In Front of a Class Again
I don't believethat dreams can predict the future, or in any such thing - - - but I do believe that they tell you quite a bit about yourself. So I suppose they can predict the future to some extent in that they can tell you about how you're likely to behave in a real-life situation.
Last night in my dream - - and believe me, it was so realistic that when I woke up I had to work pretty hard to convince myself that it WAS a dream - I was back teaching in a secondary school. Supply teaching, much as I used to do at a secondary school in Seacroft, all those years ago, before Olli was born.
If you know Leeds then the word "Seacroft" will not fill you with idyllic thoughts of little houses on the coast. It's not, perhaps, the most genteel part of Leeds, and many of the teenagers I taught there came from very difficult backgrounds.
"Sorry I'm late Miss, but my Dad was arrested last night for flashing, and we all ended up spending the night down the station."
(For those of you who need an explanation: "flashing" is "displaying one's genitals in an inappropriate place and suggestive manner" and "the station" is "the police station.")
Yes, it was quite a memorable excuse.
And last night, I was back supply-teaching again. I knew it was going to be a tricky day. My class, which numbered about forty, was to be taught in a field. They had all been asked to come in historical costume for some different lesson afterwards, and they were all dressed in cumbersome plastic outfits with swords and bows and arrows and a few guns. They were, of course, already poking each other and hitting each other with these weapons.
I was going to be teaching them English so I looked for the books and there weren't any. Another teacher turned up with some story-books for seven-year-olds and I knew this would go down badly with the fourteen-year-olds in the field. And I'd have to shout my head off to make myself heard - - it was a pretty big field.
However, I did manage to get them all sitting down, and I confiscated a few swords and such, and was all ready to start. And then I lost my voice.
This was so traumatic that I woke up.
On Thursday I start again working with medical students in Communication Skills. I loved it last year. The students were great, the work was interesting, they are split into in groups of five students only. Compared with the big groups of troubled teens that I used to work with - - well, it was bliss.
And yet I'm still nervous, as the dream showed. I want to do the work as well as I possibly can. Perhaps if I wasn't nervous, I couldn't do it.
Last night in my dream - - and believe me, it was so realistic that when I woke up I had to work pretty hard to convince myself that it WAS a dream - I was back teaching in a secondary school. Supply teaching, much as I used to do at a secondary school in Seacroft, all those years ago, before Olli was born.
If you know Leeds then the word "Seacroft" will not fill you with idyllic thoughts of little houses on the coast. It's not, perhaps, the most genteel part of Leeds, and many of the teenagers I taught there came from very difficult backgrounds.
"Sorry I'm late Miss, but my Dad was arrested last night for flashing, and we all ended up spending the night down the station."
(For those of you who need an explanation: "flashing" is "displaying one's genitals in an inappropriate place and suggestive manner" and "the station" is "the police station.")
Yes, it was quite a memorable excuse.
And last night, I was back supply-teaching again. I knew it was going to be a tricky day. My class, which numbered about forty, was to be taught in a field. They had all been asked to come in historical costume for some different lesson afterwards, and they were all dressed in cumbersome plastic outfits with swords and bows and arrows and a few guns. They were, of course, already poking each other and hitting each other with these weapons.
I was going to be teaching them English so I looked for the books and there weren't any. Another teacher turned up with some story-books for seven-year-olds and I knew this would go down badly with the fourteen-year-olds in the field. And I'd have to shout my head off to make myself heard - - it was a pretty big field.
However, I did manage to get them all sitting down, and I confiscated a few swords and such, and was all ready to start. And then I lost my voice.
This was so traumatic that I woke up.
On Thursday I start again working with medical students in Communication Skills. I loved it last year. The students were great, the work was interesting, they are split into in groups of five students only. Compared with the big groups of troubled teens that I used to work with - - well, it was bliss.
And yet I'm still nervous, as the dream showed. I want to do the work as well as I possibly can. Perhaps if I wasn't nervous, I couldn't do it.
posted by Daphne at 8:51 pm
8 Comments:
Any dreams that I remember afterwards are nearly always in a school setting and it nearly always doesn't go well!
Maybe it's just a subconscious reminder to listen to what they're saying to you before you teach then things.
Or maybe it's a reminder to go packing heat!!!
You'll be fine. Breathe deep and know the work you do is really important and mostly, that you're very good at it.
Sweet dreams.
Sometimes in dreams we simply dump every insecurity we have, every fear about whatever we're about to do, and get it out of the way in the safety of our brains. You covered it ALL. Troubled students, awkward clothing, no supplies, losing your voice--EVERYTHING. And yet, you woke up! And taught.
Well, personally, I think that was a most fortuitous dream that saved you the trouble of living it.
Of course, people have been known to tell me that I am wrong...
NAAAHHHH...
Please, though, I am here in Connecticut, in the USA. WHAT is "supply teaching?"
Have fun teaching. (Nope. NOt being glib there. I mean it. I come from a long line of teachers.)
I'm with Jeanette - sorted in sleep so you dont have to deal with awake! courage ma brave...be lovely to see you soon
XX
I'm in Georgia, and I think "supply teaching" is the same thing as our substitute teaching, JeannetteLS.
I hardly ever remember my dreams, but some that I do remember involved losing dozens and dozens of teeth, trying to hide my nude self behind a potted palm tree in a hotel lobby, and flying and swooping over the countryside (clothed, but without an airplane). Once or twice my mother has appeared in my dreams; she died in 1957.
Jenny - - yes, it's clear that teaching made a big impression on you too!
Debby - thank you! I love it when I'm doing it - - but am always nervous beforehand as I believe it IS important and I want to get it right.
Jeannette - thank you. And Bob, below, is right - a supply teacher is sometimes known as a substitute teacher.
Maggi - - well I hope so, and thank you!
Bob - and when your mother appears in dreams, I bet you can "see" her more clearly than when you're awake and trying to remember her - dreams are strange like that I think!
Daphne- At least you were able to wake up!! Unfortunately it is reality for me :( XXX
Think dreaming of supply teaching would be a nightmare.
I often have school dreams and always involve a problem
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