Moving to NM to...teach? (Albuquerque, Gallup: neighborhood, schools, college)

[loboABQ]

I'm 26 yrs old and I teach on the reservation and yeah, it's really a challenge. It's my first teaching job (i'm from New Mexico). I'm in my second year teaching here. I went to UNM. I teach social studies (6th and 8th graders and it has to be the hardest job there is on earth. I am looking at transferring (or leaving the teaching profession all together) as it is extremely, extremely time comsuming with little reward (the pay is pretty lousy), although when you are able to reach a child it is indescribable (but touching a child does not pay the bills). Also, being out in the middle of nowhere really takes its toll on you (and I was raised only an hour from where I teach).

To make things short, it takes a very very special person to be a teacher. It takes an even greater human being to teach on the reservation. If you are more accustomed, or prefer a city-like atmosphere, rez teaching is not for you.

[ronNnewmexico]

Hello there young person
Im a 30 year old DIne' female ASU grad that has never lived on the reservation and advise you beware! Never in my 27 years of life have I ever encountered such a unfriendly group of people. Well I suppose racial discrimination is every where but in bordertowns surrounding the reservations it is alive and well. Since 2005, I have lived in a bordertown and experience stereotyping all the time and its not a happy environment. Now I live in Gallup, NM and this is my first time in NM, Arizona born and raised, and I dont like it. Now the southwest is wonderful and the desert is beautiful dont get me wrong I love ARIZONA! I love the metro PHX area, Flagstaff, Payson, Tucson and everything inbetween. I especially love the outdoors and Im assuming you do to (reason for your move to this area). But remember the Dine and Zuni reservations are nothing like these areas. You mentioned low-income areas, if you're prepared to cope with the disparities of minority groups then I think you will be fine. You have to remember to be a tough person if you come to this area. Remember that anytown you go to for shopping and such, so will the entire reservation populations. Meaning, the bordertowns have alot of homelessness, substance abuse, violence, congestion especially on the first of the month (when govt checks are distributed). If I had my druthers I wouldnt have chose to live here. I have met many east coasters and they last about 2 - 5 yrs at the most. They find their first year to be the hardest but usually network and befriend other non- new mexicans, form a bond and all agree they made a mistake about coming to NM. Like I said if you're a tough person and can get past these indiscretions, more power to you but dont say no one warned you!!! Beware of the reservation. Im sure you would be a wonderful asset to the Dine' and Zuni children, heaven knows they need it! So if you do choose to work in this area, GOD bless you and dont let them break your heart and dont lose your passion! Kudos to you for even thinking about coming to the reservation to mold the minds of the native american youth. If no one hasnt said it before, thank you for choossing to be a teacher, I know you all are very much underappreciated! good luck, ron n new mexico :-)

[ronNnewmexico]

Originally Posted by mesavista

My husband and I both taught and lived on the Navajo reservation, hubby in high school and I in elem. I am now a stay at home mom and he teaches at an 85% native school right on the rez border. He has been teaching Navajo students for 20 years. Living on the reservation, on school grounds usually means dry, dusty landscapes, no trees, brown- no green, hot and windy summers dry cold winters and a LONG LONG way to rent a movie, go to church or get groceries. Teaching Navajo children is very different than any other ethnic group. Their non competitive culture means they will not answer you out loud in class (so they do not show up a tribe member), they are hard to engage- noisy classrooms are not usually a problem! You have to work hard to draw them out and gain thier trust. They often have very poor English skills and therefore reading skills and yet they are loosing thier own language too. You absolutely have to learn about their culture and respect it, yet not try to become one of them. You will be accepted in the community if you speak softly, shake hands gently- the white man's firm grip is impolite in Navajo society- respect their religous beliefs (I could not step into another classroom with a pet frog when I was pregnant- TABOO for expecting moms!- and it would have upset my Navajo peers. If you learn these types of things you will be accepted just fine. You cannot barrel in roughly on a white horse to "save" them and be loud and competitve and aggressive. You have to learn their many non verbal language cues. All my children "speak " Navajo body language -its very handy!

It can be lonely and hard living on the rez in teacher housing. You usually get extra pay. The housing is not great, especially if you are single, they give you the worst houses! But you usually have only a pittance taken out of your check for it.You need to stay on very good terms with the other staff- you live, eat, socialize, do everything together. You can save alot of $$-there is not much to spend it on! The children can be very rewarding and fun if you don't try to make them into someone they are not. You can learn so much if you do this. It can be a very positive experience BUT many, many teachers do not last more than one year. You have to be prepared for culture shock like you were going to another country ... because you are!! Well I'm rambling I'm sure! Hope this helps- come visit and see if you are romanticizing or if it still appeals when you see it in person. The ones who don't last are the ones with some romantic ideal about "saving" the Native people and then find out they really don't want our saving! Or the ones who have no idea how different the cuture is. Expectations are very important to how you will do.

Mesavista

you couldnt have said it better - from a Dine ASU grad (I had to learn this the hard way)

[coltraneandcoffee]

First off- thank you everyone for keeping this thread going, I honestly did not expect to get any responses--especially such in-depth, thoughtful posts.


@loboABQ: No doubt teaching is a challenge and I really commend your for sticking out your second year..they always say the first year is the hardest but the second year is probably just as hard, only you know to expect it to be hard!


@ ronNnewmexico:

I have met many east coasters and they last about 2 - 5 yrs at the most. They find their first year to be the hardest but usually network and befriend other non- new mexicans, form a bond and all agree they made a mistake about coming to NM. Like I said if you're a tough person and can get past these indiscretions, more power to you but dont say no one warned you!!! Beware of the reservation.

I appreciate your wellwishes I do know I am getting into something way bigger than myself... but there is definitely an unfortunate stigma attached to being an 'east-coaster'. I may be giving away the naivete of my 22 years but I have never been drawn to the things that many associate with 'east coast' living... I would be thrilled to live in the teacherage--although it is not 100% whether or not I will be on or directly near the reservation and I wont find out until spring. And the pay matters very little to me. As long as I have enough to eat, put gas in my truck, and decorate my classroom I will be more than happy.
Also, Im not necessarily trying to 'mold the minds' of any children but to jst give them the opportunity for the same quality of education they would get off of the reservation. They dont deserve academic and educational seclusion or backwoods teaching just because they are living within their tribal communities.

Although I am not enrolled in a tribe, my mom's family originated from a french soldier who came over and married a Chitimachas maiden in LA, and there has been a lot of mixed blood down the line since then. I feel particularly strong about providing a memorable, quality eduacation for native children in particular, because I was blessed enough to have great schooling myself, and really committed, fun teachers. This is not some 'white guilt' because I dont identify myself as white, BUT I know that my education can be attributed simply with the fact that I have white blood (and other races also) and I was raised in an affluent area. Kids in New Mexico should have the same chance as kids in New York but they won't get the chance if there arent passionate people willing to provide it.


@mesavista: I dont remember if I mentioned this before or not, but your post was so extremely insightful to me, and a good reminder that Im not moving away as a teacher to a new neighborhood , but I am literally going to an entirely different culture, both in and out of the classroom.


One thing I think could be a serious impediment for non-Dine (or Zuni , etc) teachers coming onto the reservation is that the community probably does not expect them to make a commitment to them and keep it. It seems there is an extremely high turnover and that can only make the community less likely to bother with yet another person coming over and becoming disillusioned.

[KimK]

If this doesn't work for you, you might look into Teach for America (I think that is what it is called). I interviewed some teachers who had been sent down into the Brownsville, Texas area to teach. They found it very rewarding and interesting. Many were from New York and liked the change. I think you commit for two years but I can't be sure. There are many places in the U.S. that need your desire to teach but could not otherwise afford you.

[coltraneandcoffee]

Originally Posted by KimK

If this doesn't work for you, you might look into Teach for America (I think that is what it is called). I interviewed some teachers who had been sent down into the Brownsville, Texas area to teach. They found it very rewarding and interesting. Many were from New York and liked the change. I think you commit for two years but I can't be sure. There are many places in the U.S. that need your desire to teach but could not otherwise afford you.

....because that's how i got the job I was accepted to TFA last month!

[loboABQ]

There are currently three TeachForAmerican peeps here in the area I teach at. One loves it. One totally hates it. Another is sort of eh, it's a job and it is something different. When I say it, I mean teaching. I also have a buddy of mine that is in the TFA program stationed in San Jose. He loves the area but says he never understood teaching was so stressful, time consuming, etc.

Another friend of mine, who graduated in the Education Department at UNM applied to to TFA but was turned down. They (TFA folks) said they were not looking for teachers persay, but rather people of other backgrounds who could apply that to teaching children.

[iteachmath10]

I can hardly believe my good fortune to have found this thread! My husband and I have been investigating the idea of teaching (my trade and passion and his interest) in a Native American environment. He's part Potawatomi (his spelling...there are several)
We both love the physical environment of both the high and low deserts of the Western U.S. We are not the types to "need" much in the way of modern amenities, so wouldn't go through city-life withdrawals...
Can anyone provide information on who/where to inquire for teaching positions?
We are just now getting starting on our quest for information.
Thanks for any help.

[coltraneandcoffee]

I would suggest the NM T2T Program (Transition to Teach). Im sure you can just google it and it will come up. I looked into this program when I considered the various routes for gaining alternative certification in NM myself. Now, having been accepted into Teach for America, I will be taking graduate classes at UNM-Gallup and working out my alt-cert another way. Still, T2T seems like a great avenue for your husband to look into. As far as seeking out positions, Im pretty sure you can just directly check out the listings on the school district's website for that.
Good luck

[ILOVEALLMY8PETS]

Good luck,,,
Iloveallmy8pets

Originally Posted by coltraneandcoffee

"The well intentioned teachers keep chipping away. Social anthropology is more than a pick and shovel." Amen to that one.


You all have helped me incredibly...I appreciate all of the replies! I do have a tendency to over-romanticize many things, and my boyfriend consistantly reminds me that if i go into things with a picture in my head, it is usually not really like that...however... I am not looking at NM as a place to be 'enchanted', however alluring the state motto may seem to a new yorker

The poverty does not deter me, nor does the possibility of being an outsider both culturally and physically (which I most surely will be..my mom has some Chitimachas blood in her, but I am dark from being mostly Italian and hispanic).

Soft_Tail Honey, I have heard that many times already...about going as a single young woman (I am almost 22) and I am trying to keep that in perspective.

Iloveallmy8pets: Thank you so much for your encouragement about that! That's how I see it too: it really is all an experience, and I most certainly do NOT want to stay where I am comfortable because I do not know what to expect from an experience. Plus, it would be a 3 year teaching committment maximum.


And I will be incredibly unhappy if I dont atleast try to go this direction. Now, I need to take the NMTA (teacher cert tests) in January when I visit and look for a plce to live. In the context of....oh I dont know... SAFETY.... which would be one of the BEST vs WORST areas for a 22 year old woman to be renting an apartment in...?