to turn the other thread around and ask what is the BEST thing a teacher ever said to you?

[pullthecracker]

Thinking about things on a positive note, I remember my English language a level tutor, when I saw him a few years later, saying “I’ve never met anyone that worked as hard as you” (I only got an E, so that meant a lot to me)

I had a teacher who told my (aim for the middle, don’t worry about the top) parents that I would change the world one day. I’m still trying, but it was exactly what I needed to hear then.

‘God if you can’t do it no one can!’

He opened my eyes to the fact I was actually pretty good!

"When you finish your art a-level I would love to buy your painting as I think it's amazing"

Dc's teacher told us as parents eve "first of all let me say minijoyce is an absolute joy to teach" ☺️

"you have the morals of Montmorency"

Very pleased with that one, he was the one I identified with. And she took it for granted that I'd know what she meant, which was in its way a compliment.

Not academic praise, but when I was at Infant's School, my family had a very serious car accident in the summer holidays. I was 6 and I had the same teacher for 2 years. I remember Miss Brooks running across the playground on the first day of term in September & scooping me up into her arms & telling me how worried she had been as she'd read about the accident in the papers.
I sat on her lap all day & she marked work on my back. She kept hugging me and I could see the love in her eyes. I adored the bones of that teacher; and I can still remember she wore a headscarf like Felicity Kendal in The Good Life! I think of her often & wish she knew how much I loved her.

In A Level English we were studying the poem Act of Union by Seamus Heaney. My teacher was talking about the relevant Irish history. She had slightly misunderstood what had happened; I knew because I’d studied the relevant period in history recently.

I put my hand and said my interpretation was a bit different to hers. She said OK please take us through the poem which I did. At the end she said ‘You know you’ve done a good job as a teacher when your pupils don’t need you anymore’.

That gave me so much confidence and I got As in both English and History

I was not a joy to teach but my children are nicer than i was and have both been described as such.

It wasn't really my teacher but I wanted to go to dance school. It was all I had my heart set on.
I went to this dance college Easter school and one of the head teachers pulled me in her room and said she believed in me. It meant the world as I always doubted myself. Unfortunately I never did go, always been a regret of mine

tiny that's a lovely story! Shame teachers aren't allowed to gives hugs or show care like that now a days

Most of my teachers were lovely. I can't think of specific comments, but a couple of special ones stand out. There was one in the 4th year of infants who realised that I was a new child who was shortly about to move up to her class after joining the school very late in the school year. She befriended me when I was alone on the playground while she was on duty. The teacher that I had for those few weeks was hopeless and made no effort to help me settle in. I was sent to a seat by a completely inappropriate child and got bullied from the outset. Being befriended on the playground gave me hope for the next school year and once I was in her class I settled quickly and began to make friends. She was also kind about my family dynamics and let me make two mothers day broaches so I didn't have to pick favourites.

My form tutor at secondary was utterly lovely. She retired when we left as she didn't want another tutor group again as she loved us so much. She taught us in y7 and snapped us up when we became avaliable. After retirement, she went on to do a lot of work in adult education and a few years back got an honour for it (OBR or MBE?) She was great at times like when I was struggling with period pains, and she hugged me and consoled me when my A-Level teacher made some cutting comments. She really had my corner
I feel sad that some of the depth of relationship we had would exceed current professional boundaries. She wasn't unprofessional in the slightest, just very human and driven by a love of learning and sharing knowledge, and very caring to those in her charge. Today, the climate of teaching makes it very difficult to build such a relationship.

My old chemistry teacher on the day of her retirement after teaching for 35 years. "You are my greatest achievement."

In secondary school,I was horribly bullied. The teacher that everyone looked up to took me on one side and asked me about my ambitions. They seemed bonkers and completely over the top for a comprehensive school kid like me and I hadn’t told anyone before, He listened carefully, counselled me about a level choices and university and told me that he had absolute faith that I would achieve what I wanted. I still have the paperwork where he wrote that down. No one had taken me seriously before and he made me brave enough to try.

I discovered recently that he had been awarded a CBE for his work with disadvantaged kids. I suspect there are lots of people like me and I can think of no one more deserving.

I was socially excluded and only managed to make (undesirable by parental standards) friends by being the most badly behaved girl in the year. Our new Latin teacher was widely regarded as being one of the most ineffectual and uncharismatic teachers. Faced with a class of poor achievers, she asked us all our exam result the previous year - she was visibly taken aback when I told her a figure a good 60 percentage points higher than she'd have predicted from my classwork. In a quiet moment she came to chat with me, showed interest in me as a person. It was such an unheard thing in that school that from then on I concentrated on her every word, behaved impeccably for her, and went on to do reasonably well at Latin O-level - something I've never regretted as it's been so useful in everyday life. I don't think she ever knew how much that action meant.

When I was about 7/8 I heard my (adored) class teacher chuckle at something I said and say to another teacher 'She has a great sense of humour that one'. As a neglected and awkward child it was the first time I had ever been noticed for something positive and it made me glow inside.

More than 40 years later I went to uni for the first time as a mature student. My tutor obviously thought I was a bit of a time waster, a rich bitch pursuing his subject as a hobby - until he blindmarked my first essay. I can still remember his surprise when he realised the essay was my work saying ' it showed great perception and a remarkable depth of thought'. You bet your ass it did Mister.

Something a teacher said to me about my daughter...

Reception teacher told me she wished my daughter had been twins, as it was so lovely to have her in the class.

At sixth form, I’d chatted to my form tutor during morning registration about what university courses I was applying to and how I was trying to be sensible/think of the future.

Later, at afternoon registration he kept me back and the head of sixth form came in and they gave me reams and reams of print outs from universities and told me to not even dare to contemplate not applying for creative writing because I was bright enough to do anything and I’d spent long enough being ‘sensible.’

17 year old me will be forever grateful for that. It was kinder and more wonderful than any amount of academic praise I’d ever received.