Is anyone here a teacher in the public school system?

[Superman]

What do you think about it? Was it for going to school for? What would you tell someone who is thinking about going into the field?

[seanrobertson]

What do you think about it? Was it for going to school for? What would you tell someone who is thinking about going into the field?

My ex is.

She graduated a year before I did. Many times over the years, she told me that she'd wanted to teach since she was a little girl.

She graduated Magna Cum Laude, and to my biased eyes at least, it's obvious from talking to her that she's special in everything she does. As such, I figured she'd be treated well by the public school system.

BZZZZZZZZZT! I was wrong. In spite of the fact that she was 37 and much more experienced than most who'd been there for years (prior to getting her BA, she was a lateral entry and substitute teacher), as a "newbie" teacher she was treated like total shit. She was given all the crap assignments and the worst schedule imaginable. Now, SHE'D never say that, but it was pretty damn clear to me what was what.

She did admit that she felt the paperwork was a bit much, and I could see she was frustrated by school politics. I gathered that the principal of her school, like many office "managers," was an inept leader, closet retard, and not so subtle asshole.

My ex is intensely smart and VERY passionate about what she does. She's the perfect teacher, perfectly willing to demand far more of herself than she would of 100 students. But my love for her doesn't obscure the fact that, yes, she's pretty damn sensitive. During her student teacher days, she'd relate so much to some hard cases that she'd spend quite a lot of time literally crying into my shoulder about them. She is also a hair idealistic.

All those tendencies might color her experience negatively more than it would your own. If you yourself decided to teach, you might have a blast.

BUT, do keep in mind that seniority dictates who has first crack at the easy jobs. The new teachers are often stuck with the shit no one else wants to clean up. If you can get beyond that period, though, you'd have it made, working 9 months out of the year, good health care, early retirement, better pay than Sean Robertson can find right now. Maybe it's worth it *shrugs*. I dunno.

[RedImperator]

Zaia is a teacher and I'm going to be. Sean's right, though--the system is rigged against new teachers, which is why a lot of the best don't last past the fifth year.

[Alyrium Denryle]

I will probably end up being an educator. Be at teaching biology at the high school leel or preferable at the university level...

[Zaia]

*laughs* Not so sure you want to hear my thoughts on the subject right now, Supes... *shakes head slowly* No, you probably don't want to hear anything from me.

[haas mark]

*laughs* Not so sure you want to hear my thoughts on the subject right now, Supes... *shakes head slowly* No, you probably don't want to hear anything from me.

[huggles] Given.. I wouldn't think so either. Which means that I'm going to have to look forward to *great* things when I go for the same thing that you are doing...

~ver

[Dalton]

*laughs* Not so sure you want to hear my thoughts on the subject right now, Supes... *shakes head slowly* No, you probably don't want to hear anything from me.

*big hug for Zaia*

I remember some of what you told me. It can be tough.

[Enigma]

*laughs* Not so sure you want to hear my thoughts on the subject right now, Supes... *shakes head slowly* No, you probably don't want to hear anything from me.

*big hug for Zaia*

I remember some of what you told me. It can be tough.

Eeeeeeep! A bear hug!

[TrailerParkJawa]

One of my friends' mother is a teacher in the Oakland school system. She has been there for more than 20 years now. She says the politics from both managment and parents in aggrivating and keeps anything from getting done. Every time they want to select a new textbook, someone will complain because there are not enough minorities in the book. One time someone complained a word problem was racist cause it required you to calculate how many gallons of milk where in some container or other. They said it would hurt Asians cause they dont drink milk as much as blacks and whites. WTF???
It was an algebra question, the whole point is to figure out the unknown variable. It could be milk, soymilk, water, etc. WTF??????

Anyway, if you are going to teach in a liberal environment. Expect the worst.

[Saurencaerthai]

I may in the future, wish to teach music within a school. This is in the further future, though, as I still have a long way to go in terms of musical knowledge, before I trust myself in a public school setting.

[Crayz9000]

My girlfriend wants to become an English teacher, probably on the high-school level. Given the hell that is the Los Angeles school system... I don't know what to make of it, but it's not going to be easy for her at all.

[Johonebesus]

I hate to say this, but I would advise against it. If you are super motivated and really, really want to teach and are absolutely certain that this is your life's calling, go for it. If you just think it will be a rewarding and fulfilling and fun career, forget it. It will vary from district to district, but basically you are treated like shit, by the administrators, by the school board, by the parents, by the students, and by half the teachers. It doesn't matter if your area is liberal or not, education is all about PC tripe. You can't offend anybody, liberal or conservative, because there is no one to back you up. Little Johnny cusses at you, you give him detention. Johnny's mom then comes over and cusses at you, and you get a warning from the principal. If she likes you, she will try to help you a little, so long as it never endangers her political standing, but if she doesn't particularly like you, you're on your own. It's a crap job. There is a rewarding aspect, but for every student you touch, there will be a hundred who flip you off as they go out the door, along with their parents and your bosses, etc., etc.

verilon, are you saying you plan to teach? If so, be very, very careful. I don't know where you live, but even in fairly liberal areas many communities are not going to tolerate an openly gay teacher. Unless you personally know some gay teachers who aren't having any problems, I would seriously consider finding another career plan.

[Darth Wong]

10-second suggestion: if you want a short working year, zero risk of being summarily fired (a huge form of job stress that teachers tend to forget that the rest of the population must deal with) and lots of vacations and don't mind a huge amount of "office politics", go for it. Otherwise, look elsewhere.

[NeoGoomba]

For a time I was considering teaching in a public school. Then I looked back on just how many kids in my classes actually cared about what the teacher was saying most of the time (myself included) and it was somewhat dishearteneing. One of my education professors told me that in a public school situation, you should be thankful if you get one kid to listen to you. That did make me re-evaluate my goals somewhat.

Now the goal is to teach at the college-level, where most of the time students listen (except in those giant 200-student lecture halls), because they're paying far too much money not to.

[Anarchist Bunny]

I always thought it would be cool to substitute teach every once and a while. Just becase the stardard they set the bar for the stable personality of a sub to that of a full time teacher, is about 8 feet lower. They don't seem to care what the subs are like as long as they keep us in the class and out of trouble. I've had a sub for english class that, I swear to god, capitalized randomly. I'd like to be a really crazy sub, mispronouncing the simplest of names during roll call, and then making up names for kids as class went on. Talk about my personal life constantly, ofcourse I talk about a fucked up personal life about my daughter running off to a thrid world country, either france or florida to get the fetus of her leasbian lover's clone put in her urethra. Talk about fake wars I was never in, hunting charlie on the beaches of Puerto Rico, parachutting into Paris during operation French Fried of the second gulf war. That woudl be fun.

[RedImperator]

10-second suggestion: if you want a short working year, zero risk of being summarily fired (a huge form of job stress that teachers tend to forget that the rest of the population must deal with) and lots of vacations and don't mind a huge amount of "office politics", go for it. Otherwise, look elsewhere.

Ironically, teaching is one of the few professions I can think of (outside of politics) where the dedicated idealists burn out and give up decades before the hacks who are just showing up for the paycheck. Politics by its nature is going to be that fucked up, but there's something seriously wrong when something as basic and necessary as teaching is like that.

[RogueIce]

What would you tell someone who is thinking about going into the field?

Never, ever, mention pink foam. Especially if you're a biology/anatomy teacher. Please.

As for me, the only way I'd ever do it is if I get my commission in the Navy, and don't make Admiral (ie: retire at Captain or below), then I'd apply for an SNSI spot in an NJROTC unit. They get far more latitude in how to deal with students there, the pay isn't dependent on the school system (they get their normal pay for their paygrade, the Navy gives some, the school makes up the difference), and kids have to volunteer to get in, and you're more or less free to reject them, or otherwise kick them out if they're trouble (usually not until the end of a semester, though), and they really don't have to deal with the school politics all that much. They can more or less ignore the rest of it if they truely want to.

Plus, while discipline is on the whack in most classrooms (having gone through four years of it, in a school that's VOLUNTARY and STILL having to deal with that shit), a JROTC unit can deal with it, and isn't going to get much crap from parents; and if they do, they can more safely "ignore" the parents than other teachers can.

[Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi]

Well, my mother was a teacher before I was born, and substitutes every once in a while. I think the main goal of being a substitute teacher is to make the students really wish their other teacher was there.

[Mitth`raw`nuruodo]

Well, my mother was a teacher before I was born, and substitutes every once in a while. I think the main goal of being a substitute teacher is to make the students really wish their other teacher was there.

Agreed. The stories I could tell of substitute teachers...

Anyway, on topic:

Teaching was one of the things I considered for awhile. If a career in the Navy doesn't work out, that is what I will be doing. Only suggestion I have is, if you don't like little kids, don't go to elementry school. THEY'RE EVERYWHERE! But on the other hand, teaching someone a skill they will use the rest of their life (reading, writing, etc) could be pretty cool. I dunno, mainly I wouldn't want to teach my 1st grade self. I was the evil kid from hell when I had to do something I didn't want, but then they put me on pills for ADD. But that's a different thread.

[Master of Ossus]

What do you think about it? Was it for going to school for? What would you tell someone who is thinking about going into the field?

I used to be a teacher.

Here's the thing: All the money is in colleges. It's possible to be a teacher and have a second job as a professor of some community college, but that doesn't pay the bills as well early on.

In terms of working environment, you have to be careful. It depends on how the administration is, and particularly how the Principal is. Find someone who won't care what you're doing with the kids, and is willing to stick up for you, as long as you deliver results every time. There are some Nazi-eriffic principals out there, and if you have one of them then you'll spend the whole of your life looking over your shoulder in search of a way out.

Also, think carefully about what sort of a job you want, and in what district. Some districts have rules that mean you're going to be a glorified baby-sitter until you develop seniority. For some people, that's okay, but I wanted to be teaching advanced classes almost right away, and it took me a long while to find the right kind of district to let me do that (and an old school friend).

There's tons of politics involved in the offices around most schools, but don't get into teaching for the three month vacation time. More often than not, you're either working anyway (without pay), or you're wishing that you were working.

[Zaia]

10-second suggestion: if you want a short working year, zero risk of being summarily fired (a huge form of job stress that teachers tend to forget that the rest of the population must deal with) and lots of vacations and don't mind a huge amount of "office politics", go for it. Otherwise, look elsewhere.

Err, that whole "don't worry about not getting fired" thing works really well after you gain tenure, but until then (usually it starts the first schoolday of your third year teaching), you have just as great a chance as anyone in any other field of getting fired. Why do you think only 50% of beginning teachers make it to gain tenure? It's not as foolproof as you may think. At least, it isn't around here. I had a couple friends who lost their jobs this year. Cutbacks in schools are a very strong reality, especially for those of us in the arts, but even those in academic subjects face firings when times get tough.

[Johonebesus]

Err, that whole "don't worry about not getting fired" thing works really well after you gain tenure, but until then (usually it starts the first schoolday of your third year teaching), you have just as great a chance as anyone in any other field of getting fired. Why do you think only 50% of beginning teachers make it to gain tenure? It's not as foolproof as you may think. At least, it isn't around here. I had a couple friends who lost their jobs this year. Cutbacks in schools are a very strong reality, especially for those of us in the arts, but even those in academic subjects face firings when times get tough.

I would like to add that things are even worse in Georgia. Idiot Barnes (who got us the first republican governor Georgia has had since Reconstruction) took away tenure for new teachers. In order to try to protect teachers from unfair firings, he then made it harder to refuse a contract to a teacher. Until then, a principal could basically say to a new teacher, "it's not working out," and not give the teacher a contract for the next year. Now, if the principal wants to get rid of a teacher, he has to trash the poor teacher on observations, to create a record of why it was necessary to fire the teacher. So now, if a teacher gets fired, he has horrible reviews on record and no chance of a decent recommendation, making it much harder to get a new job.