Blogtober Day 5 – A Special Teacher

Today is world teachers day, so of course Blogtober’s prompt of the day is Education. I’m going to share the story of a special teacher, who made a massive difference to my life.

Back when I was in year 4, (or 2nd year Juniors), I had a teacher called Mrs Roach. I’d had a lot of time off during the previous school year because my sister was poorly and in and out of hospital.

Why was she a special teacher?

Back then, there were over 30 of us in her class, and teaching assistants weren’t a thing. She had to split herself between us all. That was no easy feat. Mrs Roach realised I was behind my peers with reading and spelling in particular, and set about helping me.

I had always had a love of books – but only books I wanted to read. I’d refuse point blank to read a book if it didn’t interest me, so the school books my previous teacher had sent home would remain untouched.

Rather than forcing me to read the remaining levelled books I should have been reading, Mrs Roach gave me a copy of Charlie and the chocolate factory to read, and asked me to write about what I’d like to do if I was Charlie.

How did it help?

We knew I’d be off for a week as my sister was having a big operation and I had to stay with my Nanna who lived too far away for me to get to school, so I made it my mission to read that book and write the essay.

My Nanna gave me her dictionary to help me with spellings and it was like the holy grail! I felt like I’d found the answer page at the back of a quiz book. Suddenly, not only was I reading the most brilliant book ever, but I was learning the meaning of words that had baffled me for a long time. (“Synchronised” always baffled me – “the swimmers don’t sink, though”?)

I went back to school and gave my write up to my teacher. Mrs Roach drew a big smiley face on it and said it was an excellent report. I’m pretty sure THAT was the moment I started to enjoy learning, and became more focussed in school. I tried harder, worked better and enjoyed school more from that point. Mrs Roach was definitely a special teacher, who had a way of engaging me like no teacher had before.

Who else inspired me?

I had many other great teachers who inspired me in so many ways. Academically speaking, Mrs Roach definitely kick started my passion to learn.

Mrs Sheridan gave me a love of music and singing, Mr Reynolds expanded on that and made me love history, Mrs Lee made me enjoy science, Mr Burrows gave me the confidence to speak up, my Dad gave me a love of Maths. Each of them was a special teacher in their own right.

Did you have any amazing teachers who you’ve never forgotten?

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