Teaching...

[Wyrm2]

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Sup dude. I'll be starting my 6th year of teaching high school math in September, so I can answer most of your questions.

Teaching's great. I was a computer programmer for a couple years before I tried teaching, and that job was horrible. I don't know if teaching just seems good in comparison, but I enjoy it a lot.

What I love about it are the few times that you can really make a connection with a student. Every Xmas time, I write out holiday cards to each one of my students (about 150 kids, takes a while, but they seem to enjoy it so I do it). This year, a couple days after I passed them out, the parents of one of my kids e-mailed me to thank me for writing the card to their son. I had written to him about how I was proud he had tried so hard this year, and the parents told me that he was so proud of that, that as soon as he came home he rushed right in to show them. Haha...

Then the father of another student I had e-mailed me to tell me how much his son enjoyed my class, and that they were both extremely disappointed that I was leaving the school (I'm starting a new school in Sept.)

Those are the kinds of things that get me out of bed in the mornings. I won't lie to you - there are certainly bad days, with bad kids, but the good stuff like the stuff above can keep you happy for months.

What I hate about teaching is pretty much everything outside of the classroom. Staff/faculty politics can be ridiculous, and the administration at the school can really make a difference. The administration at the 1st school I was at was excellent; I always felt like they were there for me and had my back should anything go wrong. The school I was just at, was the complete opposite. I felt all alone, and on top of that, the administration was doing a lot of things at the school and making a lot of teachers (not just me) very unhappy.

The only advice I have to new teachers is that you need to have only 2 things to get started:

1) a love for the age group of kids you'll be teaching (this goes without saying, but a lot of teachers seem to not like kids, which doesn't make any sense), and

2) a true passion/love for the subject you'll be teaching. If you're teaching english and you don't like reading/writing that much, then trust me, you won't make it past 1 year as a teacher.

Everything else you can learn as you go along. Don't worry about f-ing up your first year; every one does. But the 2 things above are things that if you don't have to start with, you'll never make it.

Anyway, I know that was long, but hopefully I answered all your questions. If you have any other concerns, send me an IM!

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I'm going into my 7th year teaching HS math in Washington DC and he says it better then I can. The administration makes a HUGE difference, as mine sucks and it makes a lot of things more difficult then they need to be.

The only other thing I'd say is that you are going to struggle your first year, it's normal and more importantly the 2nd year is a lot easier, especially if you are in the same school. It's amazing how much it helps to come into a school and know 140 kids who will say hi (and are much more friendly when they aren't your students)

[Sooga]

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The only other thing I'd say is that you are going to struggle your first year, it's normal and more importantly the 2nd year is a lot easier, especially if you are in the same school. It's amazing how much it helps to come into a school and know 140 kids who will say hi (and are much more friendly when they aren't your students)

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Yea I didn't emphasize this enough in my first post, but it's so true. After your first year, you'll have a good handle on what kind of lessons you should be doing, and what should be in those lessons, so that when you do them again (assuming you get the same courses to teach), it'll be SO much easier. By the time you get past your 3rd or 4th year, you should be able to teach the material on cruise control, and while you should never stay stagnant, any changes/adjustments you make will probably be pretty minor.

Plus like Wyrm said, after your first year, word gets around at a school, and kids will know you (even kids who you didn't teach). Kids talk; word spreads quickly about teachers, especially first-year teachers, so try to make a good impression. You don't have to try to be the greatest teacher in the world your first year (because that's not going to happen), but if you can make it obvious that you care about the material and care about your students, then the kids will respect that, even if you're brand new.

[1aguilas]

My sisters have both taught in rough inner city schools (elementary) and said it turned into more of being a disciplinarian than a teacher. The type of students you have can completely alter your experience.

[shaftman11]

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My sisters have both taught in rough inner city schools (elementary) and said it turned into more of being a disciplinarian than a teacher. The type of students you have can completely alter your experience.

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I agree with this %100. The charter school I worked for was like this. I had 6 classes and 1 of those was considered "advanced" which meant that it was like a normal class. In my other classes, I spent more time making sure the kids where in uniform and staying in their seats. This was the policy set up by the principal. The teachers would get in trouble if kids in your class were out of uniform. So it got to the point that I would spend 35 out of the 45 minutes in some classes getting kids in uniforms and off cell phones or just kepping them under control in general. And while I was a first year teacher, I was by no way the only teacher w this problem. Even teachers who had been there for 4 or 5 years had virtually the same problems. The school also had no plans to fix this problem, they are interested in the money the state of Michigan will pay them for the kids. They didn't give a damn about anything else.

[Dudd]

Sooga teaching thread

[Sooga]

Ah, good work. I guess I'm a searchtard.

[MikeNaked]

3) Develop routines. They help with both planning and classroom management.

4) Share the assessment burden. Have the students frequently grade themselves and each other. It's not only a timesaver, but kids need to experience the self-learning feedback loop. Seeing one's growth is highly motivating for many students.

[MikeNaked]

Sooga, bdf, and others have some really good advice so far. As a fifth year HS teacher, let me add a couple more:

1) An old professor once said to me, "Never pass up an opportunity to keep your mouth shut." This goes hand in hand with "Don't be afraid to say NO." You're going to have a lot of ideas on how to improve the school in the first couple years...keep em to yourself! If you bring them up, you will inevitably be roped into some committee or advisor role that will suck up some of your precious time. Similarly, you will be approached by many to volunteer your time to assist with some project - you can say no! My first year, I was on so many committees and Site Council, while coaching and being Yearbook advisor, I wanted to kill myself. I was working 12-15+ hours a day. Teaching is difficult enough the first few years; don't make it harder on yourself.

2) Don't reinvent the wheel. Your fellow teachers have good curriculum off which you can build. Utilize all your resources.

I'll post more sage wisdom as it comes to me.

[shaftman11]

This will be my third year teaching, and I teach high school social studies. The two biggest points I want to make have already been posted, but need to be restated. CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT!!!!!! Depending on where your school is, this will be the thing that makes or breaks your teaching carrer. And unfortunatly, most universitys don't put alot of thought into for students. The other main point is just like realestate, LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. Though this doesn't solve all of the issues. I first taught for a charter school in Detroit (ohhhh that sucked, esp w poor classroom management). The next year I got a job in the suburbs, the results were much better. Though you do trade one type of parent for another. On one hand, you have parents who don't give a damn about the kids (I had a parent tell me that the only reason they sent the kid to school is so we would watch him for 8 hours). And then you have the parents who take to much care in the students life. Always wanting grades, why did my kid miss this assingment, why did he get a C on the last test, why isn't my little angel getting an A in your class. This is almost as much trouble at the other kind of parent.
And the last piece of advice I would give the OP, is to spend as much time in a classroom and with kids of that age group before getting into teaching.

[Sooga]

Wow I had no idea there were so many other teachers (esp. high school teachers) on oot.... awesome