Did you have a teacher who changed your life?

[NoEffingWaytoSurvive]

I wish I could go back and thank my GCSE Maths teacher who tutored me individually so that I could get a C in GCSE and do my 'A' levels.

At the time I was thankful, but I didn't realise at the time how much extra work I generated for him marking every single past paper the school had in it's archives.

Maths is still not my favourite subject but I have a solid grasp of numbers which is surprisingly helpful in real life. Never used pythagorus's theorem outside of a math lesson though and I'm nearly forty!

No, not at all. I did miserably in my GCSEs, but i turned it around myself,
Did alevels at night school in a year, did a university foundation year, degree then a PhD - but I think it's like losing weight, if you want it badly enough, you'll get it, I matter what

Yes, I'll name her here, too. I did really badly in school because I had a bad home life. I couldn't focus on anything - my mind was flitting around in panic all the time.

I started Cauldon College in Stoke on Trent where a teacher called Rose Rogers taught me shorthand and typing. The thing with shorthand is that you have to focus - you have to empty your mind of everything else and just focus on the words being said. It's quite meditative, really. She taught me how to do that and I can't tell you how much of a difference it made to me. Though I went on and took A levels at night class, a degree as a mature student and an MA, she was the one person who made a massive difference to my life. I don't imagine she's still alive now but I really wish I'd written to thank her.

Mr Fanning. Incredibly inspiring English teacher.

I had some incredible teachers. The ones that really stick in my memory are the ones that said I did something well. It meant a lot to me.

Mr Owen, in a Wiltshire village primary in 1970-73, my final primary years.

He was inspirational and believed in effort, competition and achievement. He was a bit like the Robin Williams character in Dead Poets Society. He came to us from a boys prep, actually!

But, we were a big class, 36 of us; brighter 8 year olds through to slower held-back 12 year olds.

I wouldn't have wanted to have any SEN in his class, but the clever kids flew.

We had a lot of inspiring teachers in my girls grammar school in 1973.

Several would not have survived 'out in the wild', though, and some should not have been subjected to the second formers! (Y8)... 😂

David Marshall - told me in no uncertain terms I should never let anyone call me stupid. I am academically very strong but was getting bullied. He stuck up for me and massively boosted my confidence.

Emma Smith - introduced me to a world of drama and theatre which took me away from my academic path (!) and into a career I love and thank my lucky stars every day.

I've had some highly influential people in my life who's guidance and advice have been pivital but none were school teachers : my grandparents who brought me up and number of clinical specialists during my training and early career and my first team leader when I worked on a Major Trauma Unit. My husband too. Curiously, altho I enjoyed my time a school, in the UK anyway, nobody in particular stands out.

@NoEffingWaytoSurvive

I wish I could go back and thank my GCSE Maths teacher who tutored me individually so that I could get a C in GCSE and do my 'A' levels.

At the time I was thankful, but I didn't realise at the time how much extra work I generated for him marking every single past paper the school had in it's archives.

Maths is still not my favourite subject but I have a solid grasp of numbers which is surprisingly helpful in real life. Never used pythagorus's theorem outside of a math lesson though and I'm nearly forty!

I used pythagoras recently to calculate the distance from my house that the supports of a rain shelter needed to be concreted in to the ground given that the canopy had to be at a specific gradient. If my calculation had been wrong by more than 2cm it wouldn't have worked. Maths is useful in so many situations.

Yep, my Geography teachers at school who all encouraged me to go on and study the subject at Edinburgh and in the end I became a geog teacher myself.

One of my former pupils is now a geog teacher himself - it's a very strange feeling!

I had an amazing after school teacher when I was.
She introduced us to all the crafty hobbiess she could think of: cross stitch, crochet, knitting, tie dyeing, marble painting, macrame and so on.

one of my grandmothers used to do embroidery and my dad could use a sewing machine but they never actually taught me anything and there was nobody else remotely crafty in my family.

so I loved Miss Antonia with all my heart and her classes were like heaven for me.
She gave me such a gift of having different ways to express my creativity.
I wish I could show her all the things I've made in the almost 4 decades since that first class. I'll show you one instead; here's my crocheted temperature blanket (size 2m x 1.5m) I finished in 2019.
It never would have happened without her!

*when I was 9

Miss King & Miss Mallon wonderfully dedicated teachers 😍😍 Forever grateful 😍

@ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba that blanket is absolutely amazing. You are extremely talented

@NoEffingWaytoSurvive thank you.

for the record the main pattern is not mine (it's by Janie Crow called Mystical Lanterns).

I think I probably would have ended up doing some creative crafts eventually, but I'm so glad I was taught them so young.
I started tap dancing when I was 42 by a total chain of accidental events and through the first class I was thinking "woah! where was this in all my life?"
better late then never, right?😁

Yes but not because of the subject he taught but because he said every single person had something to give to the world and in our own unique way we were all very special. I had a very difficult home life and he seemed to genuinely care. Absolutely lovely and inspirational teacher, I was still pretty bad at French, the actual subject he taught.

I did but I was 40 by then. He was the arch nemesis of my high school teacher of the same subject who had made my life a misery as a teen. My school teacher destroyed my dream and this other teacher helped me realise it many decades later.

Yes, 2 English teachers - my first at the school and my last in final year.

The first teacher made me realise that I had a genuine talent for writing and built my confidence by reading my work out to the class (although it made me cringe at the time).

5 years later my last teacher told me I should write a novel. I did a related degree, had a few short stories published and finally wrote that novel last year. I'm editing it now.

They were both very important to me development and the path I took. I saw the first teacher in the street at a distance a couple of weeks ago - if he had been closer I would've spoken to him.

That's beautiful @ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba

@Maria53

That's beautiful *@ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba*

thanks so much x

My I.T. teacher. He was such a lovely teacher. I tried to trace him, and thank him, a few years ago. I couldn't find him though. I hope he's still out there somewhere, living a happy life.

I have two teachers.

My maths teacher was very similar to your story. He was a head of year and I went and spent one break time a week in his office where he tutored me to get a C grade. He'd make me a cup of tea and in return i would answer his phone and say he's not there.

My other one is my year 10-11 teacher. He was great. He gave the impression he didn't care, he was out the school gates before the final bell had finished in his Jaguar but when it mattered he had your back. The sex education he taught was factual and honest. He skipped over the biology telling us all to look it up and talked about consent and telling someone if you're made to do stuff you don't want. There was a lot he helped me with, with very quick, unfussy chats. He just knew when things were wrong.

I had a lovely teacher for English after having one who really knocked my confidence. She could see that I was better than the work I was submitting and gave me an extra shot at a piece of work. She told me she had shown it round the staffroom at lunchtime because it was so good and I had a knack for writing screenplays. It really helped my confidence.

Another was at college when I took a gap year after not doing well in a levels. She had a careers chat with each of us and I had no clue what to pick for university. She suggested teaching because I had a lot of work experience with children through scouting. I told her I would never be able to make a good impression at interview and she told me to go for it.

So I did! And now I love my job so much and I'm actually pretty good at it!!

I wish I had the chance to thank her properly.