Theresa Rowland, Hull City Council

Why I love to teach!

Theresa Rowland

I often think I have the best job in the world! I get to talk a plethora of interesting people from every walk of life. As you will have probably gather by the end of the session I love to talk and I get paid to do so, what more could I ask for.

Every day for me is different! I learn as much from my students as they do from me.

I have worked for Adult Education for 15 years, mostly community based.

It is a privilege to mold and shape future generations.

Debra Marech

At the moment I manage the BBC Open Learning Centre in Hull. I work in partnership with the BBC to develop community learning and the use of the Open Centre. I also deliver PTLLS and TAQA teacher training.

The BBC Open Centre is a fantastic place to work; we get some very unusual characters popping in to use the free internet access and watch radio going out live from the centre.

Whilst teaching for Family Learning I attended conferences in Nuremburg and Oslo.

I teach for so many reasons. I teach to educate the future generation. I can only hope that my students learn as much from me as I learned from my great teachers. Rachel Garay

Students come in many shapes & sizes…in pairs, write down reasons people may have for learning in post-compulsory education.

It makes me feel good to help my students to observe the world around them and to see things in a different and creative way.

Tina Guarino

• 16 year old school leavers• 19 year old developing work skills• Mature students returning to learning• Unemployed people wanting to re-train• Adults gaining new skills• People returning to work after a career break• Older people keeping up with technology• People learning for fun• Any others?

How many did you get?

I hope the excitement and passion for teaching that I bring into the classroom every day will inspire students to try their best and continue to challenge themselves.

Lizzie Hawk

What makes a good teacher?

• Think back to your experiences of learning…

• Who can you remember? Why?

• And who would you rather forget?

• Why?

• Confidence• Patience• Compassion• Understanding• Sense of humour• Wanting the best for your students• Individual support• Passion for your subject

I teach because it keeps me young at heart and I can’t imagine doing anything else that I would love as much.

Carol Anne Allen

• GOOD TEACHING is about caring, nurturing, and developing minds and talents. It’s about devoting time, to every student.

• It’s also about the thankless hours of assessing, designing or redesigning courses, and preparing material

• Seeing a learner grow and become more confident is worth all the hard work.

We've discussed why individuals attend community education:

•what type of people do you think attend?

•where do you think they are taught?

• Parents• Teachers• Environmental Health Officers• Parent Support Advisors• Other trainers• NHS Staff• Local Businesses• Offenders/X-Offenders• School Leavers• The list is endless

• Prisons/probation/bail hostels• Hospitals• Factories• Football Stadiums• Shopping Centres• Community Centres• Health Centres • Schools• Mosque• Youth CentresAgain it can be anywhere

I am an idea person – ideas strike like lightning hitting my brain. I love to share them and to learn about other people’s ideas. There is no place for that in other jobs, but there is in teaching.

Chrissy Harmon

So what are the challenges we face?

There are men and women in the classes we teach who have had an uphill struggle to get where they want to be in life.

They have faced adversity and battled against people telling them they will never achieve. Some have lost jobs, but instead of feeling sorry for themselves, they have signed up to courses to challenge, motivate, develop and change their lives.

For these learners, walking through the door into an educational organisation can be very difficult. They may have had bad experiences in school or college in the past. Low self esteem and previous bad experiences can sometimes take years to overcome.

I have first hand experience of this being Dyslexic.

I was one of the lucky ones. After finally plucking up the courage to sign up for a course, I had a fantastic tutor who inspired me and changed my opinion on education.

I hated school with a vengeance!!

Especially Fridays when we would have spelling tests. I still get feelings of dread if I think about it.

Last year I finally bit the bullet and completed my GCSE in English which I had failed it at school. I was very apprehensive on the first morning of the course and was soon put at ease by my tutor. I really enjoyed the course and passed.

I think having Dyslexia helps me to understand my students and show them empathy.

Students with learning difficulties have experienced years of defeat and are often afraid to take risks and make mistakes. My job is to create a healthy climate in the classroom for each student where risk taking is celebrated and making mistakes is okay.

Marilee Gleason

IT my saviour!A lot of people hate IT but for me it was a saviour - not having to worry about spelling and grammar changed my life! Without it I wouldn’t be where I am today.

I try to think out of the box with IT. Why only use it for typing up your work or searching the internet.

We can use voting pads, interactive white boards, cameras, mobile phones and digital voices recorders to helps us enable and motivate our learners.

Why don’t we use them more?

Over the last ten years the use of IT in the classroom has changed dramatically.

I originally started working with Yahoo groups, blogs and Facebook to share resources and encourage discussion with students out of the classroom.

For anyone who use IT within the classroom we are plagued by systems that quickly go out of date, software that crashes and intermittent Internet access.

This is starting to get better but the amount of money organisations need to spend keeping things up to date can be massive.

Every student is capable of learning and I truly take pride in making my students feel confident in themselves, and what they are learning in class. It is my job to not only

teach social studies but to mold students into young men and women with respect and

integrity.

Lucas Giguere

In the next six months I will be trying to alleviate the need for expensive equipment by using students own laptops, tablets and smart phones.

Students have been asking for courses such as using Twitter and Facebook for business purposes, but they want to use their own devices. Using students’ own equipment is good for both parties, but relies on good internet access.

As an assessor using video and voice recording is a life saver. I had a fantastic child care practitioner who had Dyslexia and struggled to complete her course work. After talking to her, we decided to complete more oral questioning and observations and this eliminated a lot un-necessary pressure and enabled her to complete the course.

Every day, teachers help students learn how to learn. In so doing we get them closer to reaching their individual dreams and to realize there are dreams yet to be dreamed.

Andrea Lambrecht

By passing on my experiences to other teachers/trainers I hope to encourage an enthusiasm and passion for teaching. Reflecting on what good and bad experiences people have had and drawing on the their passion is the first step to becoming a good teacher.

I always tell my students that the day they stop getting nervous when they teach a new class, or meeting group of learners for the first time, is the day they need to stop teaching. Teaching needs to come from the heart.

My job never seems like a job. It seems more like an adventure… always new, challenging, rewarding, sometimes disappointing, but most of all fulfilling.

Donna Schleicher

Any questions?

Thank you for your time.