For the teachers out there

[englanddg]

My high school had excellent teachers. But I agree. Our principal was a total bureaucrat. Didn't even want to shake her hand at graduation. But I like the superintendent, so I shook his hand. He's new and done some stuff to improve. Like actually paying for graduation instead of forcing schools to pay themselves and then for the schools to all get different facilities at different prices, some of which were not close to the schools.

I went to 3 different high schools in vastly different districts (geographically and philosophically). I went from what was, at the time, one of the best high school / general education systems ranked in the country (Fairfax County, VA) to another reasonably rated one (Clover Park District, WA), to one of the worst rated states in the country (GA) for "graduation".

I went to 11 schools overall in 12 years of lower education. A few years later I did contracts for many Boards of Education around the State...And, what did I learn? The best and brightest...work at elementary schools as soon as they can. Politics and general stress of the job means, very few (unfortunately) care to work for older tracks.

Is this anecdotal? Certainly.

But, I will never forget when I sat through several college courses that were merely review (like, pre 1800 history, my god, that was a bore, and the Prof felt he had to give us all geography lessons as well...poor guy)...

 

[StarWarsGirl]

I went to 3 different high schools in vastly different districts (geographically and philosophically). I went from what was, at the time, one of the best high school / general education systems ranked in the country (Fairfax County, VA) to another reasonably rated one (Clover Park District, WA), to one of the worst rated states in the country (GA) for "graduation".

I went to 11 schools overall in 12 years of lower education. A few years later I did contracts for many Boards of Education around the State...And, what did I learn? The best and brightest...work at elementary schools as soon as they can. Politics and general stress of the job means, very few (unfortunately) care to work for older tracks.

Is this anecdotal? Certainly.

But, I will never forget when I sat through several college courses that were merely review (like, pre 1800 history, my god, that was a bore, and the Prof felt he had to give us all geography lessons as well...poor guy)...

I have many complaints about my high school. I got an excellent education there which has set me up well for college, but really, is it so hard to keep the bathrooms clean? And with toilet paper? Is it really so hard to mop once a week? My classrooms got mopped because my doctor said they have to be clean, but the rest of the school wasn't. My economics teacher was so happy when she found out about the moppings. And really, after the Sandy Hook tragedy, when the principal gets on the announcements, the appropriate thing to do is have a moment of silence. Did that happen? No. She went on and on about how that kind of thing wasn't going to happen here. No mention of the kids who were killed. What happened? We got threats that day. I was so mad at her for that. She had no concern for the students, knew me, but never said hello to me and never bothered to remember my name even though most of the staff did. Seriously, my name is Missy. Simple, easy, memorable. And this must sound fishy to you: we were told that we had to turn our cell phones off because it was knocking out the wifi. Not to disconnect from the wifi, to turn it off. I didn't listen and eventually the wifi worked just fine. I'm glad to be out of there. But for the sake of the thread, we should end the education debate

 

[englanddg]

Is it really so hard to mop once a week?

Same question I would ask teachers. And, yes, we should.

 

[Disvillain63]

Ah, proof of the superiority of our educational system. No wonder outsourcing took hold... <kidding...sortof...there are a lot of good teachers, but there is WAY to much politics in the public education system to allow them to shine, and a lot of clowns who leech off the system>

Totally agree...I venture off the beaten path more so than my peers. I have an adventurous spirit that doesn't always 'appreciate the rules/strongly suggested techniques of the day'. Since I stayed home with my own children for several years, I know that my income is not needed to keep my husband and I afloat...so I have a bit of wiggle room. I try to do what my students need first and foremost, and since my scores end up above the norm at the end of the year...my administrators 'look the other way'. In fact, they come to me when something is not working school-wide or they need help school-wide. I operate on the mantra "don't ask permission, ask forgiveness". (This may not be the best advice for a newbie or anyone wanting to move up to administration.)

 

[PineapplePrincess]

I'm not sure that this is the best time of year to ask a teacher if they love teaching, seeing as it's the last week of school for me. Hectic does not begin to describe it!
Seriously though, I have been teaching for 18 years and I couldn't see myself doing anything else. Of course I love the children, and my job is extremely rewarding. In my state, teaching jobs are very hard to come by. I'm not sure how things are where you are. It would be very frustrating following your heart and then not being able to secure a job.
I didn't read everyone else's posts carefully, so I may be repeating what others have stated. The children are fabulous to work with, however that is not always the case with the adults in their lives.

 

[Ariel484]

I'm not a teacher, but my husband just finished his 4th year of teaching high school math. I think his experiences are similar to what a lot of people have said - frustration with the adults/politics/bureaucrats but loves working with the kids and coaching. From what I can tell, he's a great teacher - he teaches freshmen/sophomores and gets invited to a decent number of graduation parties, so the kids still hold him in high regard a couple of years after being in his class. He gets emails, visits, etc. from kids that have graduated. It makes me really proud of him.

I admire all of you teachers out there...I could never do it. From my perspective, I just know I couldn't be *on* every day as far as standing in the front of the room speaking to kids for 8 hours (if that makes any sense). And I never realized just how much work is done outside of the classroom - Mr. Ariel484 often has to grade and plan lessons in the evenings/on weekends. I guess I thought that would be built into the work day - he does have a planning period but he lets the kids come in for help during that time. And as ridiculous as this sounds (but I think it's relevant since we're on a Disney board and all), keep in mind that it'll affect when you can vacation. We can only go at peak times since he can't take vacation time during the school year.

As far as advice...my father-in-law was also a teacher and he's always said that if you gets a masters, get it in something that's not education in case you decide somewhere down the line that teaching isn't for you - so maybe you could get the coursework done to become a principal or a guidance counselor, something like that (husband is just starting coursework for a math masters). Also, in his district the teachers can get paid more if they have more education (i.e. a masters) or do other things like coaching, so that's something to look into as well.

When school starts up again maybe you could shadow one of your relatives that teaches for a few days to see what it's like?

Good luck!

 

[Disvillain63]

I'm not sure that this is the best time of year to ask a teacher if they love teaching, seeing as it's the last week of school for me. Hectic does not begin to describe it!
Seriously though, I have been teaching for 18 years and I couldn't see myself doing anything else. Of course I love the children, and my job is extremely rewarding. In my state, teaching jobs are very hard to come by. I'm not sure how things are where you are. It would be very frustrating following your heart and then not being able to secure a job.
I didn't read everyone else's posts carefully, so I may be repeating what others have stated. The children are fabulous to work with, however that is not always the case with the adults in their lives.

My administrator was talking to a couple of us near the end of school...she said something similar...'What would we all be doing if we weren't teaching, it's in our blood.' Then she looked at me...'well, you'd be a Disney World.'