We recently welcomed Karen to the growing TeachMateAI team! If you’re part of our thriving community of teachers, you’ll likely have spotted her in the group. If you’re not a member, join us!
Tell me a little about your career history and what you were doing before TeachMateAI…
I’ve been a primary school teacher for the past 11 years – before that, I worked as an Operational Analyst on army helicopter projects. Then I was a business consultant before I moved to Australia for a couple of years for my husband’s job. We moved back to the UK and when my kids started school, I decided that I’d really like to become a teacher. I started my training in 2011.
I’ve been at the same primary school for 11 years, working part-time to work around my children. I’d been using TeachMateAI for a year and I was looking to do something alongside teaching when I saw the job vacancy at TeachMateAI come up. And here we are!
Tell me about your role at TeachMateAI?
My job is called Community Engagement Manager. It’s an entirely new role which is exciting, as we can keep refining it as we go along. My job is to make TeachMateAI even better for teachers, engage with our members, attend conferences and provide support and training in schools.
What’s your favourite thing about working at TeachMateAI?
I love that I can help teachers in this role as I understand what the workload is like – it’s huge. If I can make teachers’ jobs even the slightest bit easier, that’s really important to me.
Which is your favourite tool/tools?
My favourite tool is Report Writer, particularly at this time of year. It’s every teacher’s worst job, particularly when the weather gets warmer, Wimbledon is on the telly! Anything that makes that job easier is incredible.
If technology had no limits and you could design any AI tool, what would it be?
Something that could read my children’s handwriting (I don’t know if there is any technology that could do that!) and help me mark.
What are your favourite things to do when you’re not at work?
My husband and I have bought a campervan. We went to Spain last year and this year we’re going to drive to Italy via Germany and Switzerland. I also do lots of cycling and mountain biking.
My husband and I have signed up for a triathlon involving mountain biking, a 9-mile hike and 2 miles kayaking. It sounded fun before we signed up but now we are training for it, it’s quite challenging! I also like to do lots of sewing and make my own clothes.