A Block In The Road

Starting this course, everyone said I would hit a block at some point. This week is the one. 

Over the last week or so, we've been bombarded with information about our assignments. We have a written assignment due in April, and a 15 minute presentation in February. The essay doesn't scare me so much, as I've spent the last 3 years writing essays for my undergrad course, but the presentation petrifies me. 

We need to come up with a topic surrounding either English, Maths or Science, and come up with 15 minutes worth of talk around it. I knew I wanted to do Maths, as it's the subject I was least looking forward to teaching, but the one I'm most enjoying now I've started the course. I've been searching a ton of different sources to find inspiration for my topic, but nothing has stuck out whatsoever. I know that February is a long way away, but is it really? This course is so full on, that while we're on placement (in just one and a half weeks time!), we'll be observing, planning, teaching, assessing and doing directed tasks. Throw research, reading and planning for a presentation into the mix, and you've got yourself a recipe for stress. 

If I could at least have a question in mind before I start my placement, that would put me in the best position I could be right now. 

I think the pressure of assignments has just put me in the wrong frame of mind this week. In our Maths session this week, I just couldn't get a grip on the concept. We were doing fractions, and for the first time on this course, I just couldn't wrap my head around it. One of the questions was "Is 3÷4 the same as 3/4?"

The rest of the class had worked it out, and were discussing how they worked it out, and even once they had moved onto the next question, I was still trying to figure it out for myself. No matter how much I looked at the question, I just couldn't do it. 

It took me 10 minutes before I realised that if you divided 1 by 4, you got 1/4, so multiplied by 3, the answer was 3/4. 

I've never felt so trumped by one question before, and it really put a downer on how great I'd felt about Maths since starting the course. 

I know this is just a block in the road, and that it'll pass pretty quickly, but right now I just want to get out onto placement - a change f scenery and a reminder of why I'm doing this is exactly what I need right now! May my rollercoaster be heading upslope soon!