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Thinking About Teaching
Jun. 24th, 2008 04:26 pmOne of my readers has inspired me to think about trying to get a teaching job again. One thing I never thought of that she pointed out is that I no longer look twelve. I would no longer be mistaken for a student at a junior high school the way I was when I was a Teacher's Aide after college.
It's good to remember why I decided not to go into teaching in the past, though:
* No one would hire me, maybe because they wanted all the social studies teachers to also be coaches.
* No one would hire me even after I got certified to teach math, maybe because I didn't look like a good disciplinarian.
* Substitute teaching sucked, because I was not a good disciplinarian. I quit after five days.
* I do not have the charisma I think a person needs to be able to handle a class of thirty people who don't want to be there.
* There sure is a lot of bureaucracy and lack of control over what you are allowed to do.
So, why might it be okay now anyway?
* Schools are more desperate. I'm pretty sure I could get hired to teach math.
* Being the real teacher rather than the substitute should make discipline a lot easier, right? Also, I've probably learned a few relevant social skills in the past couple of decades.
* Maybe you don't need big, fluffy clouds of charisma. There are many kinds of good teachers.
* It's not like my current job is free of bureaucracy and totally under my control.
Other scary things about teaching:
* Extremely long work hours. When I was student teaching, I slept only four hours a night on weeknights. And that was for only two courses! But math textbooks are much better than sociology textbooks, so I'm unlikely to have to create everything from scratch.
* All the bad things that go with fame. Suddenly there are all these people who recognize you, and there are more likely to be people who want to egg your house or break in to your computer or involve you in a school shooting.
* Can't use the restroom whenever you want. Also, you get lots of vacation/holiday time, but you have no say in what those days are. You can't really make up your work later, so it's harder to visit the doctor, etc.
The weird thing is that it's been fun imagining being a teacher over the last 24 hours.
I'm going to think about this option some more.
It's good to remember why I decided not to go into teaching in the past, though:
* No one would hire me, maybe because they wanted all the social studies teachers to also be coaches.
* No one would hire me even after I got certified to teach math, maybe because I didn't look like a good disciplinarian.
* Substitute teaching sucked, because I was not a good disciplinarian. I quit after five days.
* I do not have the charisma I think a person needs to be able to handle a class of thirty people who don't want to be there.
* There sure is a lot of bureaucracy and lack of control over what you are allowed to do.
So, why might it be okay now anyway?
* Schools are more desperate. I'm pretty sure I could get hired to teach math.
* Being the real teacher rather than the substitute should make discipline a lot easier, right? Also, I've probably learned a few relevant social skills in the past couple of decades.
* Maybe you don't need big, fluffy clouds of charisma. There are many kinds of good teachers.
* It's not like my current job is free of bureaucracy and totally under my control.
Other scary things about teaching:
* Extremely long work hours. When I was student teaching, I slept only four hours a night on weeknights. And that was for only two courses! But math textbooks are much better than sociology textbooks, so I'm unlikely to have to create everything from scratch.
* All the bad things that go with fame. Suddenly there are all these people who recognize you, and there are more likely to be people who want to egg your house or break in to your computer or involve you in a school shooting.
* Can't use the restroom whenever you want. Also, you get lots of vacation/holiday time, but you have no say in what those days are. You can't really make up your work later, so it's harder to visit the doctor, etc.
The weird thing is that it's been fun imagining being a teacher over the last 24 hours.
I'm going to think about this option some more.