Thinking About Teaching

[livingdeb]

One 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.

Comments

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

My Mom was a music teacher in Boston for 30 years, so I have a little insight here for the long-term.

Pros: Money (in big metro areas) is pretty good. Hours get to be shorter after you teach the class a few times, since by then you've created everything you need for a while, and you've learned how to write assignments that are both relevant and faster to grade. When you teach full-time there's usually a period or two during the day that you have for "planning". Can be satisfying.

Cons: The job is mentally draining. You get no respect in the wider community. Parents suck. Kids can suck. Administrators can suck.

One of the key factors for my Mom was that she didn't live in the communities that she taught in, so there weren't those negatives you mentioned. On the other hand, she taught elementary school for the majority of her career, which is easier and more satifying overall. (Avoid middle school!) She's also both full of personality/charisma, and really good at scaring the crap out of little kids. So YMMV.

To sum: She told me that I should never ever become a teacher. Ever. Eep!

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

Yep, teaching is crazy. Especially good teaching.

[pamwheatfree.livejournal.com]

I used to be a substitute teacher. I taught math only as a sub. It worked out fine for me because generally I was there for a few weeks at a time. I developed a policy of telling the students that I would write their names on the board if they were too loud and if they got a check mark beside it there was after school detention, if they were all too loud I would stop giving the lesson, assign the homework, sit down and do something else. They would say that it was my job to teach them and I would explain that it was my job to be there but the lesson was in the book and they could read it themselves. The homework was still due the next day and there was a pop quiz first thing the next day to see if they had learned the lesson on their own. This really worked the first time I had to do it. It was a pep rally day or something and the kids just wouldn't shut up. So I didn't really teach at all that day. The next day there was a pop quiz and I told them why. After that, the kids were afraid that I would quit teaching them and would make each other be quiet. No one liked their grades on the pop quiz. Generally, all homework would be traded to be checked in class, then handed in for recording. But every now and then I would grade it myself and find out who was actually doing it so they couldn't cheat all the time.

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

My sub jobs were all for a single day, and each class was an hour. The experienced subs I asked told me you have to spend half the time yelling at them first, and then you can teach them during the last 30 minutes. I kept hoping that just jumping right into the subject would work, but mostly it didn't.

[(Anonymous)]

Noooooooo! The best thing is to talk *softer* when they get loud. Yelling just excites and escalates the whole thing. You lose control of the situation the moment you raise your voice.

Substitute teaching can be tough, but in my brief (two month) stint, I found that projecting the right kind of attitude from the first moment does lend itself to creating an aura of credibility. However, I did find junior high kids easier than high school kids; maybe they were just more susceptible to my own particular style of Jedi mind tricks.

[(Anonymous)]

(Sorry, that was sal above)

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

I actually knew that once. I remember at summer camp I used to repeat some line over and over, quietly, until people quieted down enough to hear. But I can't remember what I was repeating. Was it just announcing what we would be doint next? Hmm.