Maybe it's just the weather . . .

but I'm having a major "Is. It. Worth. It.?" day.

Veteran PGCE-ers earnestly warned me in August - "It's really, really hard." I thought at the time I knew what they meant.

I didn't.

I'm starting to get it now.

And you really do have to wonder - is it worth it?

This afternoon we had a tutorial. "Aha" I thought, Alan-Partridge-Stylee. "A real life teacher - she'll remind us all why it's worth it."
Hmm.
She said "Being a teacher is really really hard work" (We nod dismally - it's not the first time we've heard this now, and not one of us has seen even a glimmer of absolutely ANY evidence to the contrary).
"You're in school at ten past six, thumbing through your blah blah blah blah"
We've heard this before too. Our class teacher has said to me and my partner that we can phone her any time after 5am if we need anything. *the first time I heard this I blinked rapidly as I processed what she had just said*

"The first week of the holiday is a medical necessity."

"If you stay in teaching long enough, eventually your parole comes round and you get to work at this place." (Our tutor gestures at her surroundings; meaning the University.) "Teaching teachers is much easier. When I was still in school, I headed up the tunelling section for the last 3 years" (She makes wild furrowing movements with her hands, indicating digging).

For some reason, I'm not feeling very re-assured.