Eventually wanting to become an ESL teacher in SLO county...

[.highnlite]

My first rule, don't work under a roof.

[the city]

Originally Posted by .highnlite

My first rule, don't work under a roof.

Ha ha. Oh HighNLite your comments make me happy. My dad tells me I would have to work myself up if I was at a Home Depot or some store as a manager. I really really want to do teaching rather as a elementary school, middle, or high school. If you have any other ideas for me then please let me know.

[eureka1]

My cousin has been working for years as a special ed teacher in San Jose. She's also bilingual (Spanish) and I would suggest you learn Spanish in order not be be caught up in the constant layoffs. Good luck.

[Romila]

Originally Posted by the city

Don't worry about a place to live for me, that is taken care of.

And yeah I know the pay isn't good I am just asking if there would be an opening when the economy is better. And HighNLite, like you said I should get into a major where my strengths are, and planning has math which is my weakness. I know teaching is what you didn't have in mind instead of planning. But that is what I want to do and I want to teach English or ESL.

I don't care if I don't get the best pay and all that. It is the joy of helping out the younger generation and hope students are more prepared after high school than I was.

I totally agree with you...do what you like to do. If it is teaching go for it. I am studying here in Brazil pedagogy which is like early child education in America hopefully my diploma is valid in the USA for I plan to go back to America, I am an american citizen. I think teaching is the most beautiful important job there is. The country need education to have a country that has citizen that are productive and who will make the economy grow. Education is the most powerful weapon a country have...without education we won´t have doctors and lawyers and PRESIDENTS who take education for grated and instead of thinking about the education of his country and how to make it better he invest money on **** excuse the language. If America's goverment doesn´t start taking care of its education the country is going to start lowering it rakes and be consider a third world country who don´t put its education in first place and the country is so power in the economy and stuff...
Brazil now is taking serious on the country education that is why Brazil is not in the world wide crises because it is investing in its education.
Anyways did you hear that?
You have to know someone to get hired in a school?
I mean isn´t the hiring getting a job process done by sending a resumé to a board of education district and from there they send it to the school that needs a job and the principal see if the person is right for the job or not...i mean the person must be qualified if she past the state licenses right?
I mean what are the processes the steps of getting a teaching job any kind if it is a pre-school or elementry school or a high school teaching job what do you have to do?
I thought it was by the board of education who send your application resumé to the school and from there the principal see if you fit the job? NOT who you know but by your interview?

[Romila]

Originally Posted by .highnlite

What happened to planning? One piece of advice, don't teach.
Not only have teachers become the whipping boy for all of societies ills, NCLB destroyed teaching. Find something more satisfying, like picking up cans along the highway.

That is sad you consider so low our education and that you consider the teaching profession in such a way.

I mean who faults is it? Is it the country.

If America doesn´t start taking its country education seriously and see it as a powerful weapon it government has to better the country productivity and economy for if we have student educated we will have more doctors, more lawyers, more teachers, and etc...which will make our country grow.

If education is not invested and not taking seriously America will become if God forbid a third world country where the people are on the street causing war because they are hungry with out money and etc.

[Romila]

Originally Posted by .highnlite

You are in favor of NCLB? Here is how that works. If your school tests for math and reading and writing, that is what you will teach. No science, no social studies, no art, no music, no PE, no recess.

The learning will be rote learning, teaching the kids to pass the test, not to learn, but to pass a multiple choice test.

For instance, in reading the students will read story fragments and answer questions. They won't ever learn that reading is fun.

Each year your school will be tested, each year your school must show improvement over the prior year. Even when, in the unlikely event every student scores 100% the school will be required to show improvement beyond that, which will be impossible. Your school will then be listed as a failed school, which is purpose of the law, to fail every public school.

The law was written by politicians to support the voucher system, to fail the public schools so that private schools will get the business.

If you are a boring, unimaginative, rote teaching sort of person, you may enjoy teaching under NCLB. If you ever had a teacher that caught your attention, that made you love learning, that taught in a way that caught your curiosity; that teacher is crushed by NCLB and is either waiting to retire or they quit teaching, or they are in therapy.

I read what you say, it is common among they young and idealistic to reflect ideas such as you presented, but the reality of being in the trenches is very different.

My wife taught for over twenty years, she taught Gifted, and special ed, and regular classes and autistic classes, she was also a consultant to other teachers and district, she has numerous awards for her work. She quit, NCLB drove her out, I saw the toll it took on her, the vast difference between what she knew was right, and what she was forced to do by the constraints of the law made her physically ill.

I restate, if you are a creative imaginative person who cares about students, you will quit teaching within 5 years of getting your first job. Best have a fallback.

Firefighting gives you both excellent pay and blocks of time off (24 hour shifts will do that) .

Most jobs require you to be indoors, 8 or more hours a day 5 days a week.

As a teacher you will be indoors working 8 or more hours a day 5 to 6 to 7 days a week, but you will only be paid for 6.5 hours per day for 5 days a week.

Now, some people don't mind working indoors, it should drive a reasonable person crazy, humans were not designed to sit at a desk indoors.

Young men and women should be out in the sun, the wind, and the rain, and saving the forest while you are at it is frosting on the cake.

If americans especially teachers went on strike and fought for better working condition and better education in general we wouldn´t even have this conversation...

I agree with you some, but at the same time why aren´t teachers doing something about it if it is that bad...

In Brazil for example teachers goes on strike when they feel things are ****ty...unfortunately they don´t get what the want in most part but they do get some solutions something to better their situation...

Americans are so lazy that they don´t fight for what they want?

[Ulysses61]

Most teachers cannot go on strike. When I was a public school teacher in California, my district (the third largest district in the State), had a no strike clause in it. We could not strike. And if you strike you lose the $450 a day you'd be getting if you stayed in the class.

This is perfectly said:

If you are a boring, unimaginative, rote teaching sort of person, you may enjoy teaching under NCLB. If you ever had a teacher that caught your attention, that made you love learning, that taught in a way that caught your curiosity; that teacher is crushed by NCLB and is either waiting to retire or they quit teaching, or they are in therapy.

[.highnlite]

Originally Posted by Romila

That is sad you consider so low our education and that you consider the teaching profession in such a way.

I mean who faults is it? Is it the country.

I stated clearly,, many months ago. I did not disparage education, and I stated exactly where the fault lies. NCLB. As long as it is in force, I would rather pick up cans along the highway to recycle for money than to be in a classroom.

[Romila]

Originally Posted by .highnlite

I stated clearly,, many months ago. I did not disparage education, and I stated exactly where the fault lies. NCLB. As long as it is in force, I would rather pick up cans along the highway to recycle for money than to be in a classroom.

is in such a mess, that someone would rather get cans off a road then teach, which is an admirable thing to do.

I mean is education and being a teacher in America in plain 2012 that bad?

I mean America should start copying third world country how education is ran then.
Here in Brazil the school building it self is ridiculous but how the school is ran is much better then America.

Here for someone to teach she has to do a test competition where if there is 30 opening she will do a test and see if she scores high enough to reach that top 30. Then if she or he does she becomes a tenure teacher, with a starter salary, health and dental plan and other benefits etc etc.
Now salary could also depend on the experience and the many diploma you have level of education you have for say you have a master and etc. understand?
I mean America has no security in a teaching position not for the experience teacher not even for the newbies. COME ON!!!

[.highnlite]

There is tenure for teachers in America, but contrary to popular opinion all that it insures is that you get a hearing before sanction or loss of job.

Education is a mess in America for a number of reasons. The primary problem for the past decade has been NCLB.