Teachers. Did they make or break you?

[bubblegum7474]

I remember when I was in year 4, my class teacher embarrassed me for not knowing my times tables. I sat there and cried. He proceeded to tell me to 'get out' when he realised I wasn't very good at it. I wish he was a teacher that helped after finding out my biggest fear/struggle. Alas, now at 30 I still hate Maths (somehow managed to get through the GCSE's with a grade C) but I know with a little more help I may have had the courage to better things and make better decisions academically.

Do you have any stories and how did it impact you?

I had a teacher towards the end of primary school who dragged me "with his hands" to the front of the classroom and accused me of saying something I didn't, in front of the whole class. It's etched in my memory and ruined my start at high school as others thought I was the nasty person who said this thing.

I still very occasionally see this teacher if I'm in the town I used to live, an old man now.

Another, when I was about 7 or 8, used to line us up and comment on our socks. Mine were "grubby ". Again, done with an audience.

Others, hair pulling, hitting with rulers. A horrendous 7 years. High school, at least they kept their hands to themselves.

I had the most brilliant English teacher at secondary school, she recognised I loved to read and gave me spare copies of school books that were too tatty to be used in class, I still have the Catcher in the Rye she gave me. She opened my mind to the impact of literature and I will always be thankful for that.