By Colette Hume BBC Wales education correspondent

Taking control of her nerves, Colette begins the lesson

It is the fifth year the ceremony has been held here in Wales and winners will go on to the UK final in London later this year.

This year has seen a record number of entries with staff from schools across Wales nominated by pupils, parents and colleagues.

And to discover exactly what the awards are about, I decided to set myself an unusual challenge.

Thirty pairs of eyes are watching every move I make. For the next hour those eyes will be locked on me. I'm under pressure. Any slip up will be noticed immediately. What am I doing? I'm teaching. For one whole day I've swapped a notebook and a microphone for a board marker and a rubber to see what life is like as a teacher.

I'm spending the day at Queen Elizabeth Cambria School in Carmarthen. My challenge is to teach history to a Year Seven class.

My guides are the Head of the History Department Gareth Havard and Helen Emmanuel, a former Teacher of the Year award winner.

Let battle commence: Colette's year seven pupils

"It's like fighting a war," says Gareth. "You might lose some battles but as long as you come out on top you'll be fine."

He tells me that establishing my authority on the class early on is the key to keeping control.

"If student teachers have problems keeping discipline then they'll really struggle," he says. So the message is clear. "Let them know early on who's the boss."

The class would usually be taught by Helen Emmanuel a former winner of a Teaching Award. She's a big fan of interactive learning and introduces me to her lesson plan.

I'll be teaching the Black Death of 1347 and its effects to the 11 and 12 year olds. It'll involve the children dressing up and re-enacting scenes from the time - and one lucky pupil will get to be a plague victim.

I'm incredibly nervous. This is much harder than any live broadcast I've ever done.

The plan seems simple enough on paper, but delivering the lesson to 30 children is a different matter.

With registration completed it's time to get down to the serious business of actually teaching that lesson.

I'm incredibly nervous. This is much harder than any live broadcast I've ever done.

They all sitting there staring at me and although Helen and Gareth are sitting at the back of the class assessing my progress I'm on my own. And I actually break into a sweat!

Fortunately for me the class are great - they're bright and eager to get involved in the role-playing activities, but I find myself stuttering as I try to read a story about a village hit by the plague.

Pressure is on

I'm keeping closely to the lesson plan but I've obviously gone too fast - I manage to finish the lesson 10 minutes before the bell goes.

When I realise my mistake I look in desperation to the back of the class. Helen motions to me to recap on the main points of the lesson - phew!

That gets me to the bell - but then I realise that we haven't packed away - and the class have another lesson to go to. The pressure is on to tidy the room and get the class away in five seconds flat.

Time for a debrief with my mentors.

Helen tells me: " You need to slow down a bit, that's why you finished so early." Gareth says I need to give the children more time to answer the question. "If they don't give you the answer straight away don't do it for them. Let them sweat a bit, they'll come up with the answer eventually," he advises.

They also tell me that I've praised pupils who've given the wrong answer. "If they get it wrong say something like, 'that's an interesting answer' instead," Gareth says, "but make sure you tell them if they get it right - and if it's a really good answer stop the whole class and get the pupil to stand up and repeat it. They'll never forget something like that."

But on a positive note they think my communication skills are good and there's praise for my rapport with the pupils.

After lunch it's back for round two. This time I feel much for confident. I'm trying to slow down and encourage the children to answer my questions rather than doing it got them.

I also remember to recap on the main points - and get the class to pack the resources away before the end of the lesson.

So would I swap the mic for a board marker on a permanent basis?

The class was lovely and it was great to get such a good response from them. I only taught two lessons and if I'm honest I was exhausted by the end of the day.

These children only get one chance at education and that really is an amazing responsibility. It was great to see life from the other side of the desk and I'm so impressed by people who dedicate their lives to the profession.

"You want to make a difference," says Gareth. "That's why you do this job."