Should I Teach?
Published January 25, 2004
In addition to having no clue about the paper load, I wondered about my ability to lead a class. I learned much of this as I went along. It’s a great skill to have developed, and if I changed careers today, I’m sure that what I got from teaching would come in handy.
I read recently that 40 or 50 percent of new teachers quit within three years. I came damn close myself on several occasions. It takes three, four, even five years to feel secure as a teacher in what you are doing. I still keep changing what I do here and there, and this is good because it keeps things fresh, but I have reached a level of understanding about who I am as a teacher and what I want to do in my classes—I’m comfortable.
That said, it still takes a lot of time. I am continually assessing how much time is reasonable. I need time to read, to write, blog, play guitar, work on my house, have a social life, and so on. My dog needs to play and be happy. Every year, the acceptable amount of time seems to be a smaller number. At this pace, by the time I retire (if I make it), I will be grading –20 papers a day. Right now, energy is a factor. Sometimes I go into a teaching day with four hours of sleep—I’m hoping for five tonight. A teacher has to find the energy when he or she is in front of a class. I don’t always find it, kids sense it, and either the lesson falls flat on its face as kids get bored and drift, or kids start acting worse than usual (they collectively seem to take advantage of tired and weakened teachers). Donald Graves even wrote a teaching book called “The Energy To Teach.”
I think that working for a school district is a lot like working for any organization: seemingly pointless time consuming tasks, meetings, lack of control and power (varies, depending on the school and its philosophy), futility, complainers and nay Sayers (it’s easy to fall into the rut of complaining about everything at school for some reason—too many things coming at you at one time, I guess), bureaucracy, personality conflicts. True, these things are all negative, but you see them everywhere—not just in schools. And if you’re into drama, then it’s all good.
The organizational structure of a school can drive a teacher crazy. I have literally seen it. That point from the movie, Office Space, about answering to seven (nine?) different bosses applies. There are teachers in charge of this committee or that committee, assistant principles, principles, curriculum coordinators, superintendents, other high-ranking school bureaucrats, school board members, politicians, parents, the students—as a teacher, you have to answer to a lot of people, both directly and indirectly.
- Should I Teach?
- Published: January 25, 2004
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Culture
- Writer: Dirtgrain
- Dirtgrain's BC Writer page
- Dirtgrain's personal site
- Spread the Word
- Like this article?
- Email this
Save to del.icio.us
Comments on this articleComments
Very generous and honest appraisal, Dirtgrain. I haven't taught at the high school or elementary levels, but I know people who have or that do. I have taught at the college level, which is much easier going. Let me second your opinion that it's not just the students that color the experience but also the administrative staff and the rest of the teaching staff.
That was pretty good Dirtgrain. One question, what grades do you teach?
I teach composition and literature classes to students in grades nine through twelve.
Cool. I just wanted to know. I'm a high school freshman.
I am reading your book lives on the boundry and I am woundering if I could email you sometime.
I'm not Mike Rose.
You're right - it takes all kinds. Glad to have you aboard, Dirtgrain.
I know that you wrote this forever ago, but I want to say thanks for writing it. It has helped tremendously, and I will make arrangements to sub:)
Thanks Brenda. I just re-read it, and I wouldn't change what I wrote. I'm in my tenth year now, and I still like it (and suffer with it at times).
People tend to see substitute teaching as something negative. I think we can all remember when we had a sub in one of our classes--and a lot of kids planned on taking advantage. While I did have some tough subbing experiences before I became a teacher (and I still sub now and then during my planning period), I also had some great experiences. Even some of the bad ones are memorable.
I once subbed for a special ed. teacher at a middle school. In one class, I saw that she had three students. "Three students," I thought, "that's going to be easy." I was mistaken. The three students, Larry, Willie and Joe (sounds oddly like the Three Stooges), were the most foul-mouthed, delinquent seventh graders I have ever seen. They had to be escorted by a teacher from class to class. I was told to call immediately to call for help if they gave me any trouble. As soon as the escorting teacher left the room, these three kids start putting swear words together in combinations that I had never heard before. One of the kids walked right up to the window, picked up a book and threw it out the window. I didn't call for help. I was too stubborn. So, I did my best, and by the end of the hour, I had managed to get the kids to sit at the table and talk a bit about the assignment that they had. Nothing else was thrown out the window that day. I was shaken and drained after that one class period, but I felt a degree of success. That was my toughest substitute teaching experience.
A more positive experience came at another middle school, where I subbed for a music teacher. She had left me pages and pages of typed, single-spaced notes and instructions. It was ridiculous. I couldn't even finish reading them before class started. Before I knew it, I found myself in front of an orchestra of about twenty five girls, conducting them as they played through several pieces of music that they were working on. I had no experience in conducting an orchestra--only my own experiences as a choir student in junior high school. That didn't stop me, and while I made some mistakes (there's nothing quite like a group of twenty five middle school girls simultaneously getting pissed off at you for messing up on telling the bases when to come in), it was a great time for me. I don't think I'll ever get an opportunity to conduct an orchestra again.
I am currently going to school to become a teacher. I have encountered some difficult times that have made me second guess my decision. I've read books that are supposed to inspire me to become a teacher but they've achieved only the opposite. They encourage teachers to become revolutionists and to fight the system. That is not my intentions and your words have helped to light the flame under my feet again. I appreciate your honesty and your writing style. You should write a book... Thank you!
I have been debating whether or not I should go into teaching i've been thinking about i for a whole year. Today, I googled the question "should i teach?" and you're blog popped up. I received an answer. Although teaching has it's negative points, i believe your description is true and refreshing. Thank you for being honest and giving me a heads up as I continue the path to teaching! I agree with the previous comment. You should write a book if you haven't already:)
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/12012)
This is heartfelt, practical, honest and overall outstanding. Thanks! We need teachers, but we need them for the right reasons.