Let's talk about Teachers!

As a retired teacher, I had the same thought as Hetty58 but decided to take peak. What lovely stories/lives there are to read. Haven't read them all but will do so.

I was a very shy, nervous child who failed 11 plus and left school in 1966 aged 16. I loved school, particularly maths but fell to pieces at the thought of any formal exams. First job was as a typist. Mum and Dad so proud of me when I got an office job. They'd sent me for private typing lessons. Mum was shop assistant and Dad a welder and we lived on a council estate. I combined my love of maths with secretarial work and moved on to become a financial secretary/book keeper.

As my children progressed through primary I got very involved with their school work. So at the age of 28 I started adult evening classes and studied for a Maths O level. After a few years I had 4 O levels and 2 A levels. This was whilst working. One lecturer asked if I'd thought of teaching.

1982: I enrolled for a B.Ed (Hons) at and four years later with a 2.1, I started teaching (primary). During those four years I did temping work during holidays as an income.

My 20 year career culminated in a deputy headship in a very large city school. I chose to work in schools in socially deprived areas and loved it.

My love of teaching spread into supporting other teachers. One very rewarding, successful year I had (secondment) was as a consultant supporting schools in special measures. An other year, (again a secondment) was supporting with IT.

After retirement, I was asked by two friends (Headteachers) if I would do some temporary supply. I then became involved with the new 1:1 tuition and voluntary work teaching 50+ how to use their laptops.

I finally took full time retirement from teaching 6 years ago at the age of 65.

I've no wish to teach again but do wish I could have started teaching at an earlier age.

Another teacher here! English, secondary.Retired early last year to help with a son in law with brain cancer...I did not celebrate a retirement from my school as it was all in the beginning of the pandemic.

Hello Weddingcake
What a sad end to your career, not being able to have a special day at school and a party.
I've thought about people leaving the profession quite a bit. I wonder how many teachers have left or are leaving due to ',the current situation'?
My Aunty was an English teacher.
When I first decided to go into teaching I couldn't decide to go with English or Art. She talked me out of English due to the marking load.
Funnily enough, I am now part of an English department.
My route into teaching was a long drawn out one.
I started a PGCE in Art after I'd done my MA, but my Mom died and I completely lost the plot and couldn't cope.
I was then agoraphobic for a few years in my 20s.
Then I became a TA as I mentioned previously.
I taught a lot of GRT children and other children with EAL. It was a great job.
The school where I worked was going to let me train to be a teacher there, but they went into Special Measures and I couldn't continue.
So I left and did a Primary PGCE.
In order to get on the course I had to have a GCSE in a science, so I taught myself biology for three months and got an A! (I'm more proud of that than my MA!)
I now work in a secondary school, which is exactly what I wanted.
Well, I say 'work'...
Unfortunately, I'm currently on long term sick leaveand I'm very unsure if I'll be able to go back

I was PA to a Headteacher and enjoyed my job until we had a new headteacher who announced to the staff that the Head’s PA at her old school had too much power and that wasn’t going to happen in her school! That told me! She was not a very effective Head Teacher and I left after a year to became Accounts Director in a manufacturing company. There I was valued.

I taught( in two secondary schools) for 34 years. I taught English Language and Literature and, as Second in Department, was variously, in charge of the libraries, of Key Stage Three and SATs and then the sixth form 'A' Level English.

By the end I was burnt out and depressed and took retirement at aage 55 foregoing a quarter of my pension because I did not think I'd live very long to collect it.

Nine years later I have had a wonderful retirement so far. I am reasonably fit and healthy, walk at least five miles a day -often more - and read, bake and I clean, decorate and maintain my house and garden. I also support my lovely two children with time and attention and also my DH, who was a journalist, editor and publisher and who now writes for an agency for three days a week.

I noticed how many of the respondents on the other thread were teachers and am not surprised at how many have joined Gransnet which seems to be all about communication and sharing experience. I thought that the generally high level of literacy on Gransnet might be due to older people having had old fashioned teaching but maybe it's partly the teacher thing!

I agree with the poster who said that teaching was a common aspirational goal for bright working class girls. I became the first graduate in my family.

Woodmouse what a wonderful career story !

PollyDolly - I’m so glad you wrote that. Indeed it was exactly what I was thinking when a remark was made about elitism. Whether we do it consciously or not, we are all teachers who pass on skills and knowledge whilst giving guidance, support and praise.
I was lucky in that during my 33 years as a teacher I met and shared goals with parents like you. Consequently parents’ evening was an absolute joy for me despite the fact that I always had two classes in years 7 and 8 so had double the number of appointments for those years. (The head regarded parents’ evening as a tiresome, additional burden.) I always came home on a high.
Teachers silently acknowledge and build upon the ‘good job done’ by parents; they’re quick enough to grumble in the staff room about those who haven’t!

A teacher of English Lang and Lit in three countries- Scotland, Kenya and England. Secondary to start with, but later in FE colleges where I taught many mature students and, post retirement, Esol with asylum seekers and refugees. A-level evening classes were my first introduction to further and adult education. It was refreshing to be able to work with students who really wanted to be there, just as my students in Kenya had been during my five years there. Now I do a bit of tutoring but that has been out of the question for almost a year thanks to Covid.

PS
One of the best tributes I ever had was from an evening class student who came to me at the end of the course and thanked me for teaching her to read and enjoy poetry. What more validation could I have wished for?

Anyone else teaching on Zoom? As a retired teacher, adviser and inspector of ICT I am really enjoying being back at the virtual chalkface. I don't think Zoom is great software, but accessing video, audio and live news sites with my U3A English students makes for quite a powerful teaching tool I think.

Not a teacher but when we were staying in Laos and Cambodia over the winter for many years I was a voluntary teacher of english, going into classrooms and undertaking english conversation. Loved it and it was great fun. Also taught to Monks and the police and even now on Facebook I get asked questions on english by my many ex students.

Hi Mamie Not teaching on Zoom per se, just making contact with the children. We do have small group Zooms, but I arrange a meeting for the whole class with a specific theme- e.g. jokes, something good that’s happened this week or a particular task.
They are so excited to see each other-I quickly learnt that I must remind them to mute when it wasn’t their turn to talk.
I teach through Seesaw. It’s been a whole new learning experience for me, never mind the children.

So many of us ! As I said at the start of the thread I am a primary teacher. I studied dance and drama at teacher training college (Camberwell S E London) .

Started teaching in London in Sept 1972 and worked in Wandsworth, Lambeth, Southwark, Merton, Hammersmith & Fulham and Kingston.
After a while I became a primary deputy, then had 2 headships . I also did OFSTED inspections both for primary schools & EYFS . I was seconded from my headship to be a LA advisor which I then did permanently until I retired almost 10 years ago. I subsequently set up my own Education Consultancy and, to ensure I had recent and relevant experience, also did some supply work. I had to stop that at the first lockdown as I am CEV. Sad as it was 2 days a week at the local primary's SEND base which I realy enjoyed. I have recently recorded stories for my DD, also a teacher, to use in her school.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my choice of career, had some tough times and mostly great times & still enjoy the work I do.

I was a mature student too and graduated the year of my 40th birthday. I worked in colleges of further and higher education until I was 61, teaching English Language, Business Communication, Business Administration and Psychology. I loved my teaching career but I love being retired too.

I used to be a teacher, first at high school and later on adults. I changed career to social work in the early 1980s and became the manager of a welfare and volunteer agency. I loved that and still did a bit of teaching in training volunteers for working with disadvantaged frail people as well as staff training. We used to produce a newsletter for all the volunteers and staff and by default I ended up producing that and that was fun,too. I retired in my mid 60 s and got heavily involved in Probus and for a while I volunteered with the police as a welfare person assessing peoples’ homes for safety etc. All good times, never regretted any of it.

Yes I too used to be a teacher. I gave up a headship to care for my father with Alzheimer’s and qualified as a garden designer which I’ve been doing for the last 15 years. The reality of this now is I do lots of gardening for people. I get my pension in April so I’m deliberating whether to stop but it does help me keep fit. ?

To be a good teacher, you need a good education. I know how difficult it can be for students to do their homework. But fortunately there are writers who are willing to help with any academic assignment, which is very helpful in the learning process. I was very helped by a letter of recommendation writer www.lorservice.com/ and got my letter of recommendation. I wouldn't have written it that way myself.

My first teaching job was teaching art ar a boy’s prep school. Hated it, as I was the only female teacher and wasn’t allowed in the staff room.I was also quite young. Progressed on to secondary school and then became an Infant school class teacher. Loved that. Many many happy memories although the school was in a ‘bad area’. The parents were ‘iffy’ the children, marvellous

Reported

What? Me ! ……Why?

MrsKen33

What? Me ! ……Why?

No Ken! The person above you!
Funny to see this old thread

You weren’t allowed in the staff room!

MrsKen33

What? Me ! ……Why?

No, not you, the post above yours is spam. But I think GNHQ are all on their hols today!! ⛱

?

I’ve noticed that too Calli ?

I taught English at secondary level in Scotland, before taking off for Kenya where I again taught Lang and Lit at a high-powered very selective girls' boarding school which took pupils from all over the country. All could speak English well enough when we admitted them but were entirely fluent within a year or so. Most of our 6th form went on to University. Back in UK, after marriage and child-bearing, I started teaching A-level evening classes in Eng Lang and Lit. Then I had a variety of part-time jobs in FE, ranging from teaching 'communication' to day-release students to English and Media Studies to mature Access students who then went on to University. After retirement, I took a course in TESOL and spent a couple of years teaching refugees and asylum seekers - one of the most rewarding jobs I ever had. Since then, I've kept my hand in by doing a bit of tutoring. So... you can see I've had quite a varied career!