A Reflection on Life After Teaching Part 2; Maybe, Just Maybe, I Could.

This is a continuation, so if you have not done so please read my previous post (A Reflection on Life After Teaching Part 1; That's When I saw The Tweet)

Shrewd readers amongst you will have noticed that by the end of part one I still hadn't left the classroom, but the events which lead me to do so had started some eight months earlier, and by the end of summer 2014 I was about to make a life-altering decision. 

I saw little of the summer that year, instead I chose to throw myself into the new world of authoring full time for La Salle Education. I spent that summer house sitting for friends, I had nothing but peace and quiet, no distractions, and plenty of time to focus on my work. I had no idea actually if I was doing well with the work or not, only that it kept on coming. More and more objectives were sent my way. I was really enjoying the challenge of not only creating the usual worksheets and activities that as teachers we are used to creating but now also of researching pedagogy. I was exploring why we teach things the way we do, common methodologies and approaches, finding papers and evidence to support, or refute, traditional educational theory. All the while, I still had a little voice at the back of my head worrying that my work was at best average, certainly not outstanding, surely not by comparison to those incredible mathematicians I had met earlier in the year. Nonetheless, as long as the work kept coming, I kept rising to the challenge and by the end of the summer I had written so many objectives I couldn't remember why I found it so daunting to begin with. Writing had become for me an absolute pleasure.

September loomed and the new term was about to start when I received an email from Mark (McCourt). We had been in touch on and off through the summer for new commissions and keeping on top of schedules and I knew Mark wanted as much of KS3 finished ready for the launch of Complete Maths in September. Oh no, I thought, he wants to take these last few objectives away now because I hadn't finished them quick enough. Au contraire, the email took me quite by surprise when I received compliments and praise for my work so far and a wish for this to continue in future. La Salle had been advertising for Maths teachers to join the team full time, but I'd never have dreamt of applying, I wouldn't have the confidence to do so. Mark may have preempted my fears as his email urged me to apply for the post. 

Initially I shrugged this off as a ridiculous, impractical, almost ludicrous idea. I'm not experienced enough, other people are better than I am, what do they see in me? I had plenty of ammunition to throw at myself, yet all the while something else kept telling me "maybe, just maybe, I could." With a little persuasion from friends I bit the bullet, reworked my CV, sent it in, and was promptly asked down to Corby for a "chat". You know what's coming next......that train journey, again! By this stage, however, I had found my way around Nottingham station where I needed to change trains, I knew the exact location of the loos at several mainline stations en route, and always carried a 20p and a 10p coin, so I was far better prepared. I informed my head that I was going for this interview, they had been very supportive of me doing the authoring but I'm sure that, like me, they were not expecting the outcome that occurred either. 

To say I was nervous would be putting it mildly.  I arrived before my scheduled time and waited in the reception area of the Corby Enterprise Centre like some kind of travelling nomad with my suitcase in tow. Mark came to meet me and we went to a meeting room. We chatted for a short while and I was bowled over to hear exactly what an impression my work had made. I distinctly remember thinking that he must have got the wrong person. Mark also gave me some useful critique which I took on board and found very helpful. Then it came to the crunch and I was offered a full time job with La Salle as part of their Mathematics Team, Mark said he had been interviewing me for months since I had been authoring and that there was a place in the team for me if I wanted it. Actually, at that point, I was to be the entire Maths Team! I couldn't quite believe what was happening, this could actually change my life. Someone had seen what I was capable of and believed in me. I could not turn this down. Hands were shook and that was the start of a new chapter in my life, all I needed to do now was tell school!

I waited until after the first day that I was back in lessons had finished and then I spoke to my head. Clearly I couldn't, and wouldn't, just be doing a flit and abandoning anybody. I had been at that school almost ten years, I was one of the first teachers there when the school was launched and the head had been my support through good times and bad. This chat once again took me by surprise. My head was supportive, kind and above all demanded that I seize the opportunity. I was so touched by her generosity. Between us we worked out a way to put my timetable into three days and for the next half term I worked three days a week at school and two days a week for La Salle. I'm glad I had this short time to get ready for the departure from school and to become more accustomed to work outside of the school setting. During that time I was able to prepare and pass over files and paperwork for my classes, ten years of planning, teaching, assessing, target setting, syllabus writing and policy making was all organised neatly into files and folders. I was also involved with recruiting and training new members of staff who would take over. Behind the scenes, and unbeknown to the students, we were planning my leaving with mathematical precision. 

The last week arrived. I had knots in my stomach and hadn't been sleeping well as the final day approached. I was excited to be starting my new chapter, but the worst part was still to come. There is one thing that keeps us in teaching, one thing that builds us up when we think we've had enough, one thing that drives us all crazy but then brings us showers of happiness...yes, you've guessed it, the students! Quite purposefully, the students had not yet been told that I was leaving and I was dreading them finding out. On the last day, a special whole school assembly was called after lunch. Some of the students, the older ones mainly in my IGCSE classes, had twigged something was going on and I had had several very carefully worded conversations with them. The head lead the conversation and very sensitively explained that I was going to be leaving. After some initial shock the atmosphere changed and before I knew it my screen began to explode with a torrent of well wishes, bunches of flowers, funny gifs, congratulations banners, thanks you's, chocolates, cute bunnies, you name it. I was overwhelmed by the support of the children I was so worried to be letting down. I still keep the script of the assembly, it was amongst the most humbling moments of my life, one that I will never, ever, forget. I was then presented with a leaving gift on behalf of the staff and students which was another unexpected surprise. It was time to leave, the last minute of the last day passed just like any other minute of any other day and there I was at my desk blubbing like a big baby. It was the end of an era, there was no going back. 

I was about to embark upon a whole new career and at that point I had no idea just what an incredible journey it was going to be. 

Find out more about my first year out of the classroom in part 3.

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A Reflection on Life After Teaching Part 1; That's When I Saw The Tweet

I've just passed the first anniversary of leaving teaching and what a year it has been. It seems fitting to reflect on what this year has taught me; on both a professional and a personal level. 

I had not planned to ever leave teaching but the universe conspired and I found events began to take a turn and lead me along a road I couldn't have dreamt of. 

Teaching isn't just a job, it is not something any of us does for the money (although many might believe otherwise according to the recent #TeachersMake campaign). Teaching is a vocation, I know this is a cliche, but it is true. One has to be drawn to teaching, to have that certain je ne sais quoi that gets your lessons going, that inspires young people, that gets you through the long winter days. I always had that drive, that belief in teaching, even after badly injuring myself during my PGCE year I continued on my course and school placements with two crutches, then one crutch and then a walking stick because all I wanted to do was teach.

How could I possibly ever want to leave that all behind then? What happened to make me choose such a drastic change in my career? LIFE, that's what happened. In 2013, my personal circumstances changed significantly, I found myself living with my mother after the breakdown of my marriage and I was at an all time low. Something had to give. I had to make a new path, a better path, and start a life on my own. 

I had worked for the last ten years for a British Online High School. Now, I know, many of you may never have heard of such a thing so let me assure you that they do exist. They are very definitely real; the pupils are real, the teachers are real, and life every day is as close to a normal school day as possible. I am drafting another blog about this, hoping to dispel the many myths surrounding online education, so I will save further explanation for another time. I was Senior Teacher and Lead in three subjects. I knew the syllabus inside out, having designed the school syllabi for those subjects. I was at a stage where I began to feel I had gone as far as I could go and needed a new challenge. That's when I saw the tweet.

It was February 2014 when a new, fairly unknown education business called La Salle Education was looking for Maths teachers to do some authoring for a new project. I thought it looked interesting so I replied to the tweet and was asked to send in my CV. CV?? What CV?? I'd been doing the same job for ten years, I hadn't written a CV in over a decade! Nonetheless, I managed to pull together a ramshackle document and duly emailed it. A little while later, I received an email asking me to attend a working weekend at a hotel in Corby. Corby was a long way away, but something was telling me to do this. I booked my train and hotel and told the family what I was doing. They all thought I was BONKERS, traveling hundreds of miles away, alone, to a hotel, to meet people I'd never heard of! I couldn't shake the feeling that whatever this was, it was what I was meant to do. 

Off I went, my first experience of what is possibly one of the longest, most tedious train journeys possible. Anyone who has ever caught the Liverpool - Norwich train will know exactly what I mean! Little did I know that this particular 6 - 8 hour trek would soon become a regular commute. I booked in at the Holiday Inn and had possibly the most wakeful nights sleep I'd had in a while. The following morning I was up sharp, dressed and desperate not to let my nerves show. I walked into a room where there were lot's of other people, each sat at a small table with laptops ready. Someone suggested this arrangement was rather like school and so we rearranged to make a larger set of two tables where we could face each other. The day began with introductions, and what do you know, who gets asked to go first? So I introduced myself, said a little about my background, and then threw in the fact that I was a Scout Leader. My heart sank as we went around the table and I heard some of the most illustrious education CV's possible. What on earth was I doing in a room with these people? What did I possibly think I could bring to this project when such great minds were already involved? 

Mark McCourt then began talking about La Salle, who they were and what they were planning to achieve by creating something called Complete Mathematics. I identified with everything he spoke of, especially when it came to the greater use of technology in education. I was enamoured with the ideals of this new project and I was interested to get involved. 

Lunch was provided and it was a chance to circulate; as if I wasn't already nervous enough in this set of social circumstances, I now had to cope with finger food! I did manage to strike up some conversations, with people who I can now actually call my friends, looking back I can't believe how nervous I felt then especially when I think of how easily and often we chat or tweet today. For the first time, I met the lovely Linda Hooper, Eddie Orija, Julia Smith and Bruno Reddy amongst others. It may have only been a courteous conversation on that day but since then I have had the pleasure and pride of working with these people on many occasions. 

The afternoon came and it was time to have a go at some authoring. Mark mentioned that he knew some people at the table were considering the Lead Author position and that he would be looking more at that at a later date. I could never do that, I thought to myself. 

Topics were dished out and I was given Year 8, Parallel, Alternate, and Corresponding. Suddenly my mind went blank as if all Euclidean knowledge had been zapped out of my brain, probably due to the stress of the finger food. I made some rough ideas and spent time getting to grips with the online system we needed to use for the work. A system which, even in it's early days, was a sophisticated piece of technology. I liked the system and found I could easily find my way around and put things where they needed to be. Time was ticking and the afternoon went on, I was so relieved when Mark said that we then had a week to finish the first objective. 

The worst bit about train travel out of Corby is that there is only one train an hour, and an extra hour is a long time to wait when you are already 8 hours from home. Looking at my watch, I knew if I could get out of there quick smart I could make the next train, or else I'd have that extra hour wait. Thankfully Mr. Reddy was also thinking the same thing. He'd called a cab and said jump in, with moments to spare Bruno grabbed my case, we legged it out of the cab, onto the platform, and managed to dive onto the train just as the doors were starting to beep. Thank you Bruno. What a day that was!

I finished off my objective as requested and awaited news. Mark contacted me and asked me if I could go down to Corby again to the La Salle Offices.  So, off I went again on the train journey from hell....

There were a couple of other authors also attending on that day, we got to meet the team at the office and Mark went over some finer details with us about the authoring work. He said he'd like me to continue working on the project and was pleased to have me on board as an author. I was thrilled at this and very happily took on some more units of work. 

This authoring work was carried out alongside my teaching commitments for the rest of the school year, and then I authored full time during summer 2014. That was the summer when everything changed.

Find out what happened next in Part 2...

Follow me on Twitter @JennyPeek