Mad Hatter
Head Pigeon
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2009
- Messages
- 1,087
- MBTI Type
- INTP
- Enneagram
- -1w
- Instinctual Variant
- sp/sx
Have you had any prior experience teaching in front of a class yet?
Have you had any prior experience teaching in front of a class yet?
I think teaching could give you the opportunity to achieve a lot of your personal goals (like writing! Don't ever give that up!), all while providing you with a fairly relaxed schedule and a good lifestyle.If so, it was not intended.
Also, while the sentiment is real, I was being a little overdramatic. Its more how proscribed education has become. I actually like working with kids to an extent...I feel they have more to teach us adults at times than we give them credit for and I'm more or less a kid in a grown man's body most of the time, anyway. I'm just going to have to accept I'm a little crazy, therapy and medication only gets me so far on my mood swings and innattention to the outside world, and I'm not really going to fit in anywhere. All I know is that I've inadvertantly hurt enough people that I know I should probably get out of pharmacy (hell, the only reason I'm still with this company is that I move stores when things start looking sour...like I may have to do with this very perfectionistic boss at this one store...I just have to remind myself that its not my fault I'm so spacey and I need the money, so I have to just keep moving along until I can move into a field that hurts less people.). No stable job is ADHD friendly, but teaching may not be too bad. I write as a semi-career, but my books aren't too popular and I would make more working part-time at mcdonalds than I do with my books...so I need something stable.
I'm not as bad off as a homeless person in a wartorn country, at least.
I was in teaching club in high school if that counts
For how long did you do it, and did you enjoy it?
I'm about to take my finals next summer to go into teaching myself (history, latin and english as a foreign language). From personal experience, here's just a couple of thoughts on the matter. -
There was a long time where I wasn't really sure if that was actually my thing. I've been more interested in the subjects I study than in actual teaching, and I think that it's really more than just the subject itself, and I wasn't alone with my "If everything else fails, I can still become a teacher" kind of attitude. Not before my practice semester did I actually realize that I'm actually enjoying what I'm about to do.
I've seen a great many people that, in my opinion, set themselves up for a disappointing and possibly exhausting job, for different reasons. There's the kind of overly idealistic teachers who want to make their classes a magical, eye-opening experience and make their students realize the wonders of the world and see the glow in their eyes. While that's certainly a noble goal and I won't deny that such moments do happen (and it's great when they do), lots of times, teaching frequently is routine, and there's stuff to be learned. It's not always fun, or great, or even exciting (like learning vocab or grammer for foreign languages), and part of the teacher's job is to make sure that the job of learning gets done, even if it means unannounced tests, drilling, grilling and the like. Sometimes, there are things you just have to know.
The other danger is of course too much routine. If you don't know yourself why you want to teach something and show little enthusiasm for your subject, then it's pretty hard to get your students excited for it. And if you're constantly disappointed at how slow your students learn and how little they know or how much noise there is in class, then you're probably picked the wrong profession, too. If you're too lenient (because you don't care) or too strict (because you just want your peace and quite) - either way, that kind of attitude will make for either a subpar teacher or a very strenous classroom atmosphere.
Which age were you considering? I know you said younger kids, but that's a wide category.
Wow, I truly appreciate your view on the teaching profession. I'm not in to it too much. I did it for few years and I loved the ideal of it, sometimes even the practice.
May I tell you some of the lines I told those kids.
"Two hours with you pays my rent for the month. That's a reason to love this job."
"Do you think data science isn't useful? Hell, they got all the use. Now look at what you're doing, with no data science, or even basic data skills."
"You want to get that promition? What do you think that supervisor is spending their time on? It's data systems! That's how she's leading!"
"Eventually non-data jobs are gonna dissapear. Are you going to be with the dying breed or not?"
I am an english teacher and I have to say I never really thought I'd teach anything. It just sort of found me and even though I was worried about it at first, it's very interesting and in my opinion rewarding job.
You can work with people, discover their potential and help them develop their skills. It's always nice to see that because of you, someone has learnt something. You can watch people grow and become better and those who refuse to cooperate, just laugh with them, make it seem like fun, they'll grow into being more approachable.
It's one of those jobs where you can see real results reflected in people, it's meaningful and it's a long term process.
I think teaching is a good choice.