This post is rather delayed since I published the previous part in this series, mainly because of a heavy workload, winter lurgy, and Christmas. Apologies!
I have started and deleted this post several times, mainly because there is simply too much to say. At the end of my last post in this series on life after teaching, I described my last days at school and was about to embark on an exciting new path. It was such a jam-packed year that I found myself writing for far too long and soon realised I would need to write a ten-part series to really describe the journey I have been on.
So, rather than bore my audience silly, I have decided to give you the highlights. These are moments that have shaped my new career path, that have given me professional experiences I never thought possible, and most of all brought some amazing people into my life.
I worked on the content for Complete Mathematics, writing new original content and editing content submitted by other authors. We would regularly hold authoring weekends where a gang of talented of maths teachers and the La Salle team would beaver away from Friday to Sunday producing some of the best resources available in today's market. It wasn't all work and no play and it was enjoyable to socialise in the evenings, the visit to the Christmas markets in Birmingham in 2014 was a great evening. It was a pleasure to work with such talented and passionate people. 
I worked with PGCE students at EHU & BCU. Helping those about to embark upon teaching was an absolute privilege, it was such a great feeling to be able to use my own experience to help them in their development.
Working with the students at Edge Hill was especially rewarding since that was where I was trained so it was lovely to be back there as alumni. Visiting students before embarking on their placements and then again at the end of their course for feedback sessions was truly fulfilling. These experiences have made me realise that working with trainees is something I would very much like to pursue in future.
I helped to organise and attended three National Mathematics Teachers Conferences in Kettering, Birmingham, and London. At the Kettering conference in 2014, I was a speaker, leading a workshop on the evolution of online education in the UK. This is something I have much to say about, look out for future posts on the subject. We raised £1000 for Macmillan Cancer Support at the Kettering conference and I had the duty of writing out the big cheque in my best teacher display handwriting!
The Birmingham conference in March 2015 had grown considerably since Kettering. A larger venue and increased attendance meant a lot more for the team to do. On this occasion some of my written work went on large display boards, it was a series called the One Minute Challenge which I had written for La Salle as part of the Problem of the Day releases. I was super proud to see my work not only being displayed but also to see people stopping and working out the answers to each challenge. The highlight of this day was when none other than Johnny Ball looked over my work, we had a short conversation about it and then he told me it was "excellent stuff!" I was over the moon to receive that kind of feedback from him. All of the challenges are now available in the Problem Solving Booklet which can be downloaded from the La Salle website.
The London conference was another brilliant day, for more on this see my previous post Quod Erat Demonstrandum.
I have met some great people, from colleagues at La Salle to fellow Maths geeks I have met along the way. I have also learnt how to deal with people who are less easy to get along with. I spent a lot of time on trains and away from home as I worked with two hubs of research schools in Yorkshire and the North East. I got to know those schools and their staff very well and it was a pleasure to visit them regularly throughout the year. I also organised and lead my first Teach Meet in my hometown of Liverpool earlier this year, it was a joy to be able to connect with, and collaborate with, teachers in my local area.
I have been awakened to a wider social circle and have an incredible bunch of new friends, mainly stemming from the Twittersphere. I joined Geek Club and have never looked back. I didn't have to pass a test to gain entry, although I remember I did send @El_Timbre a Maths based riddle in Spanish to give weight to my multilingual mathematical prowess. The Maths community on Twitter is phenomenal, full of teachers sharing ideas, supporting each other and listening to one another. I am very lucky to be able to call many of these teachers my friends, I won't name names, you know who you are!
Celebrating Pi Day at midnight with @El_Timbre and @missraddders photobomb from @RJS2212
Throughout all of the work launching the National Maths teacher network and Complete Mathematics, I continued to develop my authoring and editing skills. Individually I was a prolific author for Complete Maths, with hundreds of original objectives authored by myself as well as hundreds of others I had edited, or co-authored. I began to develop a real love for writing, I thoroughly enjoyed the research aspect of the task, especially in understanding and comparing pedagogy and teaching methods. I would write extensive pedagogical notes alongside crafting resources, worksheets, group work tasks, whiteboard questions and assessment questions. I loved applying a creative twist to resources and seeing the end results after the design team had worked their magic.
Sadly this came to an end after the launch year for Complete Maths was over. I remain an associate of La Salle and look forwards to seeing the network continue to grow and flourish in the coming years.
My life and my outlook have been completely changed by this year. I am a stronger, more confident, and more experienced person with skills and professional experiences on my C.V that have opened up many more options for me. I wanted to continue as an author and so I sought new commissions. I am now part way through a writing and editing commission for a series of books for Prim-Ed and I am very excited about the future.
Teaching will always be there, it will always be part of me. I still identify myself as a teacher and I still feel proud to say that I am a teacher. For now, I have put the lid on my purple pen and I am happy to see where my new path leads me. It has been 14 months since I finished school, so far, so good.
My next and final post in this series will be published later in January and is likely to be the one most people wanted to read, the one that answers all the questions...how to come to the decision to leave teaching, what to think about, the pros and cons, the ups and downs. Leaving teaching is not a decision to make lightly and whilst every situation is different there are threads that all teachers in "should I / shouldn't I" limbo land will identify with.
Until then, I wish everyone a peaceful and prosperous New Year 2016.
@JennyPeek
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