How to find an old teacher?- Ways that would work

How to find an old teacher? – Ways that would work

We all have that one teacher that we all really like they may be a teacher from kindergarten, middle school, or high school. The most common reasons for liking a teacher are, they have a good sense of humor, they are good-looking or they just make learning fun. Whatever may be the reason after graduating students often visit their old teachers. How to find an old teacher?

Meeting your favorite teacher from kindergarten, middle school or high school sounds like a great idea, until you find out that your teacher no longer works there, left the city, state, or the country. In such cases finding them or trying to connect could be very difficult and even hopeless at times so here are a few tips that you can follow to find your favorite teacher from the good old days. 

Way to find an old teacher

If you went to your old school to meet all your but found out that your favorite teacher no longer works there or just wish to connect or meet your old teacher, Here are a few simple ways to find your favorite teacher from back in the day.

Visit the school

The first thing you need to do is to visit your old school. Ask from the office for the teacher’s contact information like their card, email id, or their phone number. Most of the time they have some contact information but sometimes they refuse to share the contact information because of privacy policies or because of the teacher’s request. In that case, you could always reach other people in the school for contact information.

Ask the principal  

Visit the principal. There is a high probability that the principal and teacher are still in contact. Even if the teacher is not in touch with the principal, they might still have some sort of contact info. You could easily get this info if you have good communication skills.  

Ask other old teachers

One of the best and easiest ways of getting the contact info of an old teacher who has left the school is to reach out to other teachers from that time. Try connecting with other teachers who you think were close or friends with the teacher you are trying to find. Most people stay in touch with friends from their old workplace and you can use these connections to reach or find them. Meet the other old teachers greet them well and tell them how grateful you are to that teacher and how you wish to personally thank them or you could just tell them the reason why you want to find that teacher. 

Remember, if you don’t give the other teacher a good enough reason they may not give you the contact info. Since you are asking for the personal info you must build credibility so the other person does not feel insecure or reluctant to share the info with you. Be very clear and confident when asking for the info and answer all their questions as to why you wish to connect with the teacher.

Ask their friends

If you know any of the teacher’s friends then it would be very easy for you to reach the teacher. Arrange a meeting with the friend at a suitable place, for example, offer them coffee and have a little chat with them. In your little coffee meeting, you can bring up the topic of how you were a student of one of their old friend. Tell them how you got to know them and how long you have known them. You need to first develop a friendly and credible bond with the teacher’s friend before you could ask them for anything in return. 

Tell them about your time with the teacher, share some of your fondest memories with the teacher, some of the teacher’s qualities and habits. Remember it is important that you first develop some trust and credibility before asking for any sort of information. If you just ask for the information without telling them who you are and why you want their contact info they would be reluctant to share the info.   

Ask your own friends and classmates 

You should also talk to your friends. Ask them about whether they remember the teacher and if not then help them remember him/her. Try describing the teacher’s visual appearance, something that made them different from other teachers or the best way is by telling them the subject the teacher used to teach. Make sure that you guys are talking about the same person before you elicit any contact info. Ask your friend to tell you all they know about the teacher maybe they know something that you don’t and that could help reach the teacher.

In case your friends don’t remember the teacher or don’t know that could help you could always ask them about other classmates and then connecting with other classmates you can ask them if they have any contact with the teacher. You should also ask them when was the last time they met the teacher, where did they meet and what did they talk about, did the teacher mention anything about their plans or anything that could help you reach them. 

Visit their old place ask their neighbors

If you know where they used to live, visit their old place. Maybe you’ll get lucky and he/she still lives there. Even if they don’t you could still ask their neighbors. Make sure you introduce yourself properly. Tell them about what you know of the teacher and why you want their contact info or why you wish to meet. They would probably have some contact info such as their phone number and to get it from them you would have to prove yourself as credible and worthy of their trust. In case you don’t know where the teacher used to live you should ask all your friends and other classmates if they do.    

Look for them on social media

In the contemporary age, social media is ubiquitous, there are several different social media platforms and everyone uses one or more social media platforms. You can use this to your advantage, one of the best ways to find someone is by looking for them on social media. You should first try looking for them on the most used social media platforms such as

Twitter

As 38.5% of the world’s population uses the social media platform, the app had billions of users across the world.  About 42% of the US population uses Twitter. You should first look for them on Twitter in case you can’t find them you can always look up other teachers or their friends and then go through their followers and following list to find them. In case your school has a Twitter account you should go through the followers and following of that page. If they had any kids, look for them, this is your best chance of finding them. 

You could also just simply tweet about the teacher. You could describe the teacher, their name, age, subjects, and some other distinguishable feature and why you want to find the teacher. If you are looking for a teacher so that you can thank them, share it. People are easily moved by such kind gestures and love seeing grateful people. Doing so will help increase the number of retweets, therefore, increasing the exposure of your message which would increase your chances of finding them.    

Facebook

It is the largest social media platform, Almost everyone in the world has a Facebook id and you can easily find almost anyone. There is very little probability that your teacher does not have a Facebook id. First look for your teacher’s id directly and if you can’t find them look for other old teachers/teachers at that time, the principal, any friends of the teacher that you may know, and go through their friend list. Visit the school’s Facebook page look for them in the followers, any comments, or tags. Go through your friend’s friends list too, look for mutual friends to confirm the person. If they had any kids, look for them. Go through their friend’s list or simply message them asking if they could help you connect with their parent/ your teacher.

Instagram

Another one of the world’s most used social media is Instagram, there are billions of users from all over the world. You should first try looking for them with all the possible usernames you think they could have. Instagram has an amazing feature where no one is allowed to have the same username as someone else this will make the search a lot easier and less time-consuming. In case you can’t find them look for other relevant who would probably follow your teacher. If your school has an Instagram page, look for your teacher among the followers and following list. If they had any kids, look for them as it is most likely that they use Instagram. Try directly messaging them and sharing your matter.

Go through their work such as publications or projects

Look up their master’s thesis or any research paper that they might have worked on in the past. You should be able to find some sort of email to reach the author. Look up any projects that they were working on try reaching out to other people who were a part of the project ask them if they are still in touch with your teacher or if they could help get in touch with your teacher. If they had been working on some project, for example, writing some book then try finding the book and it should help you get some sort of contact info, for example, an email address.

Visit places they might have mentioned in the past

Try recalling if your teacher had talked about someplace that they liked, wanted to visit, or someplace that they visit regularly for example if they had mentioned that they visit some church every Sunday morning from 9:00 am to 10:00 am. Try visiting the same church that they had mentioned at the same time and day, If you are lucky you might find them. If they had mentioned some park they like go-to for a morning walk or if they had a dog and took their dog to dog parks you could visit the park and ask someone when was the last time they had seen your teacher. If your teacher had mentioned someplace that they wish to work in the future maybe some school, university you should visit that place 

Visit Teacher union sites

There are a bunch of teacher union sites that you can use to find your teacher. Almost all the teachers in the United States are a part of different teacher’s union sites. You can either join a teachers union yourself or ask some teachers that you may know maybe a part of some teacher’s union site and ask them to help you look for your teacher. More than 90% of the teachers are a part of some teacher’s union site so it is very likely that your teacher is part of one. 

Visit Teacher’s associations

In case you still haven’t found your teacher you should visit the teacher’s association website. Though you might not get the contact info directly due to privacy policies it is worth visiting. You could register there as a teacher and then it would be easier to connect with other teachers on the platform, that is only if you really want to find and connect with your teacher because this method might require some effort. 

Visit Retired teachers’ organizations 

Another place to find an old teacher or your retired teacher is by visiting the retired teacher’s organization. The organization is devoted to securing the rights and interests of working and retired teachers. You may not get the contact info directly but it is worth a visit. Maybe you might find some other old teacher from that time and they might help you in finding your teacher.

Things to remember

  • Organize your argument. Decide what you need to say and develop a strong and convincing argument.
  • Do not hesitate or give vague answers.
  • Do not ask for info directly. Try having a small conversation with the person and make them understand your situation before you ask for a favor. 
  • Make sure you have some evidence for example an old picture in order to give proof that you do have some connection with the teacher. 
  • Use a calm and confident tone.
  • Be patient and thank the person for their time and help.

Ways to purse people

In your hunt to find your favorite teacher, you would need a strong communications skill i.e. ability to convince and persuade people. You must have a strong argument and must be willing to reach out to as many people as you can. Here are a few tips that will help you in eliciting information from people.

Confidence

Be very confident when you are approaching the person. Your energy and aura exude from your visual appearance for example the way you dress, walk and talk. Dress well and decide what you would say and what you will ask. If you beat around the bush or are not clear with your purpose people will not take you seriously and might even give you incorrect info.

Credibility 

You must build some credibility before you ask for a favor. Offer the person coffee or maybe take a walk with them. Try to develop a bond with the person, listen to what they have to say. Be complaisant and show them that you are interested in what they have to say. After you feel like you have developed a friendly bond, you should refer to your teacher. To start a conversation about your teacher make sure you make a smooth transition so that the other person doesn’t feel uncomfortable with the sudden change of stance.

7C’s

One of the most crucial elements to excellent communication skills is the 7 c’s. If your argument is built on the 7 c’s i.e. it is clear, concise, correct, concrete, coherent, courteous, and complete then it would make the whole info acquisition process a lot easier. Be clear and concise with your words avoid redundancy but don’t be vague or dubious. In case you are referring to a certain date make sure it is correct. Be kind and courteous and thank the person for their time.

3 Means of persuasion 

According to Aristotle, there are the 3 key components in building a strong and convincing argument are Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. When trying to persuade someone we must use all these 3 components and not just rationality because we humans are more emotional and need to feel good emotional to do or believe something. Let’s take a look at these three components

Ethos: 

Create goodwill by evincing sincerity from your actions and words for example buy them coffee, use kind words. Build credibility by having a chat about something of common interest and relatable. This helps the other person feel more comfortable and secure when talking to you and they are more attentive to what you have to say. 

Pathos:

Use a calm and controlled tone. Don’t be too excited or calm to the point you sound uninterested. Use Enargeia to make the person understand how you feel and why you want to see your teacher. Try to manifest how you and your teacher would feel when you both meet each other after such a long time. Make them see how their actions can make a difference and help others. This way you are making them empathize with you.  

Logos: 

Lastly, use logic. You can do this by telling a story similar to your situation. Show them some pictures from back in the day and use rationality to make them understand how they can and why they should help you.

Conclusion

It can be very hard trying to find a teacher if they have the school, city, state, country, or got retired. However, there are a bunch of ways you can find and reconnect with your favorite teacher from back in the day. You can ask the school for some contact info, other old teachers, any friends of the teacher that you may know, ask your own friends and classmates, visit the teacher’s old place, ask their neighbors, visit someplace that they liked or visited regularly, look at some of their work, for example, some research paper or project that they might have worked on. You can look for them on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Look for them on sites such as the teacher’s unions, teachers association, or the retired teacher’s organization. When asking for a favor or trying to elicit some info from someone use the 7c’s and Aristotle’s 3 means of persuasion ethos, pathos, and logos.  

How to find an old teacher?- Ways that would work

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