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What are/were thoughts about teaching in rural areas?
I was one and I in general liked everything, except for a few other teachers there and one IMPORTANT aspect.
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Aspect- In small towns, everyone knows you. But when I was a teacher, I think everyone knew everything lol.
When I would come to class some days I would here" you were there and who were you with and so and so.
Then I thought, what would happen if they saw me have a drink down at the local dinner with my date? (BTW, just an occasional drinker in moderation)
I just felt trapped and I noticed I just was staying at home all the time because I didn't want to associated or have my students see me doing everything in my life after work hours.
I tried to be decrete about having a drink and such but after a while it a feeling of entrapment engaged me.
It appears, especially for younger teachers in small towns, rumors can just get out of control.
And in my small town, the only place to hang out was at the bar and many of the locals hang there and know everyone. I would hang out there a few times but didn't very often.
Also, I noticed some of the students were just as bad if not worse than some rural areas. Maybe it was because our principal would sometimes not discipline kids either.
I know in a larger school I was at, if the kids even attempted most of the stunts they pulled they would get extra detention or kicked out of school.
What are/were thoughts about teaching in rural areas?
I taught on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico (official location: 10 Miles Past the Middle of Nowhere ) for a year and it wasn't a fun job. It was high desert country, and very sparsely populated, so it may be more rural than what you're thinking about. I just found the desolation and poverty, not to mention extreme cultural differences, to be emotionally exhausting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thunderbomb82
Then I thought, what would happen if they saw me have a drink down at the local dinner with my date? (BTW, just an occasional drinker in moderation)
If it makes you feel any better, one of my grad school classmates, who teaches in New York City, ran into some of her students on a Saturday night in Manhattan. Given that there are approximately 1.5 million people in Manhattan, what are the odds, right? She'd been out drinking with her boyfriend, so had a quick talk with her kids about drinking responsibly, etc., and then continued on home.
I taught on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico (official location: 10 Miles Past the Middle of Nowhere ) for a year and it wasn't a fun job. It was high desert country, and very sparsely populated, so it may be more rural than what you're thinking about. I just found the desolation and poverty, not to mention extreme cultural differences, to be emotionally exhausting.
Interesting! I wasn't teaching in a Navajo Reservation. But I was teaching in New Mexico as well "10 miles out of nowhere" I felt the same way.
If it makes you feel any better, one of my grad school classmates, who teaches in New York City, ran into some of her students on a Saturday night in Manhattan. Given that there are approximately 1.5 million people in Manhattan, what are the odds, right? She'd been out drinking with her boyfriend, so had a quick talk with her kids about drinking responsibly, etc., and then continued on home.
That's a pretty cool way to go. It's good to be open and honest like that.
When I was in college one thing they taught us was never go out for a drink in the town you teach in. If some parents see you have one drink you are a 'drunk' in their opinion. It gets a little tricky when you live in the middle of nowhere. You pretty much end up not drinking when you go out. Have a beer when you get home .
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) for a year and it wasn't a fun job. It was high desert country, and very sparsely populated, so it may be more rural than what you're thinking about. I just found the desolation and poverty, not to mention extreme cultural differences, to be emotionally exhausting.
