Unusual teachers and teaching methods you encountered
Discussion
My schooling was from 1959 to 1970 yet some of it could have been written by Dickens.
At Secondary School, if the aged* Senior Maths Master asked you a question and you gave what he considered to be a ridiculous answer, he would push back his chair, stand up, climb laboriously on to his chair, then on to his desk, put one hand out in front of him, put the other hand on his hip, raise one leg and announce that he was a teapot. His name was Bowley but he was known to the boys as Teapot Bowley.
At the same school, the Senior Languages Master saved himself a lot of effort by not learning boys' names until they reached the Sixth Year, by which time the numbers had thinned out. Instead, he gave all boys from the First to the Fifth Year the same name, 'Scum.' "You boy, scum." I'm fairly sure he didn't have a nickname.
* aged - Younger than I am now but seemed ancient. And I'd be more nimble performing the Teapot routine.
At Secondary School, if the aged* Senior Maths Master asked you a question and you gave what he considered to be a ridiculous answer, he would push back his chair, stand up, climb laboriously on to his chair, then on to his desk, put one hand out in front of him, put the other hand on his hip, raise one leg and announce that he was a teapot. His name was Bowley but he was known to the boys as Teapot Bowley.
At the same school, the Senior Languages Master saved himself a lot of effort by not learning boys' names until they reached the Sixth Year, by which time the numbers had thinned out. Instead, he gave all boys from the First to the Fifth Year the same name, 'Scum.' "You boy, scum." I'm fairly sure he didn't have a nickname.
* aged - Younger than I am now but seemed ancient. And I'd be more nimble performing the Teapot routine.
In my parochial rural secondary school (circa 500 pupils, most destined for a life of driving tractors and shouting at the weather), our first year A level geography teacher was strikingly honest: "There are 19 of you in here and I only want 15. If you're not sure about this being for you, drop out now". Nobody dropped out then. Over the following month or so he brutally bullied the weakest 4 until they lost the will to carry on and dropped out one by one. Not sure that was in the teaching manual of the time (early 90s).
In the first two years of my class at Primary School there was a lad who was cut from different cloth to the rest of us. He was cheerful and friendly and we could make him laugh. But he was very, very dim. Presumably in an effort to make him buck his ideas up, the teachers would be impatient with him. He clearly wasn't up to it, just not equal to mainstream schooling. The occasion that sticks in my mind was both the infant teachers shouting at him, telling him he was stupid, and making him cry. How I could see that shouting at him wasn't going to improve his academic abilities and the teachers couldn't was, and remains, beyond me. I was six and a sensitive lad but I couldn't speak up for him. I didn't have the vocabulary. It wasn't his fault. Awful treatment of a simple soul. The next year he was sent to a special needs school. From the playground in the morning we could see him on the bus that went round and gathered up the less able. He was always smiling or laughing. Happy at last. He died before he reached his teens. Johnny Sewell. He'd be seventy now. A nice chap mistreated by ignorance.
DickyC said:
In the first two years of my class at Primary School there was a lad who was cut from different cloth to the rest of us. He was cheerful and friendly and we could make him laugh. But he was very, very dim. Presumably in an effort to make him buck his ideas up, the teachers would be impatient with him. He clearly wasn't up to it, just not equal to mainstream schooling. The occasion that sticks in my mind was both the infant teachers shouting at him, telling him he was stupid, and making him cry. How I could see that shouting at him wasn't going to improve his academic abilities and the teachers couldn't was, and remains, beyond me. I was six and a sensitive lad but I couldn't speak up for him. I didn't have the vocabulary. It wasn't his fault. Awful treatment of a simple soul. The next year he was sent to a special needs school. From the playground in the morning we could see him on the bus that went round and gathered up the less able. He was always smiling or laughing. Happy at last. He died before he reached his teens. Johnny Sewell. He'd be seventy now. A nice chap mistreated by ignorance.
That's very sad. Do you know how he died?Year 2000 ish, we had a teacher that taught us German, even aged 12ish I could sense the nonceness
We were doing basic German and an exercise of ordering clothes
30 inch black trouser and a large jumper please
He would then ask people what sizes shoes they needed etc
We had a girl who even at 12 had massive norks, he kept coming back to her to get her bra size. Was proper weird
Really wish I’d had the bottle to do something back the
He did disappear one day never to be seen again
Side note in saw the norks when I was 17, my word
We were doing basic German and an exercise of ordering clothes
30 inch black trouser and a large jumper please
He would then ask people what sizes shoes they needed etc
We had a girl who even at 12 had massive norks, he kept coming back to her to get her bra size. Was proper weird
Really wish I’d had the bottle to do something back the
He did disappear one day never to be seen again
Side note in saw the norks when I was 17, my word
I'm 56 now and when I was at secondary school, so early to mid-80's. we had a General Science teacher called Mr Suffolk. Lovely guy, looked like how you'd imagine a mad science teacher would look with crazy hair, a big tash and eccentric ways.
One day, we filed into his lesson to find nine circular objects of vastly different sizes. Tennis ball, beach ball, that sort of thing. Each one represented a planet and was to scale too. You'd think "Clever idea, now I can understand the relative sizes of the planets. Good shout that!".
But Mr Suffolk, being Mr Suffolk, went a step further, or for some pupils, a lot of steps further! He wanted his class to understand how far away the planets were in relation to the Sun, and each other. So, using his desk as the Sun, the first lad picked up Mercury and stood the relative distance from the desk. Then, second lad picks up Venus, third was Earth etc.
From memory, the children that were Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus were outside the classroom while Neptune was actually outside the school gates and the lad that was Pluto was halfway into town by the time he had reached his spot
. All distances were correct, Mr Suffolk had measured out accurately and everything.
I'm friends with Mr Suffolk on Facebook now, a lovelier teacher you'd struggle to meet and I reminded him of the experiment and he was amazed I'd remembered more than 40 years on. Which in itself, is a testament to the quality of his teaching. I did say that I thought he'd struggle to get away with that now and he agreed, with the caveat that he picked the most well behaved pupils to be Neptune and Pluto to make sure they came back!!
One day, we filed into his lesson to find nine circular objects of vastly different sizes. Tennis ball, beach ball, that sort of thing. Each one represented a planet and was to scale too. You'd think "Clever idea, now I can understand the relative sizes of the planets. Good shout that!".
But Mr Suffolk, being Mr Suffolk, went a step further, or for some pupils, a lot of steps further! He wanted his class to understand how far away the planets were in relation to the Sun, and each other. So, using his desk as the Sun, the first lad picked up Mercury and stood the relative distance from the desk. Then, second lad picks up Venus, third was Earth etc.
From memory, the children that were Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus were outside the classroom while Neptune was actually outside the school gates and the lad that was Pluto was halfway into town by the time he had reached his spot
. All distances were correct, Mr Suffolk had measured out accurately and everything.I'm friends with Mr Suffolk on Facebook now, a lovelier teacher you'd struggle to meet and I reminded him of the experiment and he was amazed I'd remembered more than 40 years on. Which in itself, is a testament to the quality of his teaching. I did say that I thought he'd struggle to get away with that now and he agreed, with the caveat that he picked the most well behaved pupils to be Neptune and Pluto to make sure they came back!!
Junior science teacher at secondary school, nickname of "wild Bill". Built a small cannon, had us all making gunpowder and then proceeded to fire large ball bearings across the playground. Sadly he never perfected the aiming system so many windows were broken and teachers' cars dented.
One of his best though was "How much water does a wee laddie displace? Getting a 12 year old to undress in the middle of the playground and climb into a huge plastic barrel full of rather scummy water was never a good lesson. Especially in December.
He was a fantastic naval historian though and one way to derail a class or defer a test would be asking him "what would you have done if you were captain of the Bismark?" Or how would you have defeated Nelson?
He also the sixth form recreating battles armed with bows and surprisingly sharp arrows.
SD.
One of his best though was "How much water does a wee laddie displace? Getting a 12 year old to undress in the middle of the playground and climb into a huge plastic barrel full of rather scummy water was never a good lesson. Especially in December.
He was a fantastic naval historian though and one way to derail a class or defer a test would be asking him "what would you have done if you were captain of the Bismark?" Or how would you have defeated Nelson?
He also the sixth form recreating battles armed with bows and surprisingly sharp arrows.
SD.
Our 11 year old daughter came home from school saying that their classics teacher was rubbish, he didn’t teach them anything, just told stories, she then recited those stories, not realising she had learnt more in one lesson than in a term with other teachers.
He was old school, another time she came home saying Mr ….. asked us why women have smaller feet than men? So they can get closer to the sink to do the washing up
A lovely old fella, whose like unfortunately will probably not be seen again.
He was old school, another time she came home saying Mr ….. asked us why women have smaller feet than men? So they can get closer to the sink to do the washing up
A lovely old fella, whose like unfortunately will probably not be seen again.
Doing an engineering apprenticeship in the 80's, with many many different modules to be completed. One was some sort Metallurgy module which was very very boring. This was in the military so we were pretty tired all the time. if you fell asleep in class the instructor would hurl the blackboard rubber at you. If you fell asleep a second time it was a cricket ball. It tended to focus you.
Similarly you had to complete a swimming test, and those that failed had to attend training. The training consisted of making you dive off the top board regardless of your swimming ability. Basically terrify you, and then you swim or die. Either way it was entertainment for the brain dead PT Staff.
Similarly you had to complete a swimming test, and those that failed had to attend training. The training consisted of making you dive off the top board regardless of your swimming ability. Basically terrify you, and then you swim or die. Either way it was entertainment for the brain dead PT Staff.
I had a history teacher when I was eleven and instead of reciting dates and statistics he made his lessons about the people that made the history.
Another teacher taught us about the industrial revolution in a way that was as much about the people as the engineering.
Between them they have cost me a bloody fortune in history books over the years
Another teacher taught us about the industrial revolution in a way that was as much about the people as the engineering.
Between them they have cost me a bloody fortune in history books over the years
English teacher who'd just let us do debates in every class. Four desks pulled to the front of the room (the type with the chairs attached). A topic picked and people would then just debate it.
Being a bunch of horny 14-15 year olds in an all boys school it nearly always ended up about sex at some point.
He'd occasionally have us read plays and make us act. Asking the bloke with the campest voice in the class to do deep baritone characters was a bit weird too.
The classes were good fun. He was bloody useless for our GCSEs though and was replaced by someone who gave us a crash course in English Lit to avoid us all failing it.
Had a chemistry teacher who convinced the school (I assume he had permission anyway) that the science of making herione and TNT were valuable lessons for pupils and that nothing beats practical experiments.
Being a bunch of horny 14-15 year olds in an all boys school it nearly always ended up about sex at some point.
He'd occasionally have us read plays and make us act. Asking the bloke with the campest voice in the class to do deep baritone characters was a bit weird too.
The classes were good fun. He was bloody useless for our GCSEs though and was replaced by someone who gave us a crash course in English Lit to avoid us all failing it.
Had a chemistry teacher who convinced the school (I assume he had permission anyway) that the science of making herione and TNT were valuable lessons for pupils and that nothing beats practical experiments.
In the nineties I became a Unison steward for members working in the Blood Service. The course I had to go on was run by a chap called Harbinder Singh. Almost the first thing he told us was to never try and help anyone, because they would only resent you for it.
Of course, we all did a double take at this - we thought we were getting into the helping people business. Then he explained.
If somebody was having trouble with management and they came to you, they were admitting that they weren’t able to cope on their own. This is never an easy thing for an adult to admit. The worst thing you could say would be, “don’t worry, leave it all to me and I’ll sort it out,” as this would just be a confirmation. Instead you approach it in terms of what does the member wish to achieve? How do you resolve the situation? And then guide the member through the process as if all you were doing was supporting them as they solved their own problem. Of course, you would be all the time nudging them along the correct pathway through the options available to them. Hopefully, at the end it would all get sorted and the member would retain their self respect.
I found this the best bit of advice I was ever given, both in my union work, and with other wider experiences.
Of course, we all did a double take at this - we thought we were getting into the helping people business. Then he explained.
If somebody was having trouble with management and they came to you, they were admitting that they weren’t able to cope on their own. This is never an easy thing for an adult to admit. The worst thing you could say would be, “don’t worry, leave it all to me and I’ll sort it out,” as this would just be a confirmation. Instead you approach it in terms of what does the member wish to achieve? How do you resolve the situation? And then guide the member through the process as if all you were doing was supporting them as they solved their own problem. Of course, you would be all the time nudging them along the correct pathway through the options available to them. Hopefully, at the end it would all get sorted and the member would retain their self respect.
I found this the best bit of advice I was ever given, both in my union work, and with other wider experiences.
On the first day in the first year at Comprehensive school, we had a physics lesson. We went in the class and sat down, still talking amongst ourselves. When the last person had sat down, the teacher never said a word and, instead, started a large stopclock on his desk. Nobody really took any notice and continued chatting. Eventually, the chatting died away and the teacher stopped the clock. The teacher explained that the 9 minutes and 42 seconds would be added on at the end of the lesson.
Sure enough, when the bell went, he zeroed up the clock and made us all watch until the correct amount of time has elapsed.
Strange bloke but he really knew his stuff and made the lessons interesting too.
Sure enough, when the bell went, he zeroed up the clock and made us all watch until the correct amount of time has elapsed.
Strange bloke but he really knew his stuff and made the lessons interesting too.
Colonel Cupcake said:
On the first day in the first year at Comprehensive school, we had a physics lesson. We went in the class and sat down, still talking amongst ourselves. When the last person had sat down, the teacher never said a word and, instead, started a large stopclock on his desk. Nobody really took any notice and continued chatting. Eventually, the chatting died away and the teacher stopped the clock. The teacher explained that the 9 minutes and 42 seconds would be added on at the end of the lesson.
Sure enough, when the bell went, he zeroed up the clock and made us all watch until the correct amount of time has elapsed.
Strange bloke but he really knew his stuff and made the lessons interesting too.
Classic passive aggressive crappy teacher. Rather than say at the start "All of the time you keep talking will be added to the end of the lesson", instead he created an invisible rule.Sure enough, when the bell went, he zeroed up the clock and made us all watch until the correct amount of time has elapsed.
Strange bloke but he really knew his stuff and made the lessons interesting too.
vaud said:
Colonel Cupcake said:
On the first day in the first year at Comprehensive school, we had a physics lesson. We went in the class and sat down, still talking amongst ourselves. When the last person had sat down, the teacher never said a word and, instead, started a large stopclock on his desk. Nobody really took any notice and continued chatting. Eventually, the chatting died away and the teacher stopped the clock. The teacher explained that the 9 minutes and 42 seconds would be added on at the end of the lesson.
Sure enough, when the bell went, he zeroed up the clock and made us all watch until the correct amount of time has elapsed.
Strange bloke but he really knew his stuff and made the lessons interesting too.
Classic passive aggressive crappy teacher. Rather than say at the start "All of the time you keep talking will be added to the end of the lesson", instead he created an invisible rule.Sure enough, when the bell went, he zeroed up the clock and made us all watch until the correct amount of time has elapsed.
Strange bloke but he really knew his stuff and made the lessons interesting too.
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