Confessions and points to note

Well, I suppose I better start with some introductions.

I'm a student studying for a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) at Stockport College. It's my second year as an hourly paid lecturer so I thought it would be a good time as any to do the course. As part of the PGCE I'm required to keep a professional diary and this is where it's a good time to tell you about my first confession.

Confession 1 - I'm not very good at reflecting on what I've done and (more importantly) what I've learnt from it. I tend to move onto the next thing so I'm hoping that the process of writing this blog (which is my first) will provide the rigour to make sure I do some reflecting. I had to do a similar exercise on a previous course (with the same tutor strangely enough - maybe she has a fetish!) and I must confess (that's another one) that I found the process a chore. It was a while ago and I don't think blogs existed back then - this is where my second confession comes in...

Confession 2 - I stole the idea of this blog from a fellow student! Now, theft might seem extreme but, when I saw he'd chosen to use a blog to record his learning rather than a paper diary, the idea just seemed to fit better with me. My hand writing is terrible and this way I at least have the opportunity to correct my spelling and have some kind of sentence structure. To make up for this grande theft, I should at least provide a link to the person who I actually give credit to for the original idea.

That's it for the confessions (for now anywho) so it just leaves me to explain the name of blog. One of the teachers I remember most clearly from school was an English teacher called Mr Hillditch. He was very much old school and seemed to specialise in fantastic catchphrases. One aspect of his lessons I used to dread was when you had to read out a passage from a book in front of the class. Of course, most people stuttered and mumbled and, in response, Mr H would bellow "loud and clear so all can hear" and "speak up (surname)". So, in memory of this most respected teacher, I have called this blog after the phrase that was often left ringing in my ears after one of his lessons - "speak up Wales".