Some Teachers !!

[Daisy]

Oma - the trouble is it's very difficult to 'lose' a poor teacher, and it sounds as though this man isn't open to advice on improving his classroom management. The head and management team are probably very well aware that he's not a good teacher, which must be very frustrating for them.

[Clover]

I know you said he is new to the school Oma but I was wondering how old he is?
At my Grammar school we had a real variety of teachers. One was really old-fashioned and everyone was scared of him,another who had no hold over his class at all and I used to get frustrated as I got tired of some of the other pupils constantly disrupting lessons but the one I remember most was a young chap who taught Maths. He had just the right balance having a laugh and a joke but when he got serious we knew he meant business! I admit I had rather a crush on him.

[Daisy]

Clover - I went to an all girls school, and the young male teachers all got adoration from the pupils It was frustrating when you had teacher who couldn't keep order, but equally I wouldn't have wished my first form Maths teacher on my worst enemy - she was terrifying. Just in case you all think we went round in a daze there were only 3 of them in the whole 5 years I was there.

[Oma]

I don't know Clover I will have to ask J tonight 😊
Daisy we had a teacher like that everyone was terrified of her , Mrs Reed she was a tiny little women with a grey bun in her hair we all thought she was about 60 at the time but she was only in her 40,s , she missed nothing and was fierce even the boys were scared of her , looking back she was a good teacher as you sat up and took notice of her but we all disliked her . Maybe if she had taught English I wouldn't be so bad at it today 😊

[Pearl5]

I remember being at school and being scared of my science teacher, he was huge, a great big hairy beard and shouted all the time, if I couldn't understand anything I would never have asked him, he was too scary....then a maths teacher who I was scared of too, I was "chatting" to my friend in the next seat once, well only the once I can remember... and he threw the blackboard rubber at my desk them big wooden things, I nearly jumped out my skin to put it politely and then wouldn't go to his lessons, (played truant.... ) OH sometimes asks did I ever go to school, hmmmm probably more no than yes, not very educated am I...... I HATED school, OH says they were the best days of his life....of course I know that's a fib, we are....

[Oma]

Pearl I hated school , I got more education when I left than I did there , I am still learning I think and it's the stuff I want to know about not what I was forced to learn about ,
I didn't have anywhere near a good education , I bunked off whenever I could then I left a few weeks after my 15th birthday , even if I wanted to stay on I couldn't I had to go bring a wage in to the home, But I have survived all this time and I think I'm doing ok ,I'm happy and have lived a good life without certificate,s or any sign I actually went to school 😊 in fact my head teacher wouldn't give me a leaving reference as he said i wasn't there long enough to earn one 😲😂 I told him I didn't care I had a job and didn't need his crappy reference 😊

[Pearl5]

LOL Oma I gather that "chappy reference " is spelt wrong, I remember getting chased around the bus stop off the "deputy" head for bunking off, when I was taking back to school, she asks why, I told her I didn't need to learn anything else I knew everything.....how wrong was I....

At home we watch these daft quiz shows and if I get a question right and OH wrong I love it....and love to watch all the "history" programmes, that's where I pick things up, OH appears to be bright but I don't know if that is because I am not,.

[Daisy]

Oma and Pearl - you are both highly intelligent ladies, with lots of life experience to back it up as well. It wasn't that you were no good at school - school was no good at you! Schools expect all the kids to follow the same path, learn the same things and come out at the other end 'educated'. It's like a sausage machine, and who wants to be a sausage!

[Gemini]

I agree Daisy.

I know plenty of intelligent people with no qualifications , and plenty of rather stupid ones with degrees

[Oma]

My school was very bias towards the children from better off family's , as most schools were in them days , I noticed this from a very early age even in junior school , those with nicer clothes and more money were encouraged more , those that shone at things had more attention , those of us that were not so quick didn't really matter , my best subjects all the way through school was Maths , I was always top of the class , not that I could do today's maths mind you , I look at J,s and wouldn't know where to start , I also liked History but by the time I was into say 2nd year of comp I lost interest in everything else , I always remember my first day in the comp , we were all asked if we had siblings in the school , my Sister was in year 4 and as soon as I said my name the teacher said are you Alison sister , I said yes and her reply was , "another one that won't go far" , I was doomed from the start , my sister was a rebel so I was tarred with the same brush , I encouraged my children to get a good education as I wanted them to have every opportunity but I can't say I regretted the way my life went as I've always been very happy with my life , I wouldn't be the person I am today without all the twists and turns now would I 😊

[Gemini]

What a nasty and unfair thing for that teacher to say Oma.

I went to a small private primary school. My headteacher always made me feel stupid. As I hung my coat up each morning she would stand there and ask 'Now E, what have you got to say for yourself today?'. I was a shy child, and had no way to answer this, which did not impress her. I hated her being there when I arrived. Even as a child I was very aware of how she favoured the children of vets, teachers etc. My dad was an office manager in charge of accounts (and the best father you could have)
I was much happier at the girls grammar school. I didn't work as hard as I should, or leave with as many O levels as maybe I could have ( I was dead against staying for A levels ) but that was down to me more than the school I think.

[Daisy]

Just going back to Oma's original comment about this teacher. I'd missed the bit about him being new to the school - he'll be on probation, so maybe he won't last long!!

I don't think a lot of teachers of our generation either knew or cared about the effect their words had on us. I went through junior school being a year younger than the rest of the class, so I think a lot of comments went over my head, but at the Grammar school none of the teachers seemed to praise the middle of the roaders. We were just left to get on, and if we struggled well, they didn't expect much of us anyway so why should they worry. I didn't realise until quite late on in the school that other girls got help at home with homework. My parents both left school at 14. Their English and arithmetic were very good, but helping me with difficult homework was out of the question.

The thing I really hated was that if I didn't understand something, or couldn't answer a question in class, the teacher would shout at me. How did they think that would help?

[Plantaholic]

I loved school, reading your posts I must have been lucky, I didn't have any teachers that I found frightening. I loved my headmistress at Senior School and went to see her later when visiting my parents. I suppose I was a good student but not very very bright. I wanted to stay on after I was 15 to take some O levels but like you Oma, another wage in the family was welcome and my parents thought it would be a waste of time.

[Nana]

Just shows how our school experiences shape our futures tho'. At primary I was told by a priest I was a child of the devil & at Senior school I handed my Prefect badge in to the Headmaster because I felt strongly about one of his rules I thought was unfair. I suppose I've always been 'a handful'.😉