One of the really lovely things about teaching is having feedback from students after they have left school and are making their way in education and the world of work afterwards.
I have had several emails recently – two in the last two days.
Just after Christmas I heard from a student of 4 years ago, who is now doing an ICT networking job he enjoys. He asked me to pass on that you sometimes have to do rubbish jobs before the right one comes along!
Yesterday I had another email from a student who is regularly updating me on his ICT course. I will share this with the Y12s on Monday because his point is that doing CiDA and the AS database unit has really prepared him well for his current unit.
Best of all is the following email from Mike. We all (Mr Lech and I included!) find independent working and motivation difficult at times. Mike saw the light in Year 13 of his ICT course, gaining A grades in units when the year before he was getting Es and Ds. I have asked his permission to pass this email on – which he was very happy to give. I hope it gives you some encouragement in the next few week with difficult timescales with coursework. It is worth it later on… 😉
Mr S
“Hello!
It’s Mike **** here from your GCSE and A-level class a few years back! not sure if you have this as my current e-mail or not but i’m sure you’ll remember me!
Basically I just decided to send you a quick email in response you your earlier requests for feedback from the course as i now feel in a much better position to do so!
One thing which I am especially grateful for is the amount of experience I got from the project management module in particular. I am now applying for placement year jobs at various companies and the same questions pop up on every application.
I am doing a Vauxhall one as we speak with these questions: (I’m on the 3rd stage of their application process so if i pass these questions I will get an interview!)
1. Describe how your personal planning and organisation resulted in the successful achievement of a specific project or task over and above your normal duties.
2. Tell us about a time where you have used your initiative to make a change or improvement. What did you do and how did you do it?
3. Tell us about a time when you have been involved in a team decision. What was your role and how did you contribute?
To put it bluntly, if i hadn’t done the project management course I would have nothing at all to write about (like most people I am competing against) whereas now I struggle to pick out the best situation from a bucket full!
If i had one piece of advice for your current students it would without a doubt be to keep a log of all problems, solutions, personal and team projects, any solutions YOU came up with and the end outcome because these will be like gold dust when applying for jobs and will give anyone a HUGE advantage in applications and interviews and you WILL forget half of the things you did a few years down the line!
I hope that was abit more comprehensive than I was able to give last time!
Just abit of an update, I’ll soon have finished my second year of my automotive engineering degree and will be hopefully going on placement to a company this summer for a year. I’ve now decided the career path I want to go down is that of automotive journalism so i’m trying to find free journalism classes around my uni but will keep you posted! I’m trying to push the Malton Mercury into letting me do an article as well!
If there is anything at all I can help you with in the future don’t hesitate to drop me an e-mail!
Hope all is well
Mike
“
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Feb 4 2011
Deep Learning for after you leave school…
One of the really lovely things about teaching is having feedback from students after they have left school and are making their way in education and the world of work afterwards.
I have had several emails recently – two in the last two days.
Just after Christmas I heard from a student of 4 years ago, who is now doing an ICT networking job he enjoys. He asked me to pass on that you sometimes have to do rubbish jobs before the right one comes along!
Yesterday I had another email from a student who is regularly updating me on his ICT course. I will share this with the Y12s on Monday because his point is that doing CiDA and the AS database unit has really prepared him well for his current unit.
Best of all is the following email from Mike. We all (Mr Lech and I included!) find independent working and motivation difficult at times. Mike saw the light in Year 13 of his ICT course, gaining A grades in units when the year before he was getting Es and Ds. I have asked his permission to pass this email on – which he was very happy to give. I hope it gives you some encouragement in the next few week with difficult timescales with coursework. It is worth it later on… 😉
Mr S
“Hello!
It’s Mike **** here from your GCSE and A-level class a few years back! not sure if you have this as my current e-mail or not but i’m sure you’ll remember me!
Basically I just decided to send you a quick email in response you your earlier requests for feedback from the course as i now feel in a much better position to do so!
One thing which I am especially grateful for is the amount of experience I got from the project management module in particular. I am now applying for placement year jobs at various companies and the same questions pop up on every application.
I am doing a Vauxhall one as we speak with these questions: (I’m on the 3rd stage of their application process so if i pass these questions I will get an interview!)
1. Describe how your personal planning and organisation resulted in the successful achievement of a specific project or task over and above your normal duties.
2. Tell us about a time where you have used your initiative to make a change or improvement. What did you do and how did you do it?
3. Tell us about a time when you have been involved in a team decision. What was your role and how did you contribute?
To put it bluntly, if i hadn’t done the project management course I would have nothing at all to write about (like most people I am competing against) whereas now I struggle to pick out the best situation from a bucket full!
If i had one piece of advice for your current students it would without a doubt be to keep a log of all problems, solutions, personal and team projects, any solutions YOU came up with and the end outcome because these will be like gold dust when applying for jobs and will give anyone a HUGE advantage in applications and interviews and you WILL forget half of the things you did a few years down the line!
I hope that was abit more comprehensive than I was able to give last time!
Just abit of an update, I’ll soon have finished my second year of my automotive engineering degree and will be hopefully going on placement to a company this summer for a year. I’ve now decided the career path I want to go down is that of automotive journalism so i’m trying to find free journalism classes around my uni but will keep you posted! I’m trying to push the Malton Mercury into letting me do an article as well!
If there is anything at all I can help you with in the future don’t hesitate to drop me an e-mail!
Hope all is well
Mike
“
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