This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

Keeping in touch with teachers...

Now this might look like it should be in an academic forum, but if you read it you'll find it's not.

So last year one of my teachers offered me their email address and said to keep in touch ect.

I recently sent them an email saying the general, 'hi, how are you' ect. This was now over a week ago and I have had no reply.

The thing is, I know they're 'only a teacher' and the truth is I will probably never see them again. I just feel really silly for feeling upset about them apprently ignoring my message and chosing not to reply. That's why am posting on here, anonymously instead of asking a person in real life.

It feels that the whole of our working relationship has not been genuine, and I had a lot of respect for them. Now they seem completley fake.

Anyone have any advice on the situation? It looks like I've just been really stupid for sending anything at all and my judgement on someone was way off. :frown:

Reply 1

schmitz

The-Lennon

er... kind of a little bit weird to be treating the teacher as your friend

Not really. Lots of teachers at my school like to keep in touch because they really care about what former students are getting up to. Obviously anything more than friendship would be very weird :p:

Reply 2

Mustard-man

18

The-Lennon

er... kind of a little bit weird to be treating the teacher as your friend

Not really... our maths teachers took us all out to go bowling, then the bar.

Reply 3

The_Bear

13

So did our teacher and if I saw them in the street now we'd have a good conversation but swapping emails? Thats too far.

Reply 4

Lexis

er... kind of a little bit weird to be treating the teacher as your friend

The_Bear

So did our teacher and if I saw them in the street now we'd have a good conversation but swapping emails? Thats too far.

It's not weird. Surely it depends on what sort of relationship you have with your teacher. My maths and physics teachers became more like friends than teachers towards the end of high school - for example, it wasn't uncommon for me or one of my classmates to drop by the maths office just to have a chat. It was fun and I really liked getting to know my teachers better as individuals. I still keep in touch with a couple of them via email and certainly see no problem with it or find it 'weird'.

Lex

Reply 5

The_Bear

13

Fair enough, I went to a boarding school and often the teachers would have to discipline you out of school hours so there was a boundary enforced by the school.

And I had enough friends my own age. :wink:

Reply 6

OC_girl

I'd feel the same as you, but give them a little longer to reply before thinking they're not going to.

Reply 7

Anonymous #2

Anonymous

Now this might look like it should be in an academic forum, but if you read it you'll find it's not.

So last year one of my teachers offered me their email address and said to keep in touch ect.

I recently sent them an email saying the general, 'hi, how are you' ect. This was now over a week ago and I have had no reply.

The thing is, I know they're 'only a teacher' and the truth is I will probably never see them again. I just feel really silly for feeling upset about them apprently ignoring my message and chosing not to reply. That's why am posting on here, anonymously instead of asking a person in real life.

It feels that the whole of our working relationship has not been genuine, and I had a lot of respect for them. Now they seem completley fake.

Anyone have any advice on the situation? It looks like I've just been really stupid for sending anything at all and my judgement on someone was way off. :frown:

This has happened to me too and I feel like you do too. :frown:

Reply 8

wainwright

Im keeping in touch with one of my teachers, we're even going to go for a drink sometime when im home. so i don't think its weird, and OP, I agree that if they made out they wanted to stay n touch, then they should.

Reply 9

Kyri

15

I don't think this is unusual. One of my teachers gave me his msn address early in the year to ask for help about stuff in the course and throughout the school year it was only used for this. But after exams were over we would occasionally talk about more general things. It's not strange really. We are adults after finishing school and all teachers who keep in contact with students are doing are treating us as adults.

Reply 10

Mustard-man

18

Even my exam officer invited me for a beer with my chemistry teacher at lunch time :p:

, unfortunately I had a driving lesson later that day, so I couldn't go!

Reply 11

sleepy_person!

Hmm yes OP I think that if the teacher didn't want to keep in touch then they shouldn't have given you their email address and asked you to keep in touch in the first place- it's them who should feel silly not you! :smile:

Or maybe they just don't check their email that often...

I don't think it's that bad keeping in touch with teachers after school, although it was quite funny my sister who is now in my old teacher's class said to him at the end of her lesson,"you sign my sisters' emails **insert his first name here**" and got him all flustered hahaha bless him! :biggrin:

Reply 12

clouddweller

to be fair though, teachers are horrendously busy sometimes; it might be as simple as that- they may not have had time to reply.

Reply 13

dh00001

16

we go out with one of our old teachers from time to time :biggrin:

make her buy of course

Reply 14

Happyness

14

To the OP; its just not cool. But if you gain something out of making friends with teachers, then go ahead. But if you really want a teacher for the purposes of a friend, then in my opinion, i believe "no".

Reply 15

insparato

15

Both my form teachers from year 7-11 and 6 form id like to keep in touch with. Both really nice people, think they've done alot to help me grow into the man i will become so no i dont think its weird. They arent your teachers as soon as that August 24th in year 13 passes(unless you want to continue a 3rd year).

Reply 16

Anonymous #3

I keep in touch with my English teacher and I have my old maths teacher's msn address! He is 25. lol. I am 16. I don't see anything wrong with it because he always helps me with my maths work if I need help and he explains things on msn. My English teacher told me to keep her updated on the latest news on how I am doing at college etc. Is that strange? Or wrong?

Reply 17

--

3

It just seems like they're being nice. When he starts sending you pictures of him wearing nothing but calculators, then its a little wrong.

Reply 18

username68316

3

At the end of yr ten our french teacher told us she was leaving and gave us her e-mail address to tell her how our GCSE result went (we did gcse's in yr 10) . Anyway, I forgot about this. And 2 years on I have found her e mail address. Do you think it would be relevant to tell her how it went, two years on? I mean I got an A* in french, and she was a great teacher. But shes probably moved on loads and has forgot about our class!

But anyway. To the OP, he/she probably hasn't read his/her emails yet. If the gaps like a month or two, then start to wonder.

Reply 19

Wild Thing

11

Get over yourself! Seriously, if youre never going to see them again, why does it bother you?

And why is this anonymous? :confused:

Keeping in touch with teachers...

Related discussions

Articles for you