Let's talk about Teachers!

I’m interested to read a few saying they enjoyed supply? When I retired at 66 people asked if I wanted to do supply. I never did as I had often noticed that kids didn’t give the respect to a supply teacher that they would to their usual teacher.

I did go back for two terms to cover a maternity leave and just teach sixth form in my subject though. It was lovely! I also made it a condition of my going back that I didn’t have to attend meetings !!

Retired primary school headteacher. Teachers are interested in people and their social context. Gransnet fills a few of the gaps!

I am a retired College and University Lecturer. My subject was Computer Networks and Data Communications.

I suspect that teachers are inherently ‘joiners’ and inquisitive so that's perhaps why we tend to be net contributors rather than lurkers which shows us up where others might be invisible

Another retired teacher. I think it is because teachers are very friendly and lie to communicate with people.

I had always wanted to be a teacher and had a place at college when I left school but I’d already met my husband so I didn’t take up the place. I trained to teach Home Economics when my own children started school. I was HoD and taught for ten years and then I moved into staff development, policy and training, first for the OU and then my local university. I also taught for the OU for 22 years. Now I ‘teach’ my grand children - once a teacher, always a teacher. I used to have a t-shirt that said ‘Education made me what I am today’ and never was a saying more true.

Yes, I was a teacher too! Taught English at a rural secondary school and loved it. Still get a heady feeling of relief at not having to mark 120 mock examination papers over Christmas.....

Started off as a secondary school teacher, retrained as a Primary teacher when my children were older.
Eventually ICT, primary modern languages specialist and SENCO in my school. I also did work for the LA developing French and as an ICT masterclasser.

Devestated when ill health forced early retirement.
I too feel GN is a bit like a staffroom, I miss the children, parents and my colleagues so much.
I do not miss the frosty mornings and working late into the night!

I’m part of the club too! Trained in London in the 70’s, then taught in primary schools and eventually moved onto deputy headship and headship before I retired. I did go back to some supply teaching for a few years based around my holidays and did quite enjoy it for terrible pay - could only work via an agency in our part of the country - and then one morning I woke up and thought ‘I don’t want to do this anymore’ so I didn’t! I miss my colleagues, well most of them, and of course, the children. The first Christmas without a nativity and a school full of excited children was so sad!

Another retired teacher here! My subjects were Chemistry and Biology.

I retired at 59 simply because my mum and brother died within a few months of each other and I began to feel that life was for living. My husband had already retired and we managed to get in some travelling before deciding to move nearer to our son in London.

After spending a couple of years renovating the house we were ready to carry on travelling but CV19 has put a stop to that for a while.

Now I know why I feel at home here. I became a secretary and had some interesting jobs but married young and we moved to a village. There I found myself surrounded by teachers, Uni lecturers, Professors the lot and over the years how useful I was. I typed up all kinds of learned papers and helped with a technical journal. We have all been friends for 50 years now and although I didn't like school very much I love teachers probably because two DDs joined your club.

Some really lovely stories on here.
Thanks folks!

I started my working life as a trainee pharmacy dispenser with Boots Chemists. I spent almost 10 years in that job then had children and became a stay at home mum.
I decided to study for a degree with the Open University, just to see if I could do it. My husband lost his job so he also decided to study with the O.U. When my eldest started school I became a parent helper and later got a job as a support for a disabled child plus some extra hours as a teaching assistant.
That gave me the teaching bug and once I graduated, I did a 12 month PGCE course.
I taught primary age children for 16 years, became SENCO as well as Acting Deputy Head for a time. Loved the job but was very glad to retire.

Only if you feel less worthy.

This group is far from elitist. Perhaps it's just that women have become more independent, more educated and more aspirational during the last 30 or 40 years.

I didn't go to university until I was 45. If it was good enough for my daughters, it was definitely good enough for me. I loved my four years of studying and my daughters and I all graduated within two weeks of each other. I'm the mother of two teachers.

Not bad for a single parent with four children living on a Council estate.

Perhaps I'm elitist after all

I have been a teacher though I didn’t work as a teacher for very long. I was also an Education Officer in a local authority for a while. I am 73. I agree that it was the profession that was open to women in my youth. Primary school teachers were almost all women and could train without going to University. The majority of women who graduated from University also became teachers. I see this in girls I know who went to Oxford women’s colleges and married men from men’s colleges. The men had all sorts of careers but the girls have all been teachers. One man became a solicitor. His firm in the City of London wouldn’t even interview a woman for a post as a trainee lawyer in these days. Promoted posts in teaching even Primary school head teacher posts went mostly to men. I remember women teachers in my co-educational academically selective state school in their gowns. They were role models. But the Head and Deputy Head and Heads of all departments but one were men. Thinking about it now, these women were far superior on the whole to the male teachers. They would have been the brightest and most able of girls when they were at school themselves. Marriage was still the most important role for women and caring for your own children. Teaching was something you could go back to when your children were school age. Very changed today.

I always knew that there were a lot of Teachers and
retired Teachers .on here.

So that's why I always feel uneasy when I sign in!?
Shades of the 1940s! Thought I'd escaped!
Can still imagine "RUFUS! Put that book of jokes away at once! You're here to be teached, not to enjoy yourself!"

So, are you a Teacher, ex-Teacher, Teaching Assistant etc
Neither; I was Teacher's fodder!
Good Health

Watch it Rufus2, or you'll be in detention.

Another retired teacher here. I think there are so many of us on here because we're intrinsically curious about people and we like to give our opinions
I've always worked in education and have had a varied and interesting career. I began as an NNEB nursery nurse, went to teacher training college to become an early years teacher but found on my practices that I loved teaching the older primary children. When I left college in 1981 there weren't any primary jobs so I applied for a PE post in a secondary as it was my main subject. It was a great job, prancing about in a track suit or games skirt, teaching my hobby! While I was a SAHM I taught a bit of English in adult education. Went back to primary teaching for several years before becoming a local authority advisor. When we became a Social Enterprise I ended up leading an initial teacher training programme before retiring two years ago. I proudly say I 'taught' from 0 to 65! At the moment I am assisting in home schooling my DGC as part of my DD childcare bubble, loving every minute.

Watch it Rufus2, or you'll be in detention
Wow! that was swift!
Good job my reflexes are still up to dodging pieces of flying chalk.

Teacher's Nightmare!
Tying up wet shoelaces when its not been raining!
OoRoo

I taught maths ( and a wee bit of biology) - first at secondary school for a while, then in colleges. For the last ten years before retiring, I worked for our qualifications authority. I notice it has been mainly primary/English/languages teachers who have posted. I hope that's not an indication that maths/science teachers are not good communicators! Joking apart, I think teachers usually like to get involved in discussions and are not afraid to offer their opinions. One of the things that I found particularly rewarding in the college I taught at for about 14 years was helping adult returners, many of whom found maths very challenging and were worried about failing that part of their course. It was great to see them achieving the necessary qualifications in maths and science to allow them to complete their course and proceed to higher education, back into employment or into a new job. I really enjoyed teaching the students who wanted to train as primary teachers but didn't already have the entry qualifications for the HE course. Completing the access course at college gave them the necessary qualifications to apply and many were very successful.

Yes former teacher here too.
I did wonder if we retired teachers would be summoned to be substitute staff during lockdown.
The school my grandchildren attend is not coping. The staff are not attending to the needs of their charges. Infrequent phone calls and not answering messages are the norm. So very sad as it has potential to be a lovely little faith school. It was fine, not brilliant, before it became an academy.
How would the teachers here feel about helping in a school during lockdown?

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Started in pre-schools, nurseries, primary, (first and middle) high school, and moved onto working with unemployed adults on short courses as a teacher/NVQ Assessor/IQA. Was awarded ‘Teacher of the Year’ in my college just 16 months after qualifying.

It all came to an abrupt halt when I became ill and had to give up work in Jan 2019. I’m going to say very honestly I don’t miss the job, the marking, the dashing from venue to venue around the country, the staying in hotels (though some were lovely) and the lesson planning! But I do miss the social side of meeting new people every few weeks, and working with new potential employers of these students.

The majority of people who came on my courses were interesting, positive and at times jovial! Teaching adults was hard, in fact the nursery kids I taught were easier to deal with (even with their tantrums!) than adults sometimes, but the challenge was to break down their barriers to learning and help them to achieve a new qualification. And once everyone had gelled in the class the lessons were a lot of fun with lots of different input from the learners.

Some of their backgrounds were amazing, and I was always interested in their previous careers. It was such a shame that their confidence had been knocked by becoming unemployed - often redundancies, or relationship break ups, and they really needed a boost to realise what their past achievements were, how well they had previously done in their working life, and how those skills could be transferred to be used in a new job.

And these were unemployed people who supposedly didn’t want to get a job! They were hardworking, determined and completed their courses at the highest levels.

I was often asked ‘Why do you want to work with the great unwashed?’ Horribly stereotypical to the people who were willing to take ANY job just so they were earning an income and supporting themselves and their families.

I loved teaching those courses - and did a bit of everything from Employability to Functional Skills, Customer Services, Retail, Warehousing, Health & Social Care... was definitely a ‘people’s person’ and enjoyed meeting everyone. But alas, my poor health stopped it all.

I would like to add though, that I did all of this after leaving my much hated high school at the age of 14. I skipped as many classes as I could as I despised the establishment and the teachers who worked there. I left without a qualification to my name, and people who I meet from my youth now, think it’s absolutely hilarious that the rebel they knew, became a teacher who was so passionate about her work!

Now I sit at home, quite bored and unmotivated to even get up some days. My enthusiasm for just about everything is hibernating I think.

Waking up to the Gransnet newsletter often gives me a giggle, has me pondering on questions asked and keeps me connected to the outside world when I can’t get out anymore. (And that’s without including lockdown sadly)

It’s interesting reading everyone’s points of view on the topics of the day. The jokey posts and even the sad ones asking for opinions. I seek advice from the forum (best hoover/bank account/washing liquid) and enter the competitions. There’s a bit of everything for everyone right here, from all you little people that live in my phone

I taught for 7 years in comprehensive schools, English and French. I left when expecting my first baby and was glad never to return. That baby will be 40 this year! My second career was as accounts and payroll manager for DH's dental practice.
I agree that we are attracted to sites like these because we like to communicate.

I was an FE Lecturer - originally trained to teach Business Studies but, during my first year teaching, volunteered as an Adult Literacy tutor. When they found out I was good at it and teacher-trained, they started offering me literacy classes (which I loved and which involved far less marking than Business Studies!) This lead to further work teaching ESOL and SLDD - which I absolutely loved. I thoroughly enjoyed going into work each day. We all worked in the 'Adult Centre' - cut off from the rest of the college and away from all the politics. Everyone got on well and it was the best group of people I ever worked with - so talented and dedicated. We had such fun!

Within a few years, colleges became incorporated and things went downhill rapidly. I became Basic Skills Co-ordinator and a member of the College's Internal Inspection team. Then I made the big mistake of applying for a Curriculum Manager role - I think I was flattered that so many people were urging me to apply for it but I should have stood my ground. Getting that role took all the remaining joy out of teaching for me. I hated every minute of that CM job and, within 2 years, had left the college to become self-employed.

I'm a TA in a special school. I've worked there full time for around 30 years and really enjoy it.
At the moment I'm on a rota to work 3 of the 5 days. The school has put great emphasis that the other 2 days are not time off and we must work from home.

Santana
Impossible to work in schools without the support and assistance of the teaching staff. I learned a great deal from them on how building design affected learning.

If only the SLT took note! Within my school they often don't take into consideration the input of staff actually working on the ground floor. Then they wonder why things aren't running as smoothly as they'd envisioned.