U3A Benalla and District Inc.
  • Home
  • Benalla
    • Benalla
    • Benalla District
    • Who, What and Where? - Benalla Rural City
  • About
    • Our U3A
    • President's Page
    • Executive Committee
    • Convenors >
      • Convenors
      • Convenors A - Z 2022
    • Program Suggestions
    • Newsletter
    • Website
  • Groups
    • Groups A - Z
    • Recent Groups >
      • Armchair History
      • German - Beginners
      • Meditation
      • Russian Literature
      • Hot Topics/The News - Fact or Fiction?
    • Archived Groups >
      • A - M >
        • A Different View Of German History
        • Armchair Traveller
        • Booker Reading Group
        • Bushwalking - Mid-week Walks
        • Comparative Religion
        • Facebook for Mentors
        • Google Apps/TS Plus
        • History - An Introduction to Western Civilization
        • History - Moments in Australian History
        • Investment I (1996 -2015)
        • Legal Matters (Short Course)
        • Making the Most of the Internet
      • O - Z >
        • On Target - Learning to Shop Online
        • Opera
        • 'Over There'
        • Rail and Tourism
        • Tech Savvy Apple Devices - Intermediate
        • Tech Savvy Community Projects
        • Travel Group
        • Zoom Short Course
  • A-Col
    • A - COL
    • 'A Taste of Art'
    • Art Appreciation
    • Australian History
    • 'As Time Goes By' >
      • Home
      • 'Precious Objects'
      • 'Failure'
      • Our Stories - by topic
    • 'Be Connected'
    • Birdwatching
    • Brain Games
    • Bushwalking - Easy Walks
    • Cards '500'
    • Chat n' Chew
    • Coin Collectors
    • Collectors
  • Col-G
    • COM - G
    • Community Singing
    • Creative Writing
    • Demystifying Psychology
    • Enjoying the Internet
    • Exercises for Fun
    • Exploring the Universe
    • Family Research - Advanced >
      • Home
      • Family Stories
    • Family Research - Beginners
    • Film Discussion Group
    • Garden Appreciation
    • Garden Team
    • German >
      • German Home
      • Lessons
  • I - R
    • I - R
    • 'In the Lap of the Gods'
    • Investment
    • Jane Austen Book Club
    • Let's Talk Books
    • Lifeball
    • Meet and Mingle
    • Music Appreciation
    • Page Turners
    • Patchwork and Craft
    • Photography
    • Play Reading
    • Politics & Current Affairs
    • Recorder Group
  • S - Z
    • S -Z
    • Singing for Fun
    • Sky's the Limit
    • Stock and Land
    • Sustainability
    • Tech Advice
    • Tech Savvy Apple - 'Pages'
    • Tech Savvy Beginners - Android
    • Tech Talks
    • Ukes4Fun
    • Wine Appreciation
    • Wise Guys Book Group
  • Join
    • Join Us
    • Membership Application/Renewal Form
    • Program Guide 2023
    • Timetable - Month Overview
    • Full Timetable with Dates
    • New Courses 2023
    • Venues and Maps
  • News
    • News - General
    • March Newsletter
    • Calendar 2022
    • Monthly Calendar
    • Website & Facebook
  • FB
  • Gallery
    • Gallery 2022
    • Gallery 2021
    • Gallery 2020
    • Gallery 2019
    • Gallery 2018
    • Gallery 2017
    • Gallery 2016 >
      • + Christmas Lunch 2016
    • Gallery 2015 >
      • Christmas Lunch 2015
    • Gallery 2014
    • Lifeball Video
  • Links
    • Resources and References
    • U3A Network Victoria
    • Seniors Online Victoria
    • U3A Albury Wodonga
    • U3A Beechworth (Indigo U3A)
    • U3A Bright
    • U3A Wangaratta
    • U3A Goulburn Valley
  • Contact

'Fish out of Water'

25/9/2017

0 Comments

 
I was certainly struggling, like a fish out of water.

I had always thought that I would become a teacher.  I have no real memory of why this was of interest at the time, but it may have been because my mother had wanted to teach, but due to the depression in the 1930's, had not been able to follow that path.

As it happened, I moved instead into computing.  But at that stage, women left work when they had babies to care for.  There was little or no child care, no maternity leave, so you generally stayed out of the workforce.  While I was at home with two young children, I had the opportunity to undertake some part time teaching at my old school.  The school was accredited to take on teachers who were undertakig formal teacher training on a part-time basis in parallel.

So, there I was, with a possible career change, much more suited to the life of a mother with young children.  School times and holidays worked well, and it was an area where part-time work was more easily found.

There was a complication of course - childcare for a two year old and a four month old baby.  But I made the necessary arrangements.  I enrolled in a Diploma of Education course.  My mother looked after the children for two days a week, while the wife of one of the other teachers, another young mother, cared for them the third day I worked.  I was only teaching two Maths classes at first, with a third, Science, planned for later in the year.

The experience was not how I expected it to be.  I was a dedicated student during my school years.  I studied hard and behaved well in school.  My memory was that we all concentrated on learning.  What I found was totally different.  In the time between (only eight years), it appeared that the job had changed to be more around disciplining students than teaching.

Since this was my old school, many of my teachers from my years were there, were still teaching at the school.  I was still young; had to change from treating my former teachers with the respect expected while a student to working with them as peers.  I was uncomfortable as now I was expected to call "Mr Smith", "Trevor".  I was disciplining an unruly mob of children instead of teaching them.  I was quite miserable for much of the time.  Overall, I was a fish out of water.

In later years, working with an organisation that provided training for people starting to use personal computers, I found that I can teach.  In fact I loved teaching people new skills.  I enjoyed the challenge of finding different ways to explain a concept if the first way did not work. 

What I have learnt is that I enjoy teaching people who are keen to learn!

Joy Shirley.
0 Comments
    'Our Stories'

    Joy's page

    Picture

    Topics

    All
    'Advice'
    'A Love Letter To Travel'
    'An Event That Changed My Life'
    'A Scary Moment'
    'A Turning Point'
    'Bucket List'
    'Bush Fires In Lorne'
    'Covid Moment(s)'
    Creative Writing
    'Curved Ball'
    'Endings'
    'Entrance Memories'
    'Failure'
    'Faking It'
    'Family Traditions'
    'Family Trait ' #2
    'Family Traits' #1
    Festival Hall
    'Fiesta Of Festivities'
    'Fish Out Of Water'
    'Found'
    Gliding
    'Good Vibrations'
    'I Broke It'
    "I Can Do This"
    'Ideas Piggy Bank'
    'If Only'
    'I Grew Up In...'
    'I Put My Hand In My Pocket'
    'I Was There'
    'I Was There:Eyjafjallajökull
    'I Was There: Melbourne Olympics
    'I Was There: Royal Albert Hall'
    'Lost In Music'
    'Making Waves'
    'Marriage...?'
    'My Mother's Tea Set'
    'My Other Life'
    'New In Town'
    'New In Town - Benalla'
    'Odd One Out'
    'One Moment
    One Moment (or Two)
    'On The Job'
    'Out Of The Blue'
    'Renovations'
    'Right Here
    Right Now'
    Roy Bailey
    'Running With Scissors'
    'Scotland'
    'Someone Who Shaped Me'
    'Stock And Land'
    'Taking A Risk'
    'The Ghost'
    'The Sky Is The Limit!'
    'The Unexplained'
    This (Writing) Life
    This Year (2020)'
    'Time'
    Travel Tale - Christchurch'
    'Travel Tales'
    "Travel Tales'
    'Travel Tales: 1950s'
    'Travel Tales: Noosa 2017'
    Triggers
    'Triggers'
    'U-Turn'
    'What I Was Wearing'
    'Winging It'

    Archives

    September 2022
    February 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

    RSS Feed

We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and pay our respects to their elders - past, present and emerging.
Picture
News
​Newsletter
Facebook Page
​
Program Suggestions
​CO-VID Safety

U3A Benalla & District Flier 2023
​Membership Application/Renewal Form 
​
Program Guide 2023
Semester 1 Timetable with Dates 2023
Semester 1 Timetable Month Overview 2023
Developed and maintained by members, this website showcases U3A Benalla & District. 
​Photographs - U3A members; Benalla Art Gallery website; ​Weebly 'Free' images;Travel Victoria and State Library of Victoria