Any Teachers Here?

[colchar]

So, after leaving my PhD program, I've recently been trying to make some life decisions and I have decided that I am going to head off to Teacher's College because teaching was the aspect of grad school that I enjoyed the most (except for the grading part but I can learn to live with that). Up here you need two teachable subjects so I will have to take some undergrad classes to get a couple of more credits to qualify for my second teachable but that won't be a problem once I decide what I want that second teachable to be. After getting that second teachable I shouldn't have any trouble getting in to Teacher's College because I was an A student in both undergrad and grad school (they do not use grad school grades for admission purposes but people with graduate degrees are placed ahead of those who just have a B.A.).

Up here, teachers make a very good living (non department heads who are at the top of the salary scale make in the neighborhood of $94,000 per year and, with my education, I could easily become a department head and earn more than that) and the teacher's pension plan is second to none (look up what the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan owns...it is enough to make you sick!). With my degrees and the university teaching experience I have from grad school I will automatically be placed higher up the salary scale when starting out than other new graduates. I am, however, a tiny bit concerned about getting hired when they will have to pay me more right off the bat but I will deal with that when the time comes. We have a bit of a glut of teachers here in Ontario which might make getting hired a little tougher but I can always move to another province where that glut doesn't exist. On the other hand, I have friends from university who became teachers and some of them would be more than willing to do what they can to help me get hired (my former roommate's father is a teacher and a union rep who could get me a job easily if I was willing to move to the small town in the middle of buttfuck nowhere that they come from).

So that brings me to my questions - are there any teachers here? If so, are you happy with your decision to become a teacher? What do you like most about the job? What do you like the least? As I said, I have teaching experience at the university level from when I was in grad school but that isn't the same as teaching in a high school so I am interested to hear from others here.

[windsor]

I consider it my contribution to the good of soceity as a whole to never be a teacher (of humans). Mr. Windsor IS a teacher. It is his second (third?) career. He teaches Algebra in a drop out prevention school. It is a tough crowd so his reality may not be yours.

He loves the teaching. He loves the interaction with the kids (when they aren't telling him to 'f off' ) and those 'ah-ha' moments when the lightbulb goes one.

He hates the lack of support and funding (last year we dropped just under $2000 in supplies for his kids and his class - including several warm coats and long pants for kids who had none - so this probably will not be your reality). He hates the b.s. that keeps him from teaching math..the endless reporting and documenting...the mandate of the month that seems to come down from district (this month it is character education). He also can not stand the pressure not to fail a little snowflake that has gone out his/her way to earn an F.

He hates calling parents to report that their little Johnny isn't doing his homework and being told 'why the f___ should he, I never did'...and no, I am NOT making that up.

He likes being in the classroom. He loves it when a previous student comes back to visit...one of last years kids has been coming back for help with Geometry. Mr. Windsor will move heaven and earth to help a kid who is trying. Those are the ones he loves...he'll meet them before school, after school on weekends (in a public place with a parent present)..whatever he can do. When they succeed, well, he REALLY loves that.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

I was a teacher, then an administrator for my entire primary career. Most of my career I served as a principal, a role I considered to be that of a teacher in many ways. While I have fantasized about other careers (fashion design or interior design), I would still choose to be a teacher/mentor. The sort of satisfaction one can experience from helping someone else achieve their dreams.... or even identify them...cannot be bought.

The sort of solid pension one can earn takes on greater importance as time passes. Here in North Carolina it also means access to decent medical coverage and more reasonable rates than one might have to pay otherwise.

Upside is seeing the best in people..... this is most of what I experienced because I looked for it and cultivated it. Working with students of various ages is a major plus if you like them. Don't choose to teach unless you genuinely like young people. This would seem to be an obvious point, but too many choose to teach because they did well in the subject matter themselves, but they really don't care for the kids themselves. I thoroughly enjoyed the interaction with students, teachers and parents.

On the downside is that you can see the worst in people.... couldn't escape this entirely! Differences in points of view can make for some very volatile situations with limited compromises in sight. I detested the extent to which "politics" began to shape school governance. The increasing lack of fairness in the workplace and in options to deal with and help students bothered me greatly at the end of my career. The current trends to cut education resources will create some long term problems for society as a whole.

One factor that is very different at the high school level compared to the university level is discipline in the classroom. There may also be a different level or type of motivation related to school work.

The best teachers feel a calling to the profession.

[CathyCA]

I taught in elementary school in California. I started out teaching P.E. I also taught third grade, second grade and kindergarten. I subbed in all of the elementary grades, including special education classrooms.

My favorite grade to teach was second grade. I had a low ratio of students who were potty trained and who knew how to tie their own shoes. They weren't at the talking-back stage, either. They were also small enough to be afraid of me, and therefore, I had few behavior problems with my second graders. We got a lot of learning done! In addition to the regular curriculum that I had to teach, I decided to throw in some classics each afternoon at circle time. I told my students that they didn't need to understand all of the words when I read his poems to them, but that when their high school and college teachers introduced Shakespeare to them, they would remember that "Miss Cathy read some Shakespeare to us in second grade." I began each day with daily grammar and spelling drills. Many of our math problems centered around money. It's funny that kids don't know how to add or subtract unless and until you make the lesson about money (or the clock), and then they understand! We had so much fun! For each correct answer, my kids would earn tickets which gave them chances to win prizes from the treasure box on Friday afternoons. My students loved to learn, and I loved to teach them.

I'm not teaching any more because I got divorced and moved back to North Carolina. I loved the hours because I had the same hours as my own children, and I had their holidays, too. It was a great job for a working parent.

I didn't get rich teaching school, but I loved it.

[Lavabe]

Dude... contact wilson. He made the shift from history to teaching. He may not be on here that much these days, but he's certainly facebook-able.

[ArkieDukie]

I taught in elementary school in California. I started out teaching P.E. I also taught third grade, second grade and kindergarten. I subbed in all of the elementary grades, including special education classrooms.

My favorite grade to teach was second grade. I had a low ratio of students who were potty trained and who knew how to tie their own shoes. They weren't at the talking-back stage, either. They were also small enough to be afraid of me, and therefore, I had few behavior problems with my second graders. We got a lot of learning done! In addition to the regular curriculum that I had to teach, I decided to throw in some classics each afternoon at circle time. I told my students that they didn't need to understand all of the words when I read his poems to them, but that when their high school and college teachers introduced Shakespeare to them, they would remember that "Miss Cathy read some Shakespeare to us in second grade." I began each day with daily grammar and spelling drills. Many of our math problems centered around money. It's funny that kids don't know how to add or subtract unless and until you make the lesson about money (or the clock), and then they understand! We had so much fun! For each correct answer, my kids would earn tickets which gave them chances to win prizes from the treasure box on Friday afternoons. My students loved to learn, and I loved to teach them.

I'm not teaching any more because I got divorced and moved back to North Carolina. I loved the hours because I had the same hours as my own children, and I had their holidays, too. It was a great job for a working parent.

I didn't get rich teaching school, but I loved it.

That is so cool! I didn't realize you were a teacher while in CA. I just assumed you were always a lawyer.

My cousin now teaches first grade for many of the same reasons that you enjoyed second graders. She has to deal with an amazing amount of back-talk, but it's because of the socioeconomic background of her students (she teaches in a not-so-great part of Little Rock).

I agree with DitBD regarding politics. I noticed the same problem at the undergrad and graduate levels. It just amazes me that everything is the teachers' fault. At some point students have to take responsibility for their own education, and the parents need to back the educational system rather than blaming the teachers.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

I taught in elementary school in California. I started out teaching P.E. I also taught third grade, second grade and kindergarten. I subbed in all of the elementary grades, including special education classrooms.

My favorite grade to teach was second grade. I had a low ratio of students who were potty trained and who knew how to tie their own shoes. They weren't at the talking-back stage, either. They were also small enough to be afraid of me, and therefore, I had few behavior problems with my second graders. We got a lot of learning done! In addition to the regular curriculum that I had to teach, I decided to throw in some classics each afternoon at circle time. I told my students that they didn't need to understand all of the words when I read his poems to them, but that when their high school and college teachers introduced Shakespeare to them, they would remember that "Miss Cathy read some Shakespeare to us in second grade." I began each day with daily grammar and spelling drills. Many of our math problems centered around money. It's funny that kids don't know how to add or subtract unless and until you make the lesson about money (or the clock), and then they understand! We had so much fun! For each correct answer, my kids would earn tickets which gave them chances to win prizes from the treasure box on Friday afternoons. My students loved to learn, and I loved to teach them.

I'm not teaching any more because I got divorced and moved back to North Carolina. I loved the hours because I had the same hours as my own children, and I had their holidays, too. It was a great job for a working parent.

I didn't get rich teaching school, but I loved it.

That is so cool! I didn't realize you were a teacher while in CA. I just assumed you were always a lawyer.

My cousin now teaches first grade for many of the same reasons that you enjoyed second graders. She has to deal with an amazing amount of back-talk, but it's because of the socioeconomic background of her students (she teaches in a not-so-great part of Little Rock).

I agree with DitBD regarding politics. I noticed the same problem at the undergrad and graduate levels. It just amazes me that everything is the teachers' fault. At some point students have to take responsibility for their own education, and the parents need to back the educational system rather than blaming the teachers.

Children from homes of all sorts now have an attitude and talk back. Some of the worst are those who see themselves as superior... I encountered that while substituting in an AG class for fourth graders who were impatient and unrelenting in their frequent displays of superiority. These were children from middle class to upper middle class homes. They had no appreciation for the fact that I had been AG, too.

Most disillusioning of all was my experience substituting in first grade. I loved that age when I was teaching and had great rapport with them. Today's first graders aren't interested in fantasy play. They're also much more sophisticated in some not so charming ways about the ways of the world. I've heard Coach K talk about how the players today don't process information or work together like they did years ago. Teachers have to be aware of such changes and adapt to them in order to mentor their students to be the best they can be.

Teaching is not a good choice if the idea is simply to have a job. It's very demanding and not for the faint of heart or those who have poor self-control. Our children (that's all the way through high school) deserve teachers who like youngsters and are passionate about working with them.

[DevilWearsPrada2.0]

I taught in elementary school in California. I started out teaching P.E. I also taught third grade, second grade and kindergarten. I subbed in all of the elementary grades, including special education classrooms.



I'm not teaching any more because I got divorced and moved back to North Carolina. I loved the hours because I had the same hours as my own children, and I had their holidays, too. It was a great job for a working parent.

I didn't get rich teaching school, but I loved it.

Cathy, my Mother taught school in the NC system for 41 years, and was also Asst Principal (the last 20 yrs or so with teaching)...

She always said, you don't get Rich with teaching in North Carolina, but she loved it. During her tenure, she had excellent benefits with great health insurance, retirement and carry over sick days. Mama said the hours were great for a Working parent with Children.

God Bless teachers, especially those that teach in the Public School system, and all teachers!

Cathy, thanks for sharing your story.

I applaude all teachers !

Go State ! GTHC!

[colchar]

I think I could handle the attitudes that some kids have. When teaching while in grad school I had more than one student tell me that I scared the living shit out of them but that, once they got to know me, they realized I was just a big teddy bear. I guess I scared them because I am male, 6'1" tall, weigh about 240lbs-250lbs, and can look like the most pissed off person on the planet if I want to. Hell, I wouldn't screw with me But in reality I am actually a nice guy who thoroughly enjoys helping others. Unless, of course, their name is EarlJam

I must say that I do like teaching and helping the students learn rather than just regurgitate information. It is awesome seeing that bulb go off in their heads when something clicks and they finally 'get' it. I also think I would do a better job preparing them for higher education than many of the teachers I had experience with at the high school level.

I would also enjoy helping them develop into more rounded people than just good students. I played sports all my life and would enjoy helping out with sports teams. As a guitar player I would also be glad to help out with music programs, concerts, etc.

I think I would really take to teaching whole hog as opposed to just collecting a paycheque. That being said, teachers here are paid far far better than they seem to be in the US so the job does offer a degree of financial security (take a look at the .pdf from the Ontario Secondary Schools Teacher's Federation linked below to see the salary scales of the various school boards in the province). Their pension also offers great security for retired teachers as well.

All in all, I think it would be really rewarding to be a teacher. I've experienced a bit of that with undergraduate students (remember, many of them were high school kids four months before I started teaching them) and think it would be awesome to experience that with slightly younger kids.

Here is that .pdf showing the salary scales:

http://www.osstf.on.ca/adx/aspx/adxGetM ... v-2006.pdf