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The Positive Things About Teaching thread.

spanglechick

spanglechick

High Empress of Dressing Up
It's very nearly the end of term, and what's more, I have a new job to look forward to, so I thought it might be timely to make a thread where we urban pedagogues remind ourselves of why teaching can be pretty brilliant, actually...

and no, I don't just mean the holidays...


Okay, I'll start.
My year nines have been working on presentations exploring the backgrounds of some poems from other cultures.

I have two classes, and they both did their presentations this morning. Some of the groups had really creative ideas for presentation (spoof Jeremy Kyle - type show etc), one group had produced beautiful, professional looking leaflets, and in both classes, obe child decided to bring in home-cooked food from the culture they were researching, for everyone to taste.

So, by 10.30 this morning i'd eaten samosas and pakoras, jerk chicken and plantain. mmmm plantain.

the thing is, they didn't have to do this. it wasn't an assessment piece and everyone is in end-of-term wind down. I was really touched and impressed because when you're 14 making an effort with anything is pretty uncool.

see - when the kids really impress you, there's nothing like it, really...
 
Yeah, that's true. I had a group this year who did a piece of drama that was just awesome. I mean, awesome. I'll remember the 20 minutes forever.

I'm planning a new course this year too, I have loads of freedom over what I do in and am really looking forward to it cos it allows me to spend my days doing things that I really care about - which is better than digging holes.
 
tangerinedream said:
Yeah, that's true. I had a group this year who did a piece of drama that was just awesome. I mean, awesome. I'll remember the 20 minutes forever.

I'm planning a new course this year too, I have loads of freedom over what I do in and am really looking forward to it cos it allows me to spend my days doing things that I really care about - which is better than digging holes.
Click to expand...
ooh - which course?
 
tangerinedream said:
A Level 3 Btec (certificate) in Performing Arts.
Click to expand...
cool - sept 2008 we're introducing btec first and hopefully btec national too. they're good courses - lots of scope for shaping them in the direction you want.
 
one boy (3yrs) I work with can't say a lot and today he signed/said 'finished' in Makaton when he finished his dinner and he was really pleased with himself:)

ETA: spanglechick - can you be my daughters teacher? she#s 14 and your class sounds way more interesting than anything she's done in the last three years for english
 
My term finished 30th June!

Best thing about teaching is when a parent comes in, as one of mine did, and says that she wanted to meet me because her son has improved so much and that he talks of me with great respect!

Some of my students are leaving this year but have asked if they can come to the informal lunches that we used to have, because they want to stay in touch!

One gave me a bottle of wine to say thank you for the help I'd given them over the year.

I love teaching in Portugal, I couldn't do it in UK. I've been doing a summer school in Rutland and have had the worst possible experience. If this was what teaching was I would leave.

Exam answer from this year's grammar paper: 'While I wanked in the living room, my mother was baking a cake' I wonder what she meant! Still it was proper use of the past simple and continuous so full marks!
 
Thanks for this thread Sc.:)


I've just spent a week observing in a classroom, as part of my pre-pgce requirements, and I was literally moved to tears on the last day when the kids gave me a lovley hand made card thanking me for my help with their maths. It was signed, "we'll always remember you." ....:) :cool:
 
This thread is very timely for me. I went into my new school where I will be starting in September. I know it well having done my training there.. but came away feeling more than a bit overwhelmed!!! To be fair, they're having "issues" at the moment and hearing teachers talking about industrial action in the staffroom was a bit worrying!

I know I can make a really good go of it and once I get there I'll just get on with it and get very into it, but it is a bit scary and given that I'm doing this over doing a PhD in the subject that I'm passionate about, I must stay very positive.

I'm going to be teaching 4 subjects (at secondary)!! :eek:
 
Best things imo are:

Being able to talk to people about a subject that interests me and get paid for it.

Seeing my students become more enquiring, critical and open minded.

Seeing people that have previously been written off doing well and becoming more confident.

Being able to order any books I want to.

Past students contacting me to say they are doing well - flattered that they remember me really.

Meeting new people - ages, backgrounds, interests that I would prob not come across in other areas of work.

Some of my students I teach across three years of their study and its really rewarding to see their progress - from poorly researched and constructed papers to brilliant ones in the final year.

Two weeks into the six weeks holiday and Im feeling the need to explain something to someone in great detail - my mate and I just went on holiday for a week and and one evening she explained some maths stuff to me and I reciprocated with the theory of surplus value. Sad.
 
I get lots of hugs:)

and get to talk about what favourite cartoon characters children have on their underpants hats knickers and vests
 
i've been thinking about becoming a primary teacher, but thats for another thread.

i would just like to say a big thanks to all the teachers i liked when i was a kid. most of em are probably nearing retirement or in some cases dead and almost certainly won't read this post or know who it is from.

but three cheers for them!
 
That was one of the most touching OPs I've ever seen on these boards - and goes some way to restoring one's faith in the intrinsic goodness that is within all of us.

My wish is for more of us civil servants to be able to do short secondments working with people who have to deliver the policies that we develop. In one of the Whitehall departments one of the new Ministers has ordered all of the senior civil servants to do several days "frontline work" every year - things like bin collections, working in advice centres and generally getting out of the glass and stone towers along Whitehall and Victoria Street.

I would love to see the policy advisors within DCSF to spend 1 week per year shadowing teachers so that people get an idea of what teachers have to put up with. Having "on the ground" knowledge can make a huge difference when policy is put together. I would love to spend some time as a teaching assistant in a school but I know that I don't have what it takes to be a teacher. I would only want to work with people who had the innate desire to learn. I wouldn't want to have to do some of the "riot control" some teachers have to do.

I can imagine the buzz of seeing your pupils growing, learning and developing being fantastic. I used to help as a volunteer at ballroom dancing classes and got a real buzz from seeing people who I had taught mastering steps and routines. An old acquaintance I spoke to said that he decided to go into primary teaching because you get to spend 2 years day-in-day out with the same group of children and thus can have a much more positive and effective influence on the children than having them only for 2 hours per week.
 
Prince Rhyus said:
I would only want to work with people who had the innate desire to learn. I wouldn't want to have to do some of the "riot control" some teachers have to do.

.
Click to expand...

much research is now focused on finding out about / creating policies resting on the fact that everyone has the innate desire to learn - unfortunately for some, they dont find a fertile environment early enough:(

and :) for those professionals who try to remedy this
 
bumping this thread, cos i'm at my new school, and while it is an inner city challenge, i'm really liking it most of the time.

But one particular thing made me smile today. Year 7 kids, coming in after break and telling me what they'd been eating, and that they'd prefer chocolate.
"You want to watch that", say I, indicating my physique, "Look at how you'll end up".

Cue several eleven year girls utterly shocked and upset. "But Miss, you're not fat, you're beautiful!", "I want to look like you when I grow up, Miss!" - utter bollocks of course, but it's their way of showing me that they like me. I grinned a lot and we settled on accepting that I dress stylishly.:D

I'm quite enjoying teaching just girls, actually. Less stuff gets broken!
 
Well having gotten back from school tonight at 10pm.. and I haven't had a day off for a long time (due to working all weekend for the last 2 weekends - and will be this weekend too), I'm struggling to stay positive right now.

However, it's very true that the conversations you have with the kids - the good ones, do tend to outshine the shit. I've had a few funny ones today - mostly whilst taking detentions. And today's highlight was discussing/explaining Alan Bennet plays with asylum seekers who can't speak much English but could totally understand the sentiments behind the words.
 
spanglechick said:
i'm at my new school, and while it is an inner city challenge,....

I'm quite enjoying teaching just girls, actually. Less stuff gets broken!
Click to expand...

Do they have girls only state sector schools? :confused:
 
yes.. I'm teaching at one too.

I burst into tears in the staff room this morning.

I'm not doing so good at the "positive things" at the moment.

Definitely shouldn't be on urban atm either. :(
 
Spanglechick - that's a lovely and :cool: moment.

Gaigin - crikey, sounds like keraaaayzee hours. I hope you can get a bit of chillage time soon. XxX
 
A positive thing in a perverse way - the people who despise teachers and speak disparagingly of them are the ignorant, the stupid and the wilfully crass. They are people whose contempt one can be proud of earning.
 
When a student tells me that he/she likes doing clause analysis, or when someone in one of my classes posts something cool on our blog. Little things really :)
 
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