As I sit back and sip my iced coffee...and spill it on my shirt as a Bryan tradition, I think back on the past 25 1/2 years in the field of education...and then woder if the time spent would have been more productive in another field, such as wine grapes!
That's not a complaint at all, for I have had many great moments in the classroom both as a licensed teacher in Nevada and a licensed substitute in California. Yet, when one reaches a point where half your life has been spent in your profession, I think it is good to take a little inventory. Speaking of which, we need more toilet paper! More on that later.
At some point in my early adult period, I had a desire to be a journalist. That is due to having a decent journalism teacher in high school. However, as I saw the negative changes in the journalism field, I knew I'd have to take an immoral hit to character if I wanted to survive in that field...so journalism was nixed. I think it was my dad who put the teacher idea in my ear.
Before I proceed, I will say that if I could go back, I'd take up computer science and get into the dot com industry and retire early. However, having seen a few movies that are time travel themed of late, we'll just proceed with the present course.
Looking back on my substitute days, I will say that I was an extremely immature moron who knew nothing about what I was getting into, at first. That first year and a half could have easily broken me if I'd let it, but there's something incredibly brave and masochistic in me that presses forward despite danger signs. By the fall of 1999, I was feeling a good fit and decided to go back to school and traion for the real deal.
Looking back on THOSE 3 semesters, I can't really put into words exactly what I learned, with the exception of covering my ass when needed. Yes, I am saying I learned more survival lessons than actual methods. It was a lot of theory, taught by professors who were so firmly entrenched in their own perceived greatness that they didn't have a decent balance. It was also northern California, so I take all that with its due thought and dump it into the proper liberal landfill.
Both my subbing and back to college years (1998-2002) had their successes and pitfalls, much like the 21 years I have spent as an actual teacher.
I have written before about my good years and bad years, and I really don't like rehashing myself, I leave that for potatoes. Instead, I will look back at some offside highlights and downers...
Speaking of toilet paper, it is best to keep a decent roll in your teacher mailbox because the school supply is 1 ply.
It is commonly said that it is wise to make friends with the office and custodial staff. This is so true, and can result in your classroom being vacuumed more than twice a week, plus getting a new copier toner cartridge installed the same day it was requested.
If you last in the teaching field a decent number of years, you will work for more than one principal. It is vital to bend with the breeze and learn how they want things done, from lesson plans to email communication. Take it from one who did not learn that right away.
If you want to eat what the kids eat in the lunch room, you need a good cardiologost and psychiatrist.
I once assumed most if not all parents were doing their job. I was a moron.
Being a male in a female-dominated field has its pluses and minuses. The pluses are that you are assumed to possess a certain amount of strength at times and be asked to help lift or move things. The minuses are that you as a male are often left out of many female-based conversations/activities and a sense of isolation can come about at times. Well, actually, as time has gone on, that has become more of a plus. I'm nobody's girlfriend, I don't want to be anybody's girlfriend.
Posting on social media about your class or co-workers is perfectly fine...and long as NOBODY is your friend or follows you and the only person seeing your posts is YOU! Such passive aggressive behaviors, if they are seen, leads to social and professional isolation.
Modern school playgrounds are lame and are built with roughly the same material that submarine was made of...luckily they are not miles underwater.
If you stay in one position too long, you get cramps. I don't mean physically, I mean staying in one grade level. You get too set and too self-righteous...and often too jaded. I think a period of 2-3 years in one grade is plenty and then change it up, you'll stay fresh (though daily deodorant also assists here).
Your new markers and glue could very well arrive pre-dried. Thank your parent suppliers anyway.
What your school/school district pushes on you, just try it. It'll be gone before you get too used to it.
And finally, let me speak about passion...like all things, passion passes. You will love your class, at, least a few kids in each class, and enjoy a few subjects more than others, but that initial fire dies after some time. Some people lose it quickly and quit, or they never really had it and either quit or languish for years or even decades in a profession they do NOT belong in. And it's ok for that fire to die, because it was what got that motor running before the politics, wage freezes, low test scores, delayed supplies, and broken HVAC systems put out the fire. Put out the FIRE, but not the love.
I still love what I do. I love coming early in the morning, getting coffee going and prepping for my day, however it ends up going. I love the group of adults I work with and am getting to positively know my new principal. I love that I am going back to teaching the little kids, the ones that love school. My PASSION comes and goes, and that's ok by me. Staying on a constant high is not good for the body.
Stay hydrated.
1 comment:
Viva los glue boogers!
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