed help doing a few jobs. I spent the rest of the day in that class doing some posters, taking them down and putting them up.

Overall, it was the busiest day I have had so far, but it was also I really great day because I was glad to be

Seventh day (gosh time flies..)

I can't believe its been 7 weeks in my first placement already it seems like only yesterday I started there all nervous and worried...

Today was another busy busy day. I really enjoy these busy days though because I like to be doing things and not sitting around with nothing to do. I started off in fifth class which was good because I was in with a teacher that had taught me during my time in  the school. I was surprised by what my first job oft he day was, as it hadn't been something I had done before. I was handed a ball bump. Naturally I was wondering what on earth I was going to be doing with it. I went to both of the schools P.E. storerooms and did a tidy up on all the equipment. Then I had to pump up all of the balls that were soft or deflated, this posed a bit of a challenge...the air kept escaping.

The last thing that I did while in with the fifth class, was to record test results for each of the students in the class, I enjoyed this because I was very glad to be trusted with that responsibilities.

Once that hurdle had been cleared, I was off to the first class. This was a lot of fun because I got to do a lot of correcting. I helped to put together some of the class Christmas tests, and then, once they were done, I got to correct some of them too. Then I corrected a bunch of work that the students did in English, Phonics and Maths. Once all the results were done I put them into the students folders.

All in all, another very busy day, but a very enjoyable one all the same. :)

Fifth (and best day so far) of work experience :)

My fifth day began as probably the worst because I was soo tired...but, after some time spent with the very energetic junior infants, and after meeting up with some of my old teachers, the day began to become the best day of my work experience so far.

The last class of the day was amazing! It was fourth class. The teacher was the most lovely I have ever met, and we had a great chat about me wanting to teach and about Halloween. The class I was with were doing some creative writing. This was such amazing luck for me as English is, and always has been, my favourite subject. I got to help the students come up with interesting story lines for a Halloween inspired story.

I got to be really interactive with the class and answer lots and lots of questions, which is the best part, being able to help the students to learn and understand something they are having difficulty with. It is a really rewarding experience. I also got to hunt for pumpkin carving apparatus which was a good laugh and quite a funny story all in all...

Best day so far, I absolutely love my work placement, such a great atmosphere to be in :)

Fourth Day :)

On my fourth day of work experience I would have to say it was the best one I have had so far. I spent the day with both third class, and first class. The third class students got a talk from a dental nurse which was quite interesting, she taught them how to brush their teeth properly and how to keep their teeth healthy.

Also during my time with the third class, I spent a lot of time laminating posters for the green schools committee.

After lunch I spent the rest of the day with the first class. This has been the best time I have had in a class so far in my work experience. This is mainly due to the fact I got to be really involved with the students in the class, as well as doing some jobs for the teacher. I got to make signs and posters for the display of the class' artwork. I then put their artwork up around both the class and the corridors.

When I was finished this it was time for a computer class. This was so much fun because I got to help the children play the online games. I loved this day because it was the day I got to interact with the class the most. I actually got to help the children individually with their work, and help particular students with things that they found difficult. This was really rewarding and the practical aspects of teaching are so much fun to do.

So, it was a fabulous day all in all :) Loved every minute of it

Third Day :)

My third day at my work experience was a little less about teaching this time.

For the day, I was in with the sixth class pupils. Mainly for this day I was doing any little jobs that the teacher had for me to do. I did not really get to intereact with the classs at all which I was dissapointed by, but I still enjoyed my day all the same :)

I first off had to go on a mad hunt for the elaminator. When I finally found it I had to elaminate some maths flash cards for the class. Once they were all done I had to cut them up using a guilatine (all fingers still accounted for thank god).

I spent the rest of the day doing work on the computer. I was typing up some guidelines for writing various things in English, such as, letters, reports and speeches. I also did a few odd jobs like stapling the class' projects together.

Thats all I got up to on my third day, it was a really good day which kept me very busy, but I would have loved to have interacted more with the pupils :)

Second Day :)

My second day was alot less nerve wracking and I was more realxed because I knew what I was doing and where to go. I was in with second class all day which was alot of fun because I got loads of work to do, which is great because it keeps you busy.

The teacher was really lovely and welcoming and gave me a list of things that needed to be done. I got to know the pupils by handing out their copies, so I learnt their names. Then I did some typing up, a song that the class would be performing at the assembly that day.

The class made bookmarks which I elaminated and helped them colour. I helped with their rehearsal for the assembly too. Getting to attend the assembly was alot of fun, the first and second classes all performed little songs and dramas about the school and yard rules.

For the end of the day I was called on to supervise the first classes while their teachers attended a staff meeting. This was THE best part of my day because I got to work with a pupil who was having some trouble with words and spelling. I got to spend lots of time helping him and this was really rewarding :)

Overall my second day was even better than the first and I left feeling really pleased with all I had got done :)

First day :)

Work experience had me up bright and early on Wednesday the 26th of September. I was really excited but kind of nervous too as I had no idea who I would be working with or what I would be doing, I was going to Scoil Mochua Aghards. I think I was most scared of making a silly mistake, or a a bad first impression. I was so incredibly relieved to see that a girl from my school was working there too so I would have a familiar face.

I was given a timetable and I found out I would get to work with every age group in the school which was fantastic. The school has changed so much since I attended, alot of the staff are the same though and that was nice to have more familiar faces. I began by helping out with the art work of third class pupils. I pinned them up and sorted them out into piles. Then I got to really get involved with the pupils when we went to the computer room and I got to help the students with their work.

Throughout the day I got to help with junior infants, second class, and third class. It was great to have that mix too. The end of the day was the best part because I got to really get involved with helping the pupils with their writing and spellings. I left the school in such a good mood and wishing I didn't have to go home at all. I would have loved to go straight back the next day.The staff were so incredibly kind and welcoming, really helpful and always made sure I had something to do.

I left feeling more confident in myself because I got through the day successfully,and , I had more faith in my ability to possibly be a teacher to primary students in the future. I am very excited and enthusiastic for next week and all the other weeks to come, I am really please with how my work experience has gone and I absolutely loved it! :)