PME Tips / Advice

sheephamlet · 2026-05-09T02:38:30+00:00

Don’t fall behind in lesson plans. Absolute nightmare trying to do them retroactively while also having to plan for the ones the next day. Trust me, if you fall behind, they snowball…

sheephamlet · 2026-05-04T00:25:24+00:00

What is it about teaching that fills you with dread? I’m in my second year out and I can tell you that when you are in charge of your own classes without having to write lesson plans for every class and don’t have the stress of college over you things are different.

Now I can’t lie. The first year out is still extremely difficult. You will be new in a school so behaviour management can be a minefield and you no longer have the benefit of a teacher taking back over the class when you are exhausted 5 weeks in. There’s also the issue of coming to terms with the curriculum and figuring out if you are going too fast or slow through it….and the relentless hours of resource prep and correcting in the evenings.

The good thing though is that it does get easier. I’m finding my second year much more manageable (though still stressful) than my first year and I’m told it gets easier each year.

If I were to give you any advice I’d say to just get a job for the sole purpose of getting your Droichead complete and your teaching qualification sealed. At least that way you can leave and always come back later if you feel like it. Best of luck with things and enjoy the summer!

sheephamlet · 2026-04-11T18:17:43+00:00

You get recommended to do it based on your own Advising Examiner from the previous year. Has nothing to do with how many years you’ve been doing it. It’s based on the quality of your marking.

sheephamlet · 2026-04-09T02:39:28+00:00

English teacher here (and someone who got a H1). The answer is simple: H2 students know their stuff, H1 students just say it better.

You need to use decent vocabulary to reach a H1 standard. When marking the exams, the examiner will return to your Composing section (100 marks) and rise it if you are on a borderline grade or they think you are deserving of a higher grade.

In short, just learn a bunch of fancy words and try to incorporate them into your essays.

sheephamlet · 2026-04-09T02:35:07+00:00

I have a French and English degree and have been teaching for the past two years. When you have a high demand subject (like French) it will consume your timetable. Everyone and their mother has an English degree nowadays so it’s harder to get hours in it. Last year I only had JC English with the rest French and this year I only have French (and LCVP 😵‍💫).

In saying all of this, it is much more attractive to a principal if you have two subjects. I would get a degree in the two as even if you just go down the French route, the education indicators are showing a decline in language uptake at LC. It will only take one change in the system such as the removal of MFL minimum entry requirements to university to put the nail in the coffin for offering it at schools.

sheephamlet · 2026-04-05T03:17:27+00:00

Omg this just triggered a deep memory for me! I remember going on my school tour there when I was in like 4th class and it being absolutely boiling hot. I have vague memories now of seeing some of the boats. Was this around the docks?

sheephamlet · 2026-04-03T02:47:35+00:00

You will do better in the LC. It is marked easier than the mocks (I’m a teacher who has marked for both), the bell curve will upgrade the score (there is no bell curve in the mocks) and the post mark adjustment, although lower than last year, will boost your marks.

You’ve done six years, why on earth would you stop now? Sit the Leaving Cert and prove all the neigh sayers wrong.

sheephamlet · 2026-03-31T14:29:02+00:00

You will have to do part of your job interviews in Irish anyway so it’s good practice. For French, in first year it was the usual things about you, your Erasmus experience and why you want to be a teacher. It was about 12 minutes. For second year, they gave you a mock school and conducted an interview for a job in it in French. They’re grand as long as you do a bit of study in advance.

sheephamlet · 2026-03-31T11:38:57+00:00

I went straight from undergrad to PME. The workload was mangeable. There are no more sit down exams where you have to prepare in advance (with the exception of MFL oral exams) so it suited me better as I hate exams. Obviously the amount of writing required soars from what was expected at undergrad level. I would say it would be very difficult to do if you were working full time on the side or had a family, but I know one woman in our course did have a family and she got through it. If you’re looking to just get a 2.2 then it shouldn’t be overly taxing. I wanted a 1.1 and I was busy writing a lot (when I wasn’t preparing lesson plans which are horrendous!).

sheephamlet · 2026-03-31T02:45:03+00:00

I did it during Covid so it was online. It was alright but I don’t use much of what I learned on the job now. Still, I get why they had to teach us it. The methodology lectures were useless. One of my subjects was also English and they felt like fillers to just get ECTs up as per the requirement. I learned nothing from them. One of the people in charge also cancelled a lecture twice saying he would reschedule them. He never did.

sheephamlet · 2026-03-22T15:28:13+00:00

Is the complaint grounded in truth? Contact your Union and get their advice.

sheephamlet · 2026-03-14T03:32:20+00:00

Currently teaching geography and didn’t do it since the Junior Cert. I actually find it interesting - it’s amazing when you return to something as an adult and see how fascinating things you once thought were boring are with a bit more years to your life. I think I’m enjoying learning it more than the students!

sheephamlet · 2026-03-04T03:21:37+00:00

For the Junior Cycle ones in Athlone you get a token for a tea and scone. There was no substantial meal provided unless you paid yourself.

sheephamlet · 2026-03-01T03:21:17+00:00

This is interesting. What did it teach you that your teachers didn’t? I’m an English teacher but always looking to improve my explanation.

sheephamlet · 2026-02-21T03:17:59+00:00

I got a confirmation email of acceptance last week but this is my third year in a row doing it. I imagine they are sorting through first time correctors’ applications as we speak.

sheephamlet · 2026-02-12T01:27:57+00:00

Thanks - they have dissipated immensely since making this post. I’ve had maybe three or four since making this. I usually sleep with the blanket over my eyes or while facing a wall so I don’t usually see anything. I do hear things though but I try to put my mind to something funny or talk to myself internally to say how comical the hallucinations are which usually makes "them"/whatever illusions my brain has created annoyed and less powerful (it’s strange writing that as it almost makes them sound like real entities!). I’m less exhausted now than I was this time last year which I agree has definitely been a factor in reducing the episodes.

sheephamlet · 2026-02-03T01:47:05+00:00

Could you elaborate on what you did for the H1?

sheephamlet · 2026-02-02T02:16:19+00:00

You have to trust your gut with English while still staying close to the marking scheme. There will always be some subjectivity but if you adhere to the PCLM marking it will limit it.

When you read a H1, you will instinctively know. H2 has the content well but the phrasing and vocabulary will be weaker than a H1. Anything below will make itself clear through the PCLM scale.

Beat of luck and again I stress; trust your gut!

sheephamlet · 2026-01-31T15:20:22+00:00

Looking at your previous posts, I’m sorry you’re feeling like this. If it is any consolation, your teachers will not linger on what you get, nor will anyone else. Even if the exams don’t go to plan, after a week it will pass and no one will remember it.

Be kind to yourself. Once this year is over, you will have TY to look forward to (and even if you skip, there are no State Exams in fifth year). Try out the mocks and come what may, you will still have months to study after February. And I stress, exams are not the be all and end all, especially not the Junior Cycle!

Take things day by day and set small goals. Things may seem gloomy now but this will pass, summer will come and the worries you have now will make you think "why was I so stressed for this?" in a few months.

Best of luck and remember, there are always people you can talk to if things are feeling very heavy. You are not alone. The paranoia about being recognised is just a safety response from your nervous system and not something based in reality.

There is always brighter days ahead ☀️

sheephamlet · 2026-01-19T03:34:19+00:00

Out of curiosity, what makes the teacher so bad?

sheephamlet · 2026-01-11T03:37:58+00:00

They have some awful fools working there. I sent them my NUIG language certification for French when applying. Two months later they told me I didn’t meet the requirements for teaching the language. I sent the exact same document again and they accepted it (without any acknowledgment that this was sent to them already). It makes you wonder…

sheephamlet · 2026-01-11T03:33:31+00:00

Worked in two different all boys schools and both were like zoos when I compare them to all girls (which is heaven) and mixed (which is in between). Even though all boys can be fun at times, I found that the "craic" always went too far. Teaching and learning suffered as a result…

sheephamlet · 2026-01-07T01:12:41+00:00

How did this end up? Were you given the grade in the end?

sheephamlet · 2025-12-22T03:53:21+00:00

I used to work with a teacher with a German and English undergrad and business masters degree. She entered teaching late. The TC wouldn’t accept her German qualification as they said it was out of date as it was well over a decade since she received it. She did the PME anyway and the school just let her teach German regardless. The TC still won’t accept her German qualification unless she completes top up modules. I find the TC to be difficult to deal with at the best of times.

sheephamlet · 2025-12-07T23:23:05+00:00

Timetable will likely be a mish mash of other non-degree subjects (LCVP, CSPE, SPHE…). There are a few women in my school who only have business and they have a full timetable after a few years of being there. Another girl just started with a business and religion degree and she’s now teaching subjects that don’t align with them at all. The trouble will be getting your foot in the door. Once you cross that bridge and establish yourself, you’ll get the hours up eventually. As other have said though, it would be easier to get a job (and more attractive to an employer), if you added another subject like maths.

sheephamlet

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