To celebrate National Storytelling Week (30 January to 6 February), we asked teachers in Scotland to tell us about the good, the bad and the downright ugly of teaching. We'll show a different story every day. If you feel inspired to tell us yours, do so in the form at the end of this tale, or by clicking here.

Shelly* is in her third year of teaching Geography in a High School near Edinburgh. She just bought her first home with her husband, by the beach.

Here's her story…

I have always been involved in summer camps and teaching really was the perfect and obvious career. Teenagers are the best work colleagues to have: they are energetic, fresh and speak their minds. Very refreshing!

My probationary school was in a very deprived catchment. I was given junior and low level ability classes. There were 19 students on the roll but I was lucky if 10 turned up. The dynamics of the class changed depending on which students appeared and it was difficult to progress through work. They were very unwilling to learn and you would get threats and flying objects. My stomach used to tie itself in knots.

I called in management to observe, tried various motivational and behavioural techniques. I read classroom discipline books and turned on creativity, simplified resources and tried to find a firm and fair approach. By the end of the year they did say 'cheers', so maybe something worked.

My current school is amazing. It's in a rural location so only 700 pupils. Last week my S4's enjoyed a gorge walk to aid their learning of waterfall formation. When they turn to you and say, "Miss, this is much better than the diagrams. It's class, I totally understand it now!", it's lovely.

If I were to use one of Teacher Support Scotland's services, I would use the telephone Support Line rather than email through the Online Support. It's good to talk to someone real on the end of the line.

*Name changed to protect the teacher's right to privacy.