#AskMrN

Was there ever a question you wanted to ask your teacher? Did they really live in the cupboard? Where did the class hamster go? Here are some I've been asked recently...

How did you become a teacher?
There are lots of ways to become a teacher these days, but the route I chose was to complete a teaching degree at Canterbury Christ Church University. It took 3 years and a lifetime of debt, but I wouldn't change it for the world. I made friends for life, and was given a chance to form my own opinions on how I think education should be. To be honest, newer routes certainly give you more experience before you start full-time work, but I knew this is what I wanted to do, so I wanted to study the theory of it too.

If you weren't a teacher, what would you want to be?
At secondary school, when I was looking for work experience, I was searching for design based careers. I wanted to be someone that created the staging for concerts and films; I used to build them out of Lego, trap doors and everything! However, simply looking for experience showed me how unstable it was as a profession, and I wanted to be able to support myself. I like teaching because I can still be creative, just in a different way.

Why do you give us hard work?
"Nothing worth having comes easily." If you can understand this now, your life will be changed forever. It's my job to challenge you, to make you think, and to enable you to make the best progress possible. If I only set you work that you can already do, you'll always stay in the same place. By setting you challenging work, I'm pushing you to higher goals. If you find it tricky, good! I'm also there to support you in achieving the targets I set for you; all of your trusted adults are! You'll thank us when you're older.

Who was your best friend when you were younger?
When I was your age, at primary school, there was a group of 4 of us (2 girls, 2 boys - including myself) who used to pretend we were in a band. We had a corner of the playground that we would always sit in, copying the dances of bands we saw on TV. Steps, S Club 7, look them up on YouTube. However, as we grew older, we found ourselves in different places and lost touch. The power of social media however, tells me they're all doing very well. Perhaps we will reunite one day for one last dance.

What happens if you don't know the answer?
Nothing. Although I suppose that depends on what the question was! If you mean questions that you ask in class, nothing happens. If I don't know, I will tell you I don't know, and I'll go and look it up - I would expect you to do the same! I could make the answer up I guess, but that won't be helpful to anyone. No one can be expected to know everything, and anyone that pretends to know everything is fibbing. It's always acceptable to say you don't know. Just make sure you're willing to be wrong!