Is Teaching Really So Terrible? (careers, degree, IEP, stressful)

[trisprefect]

I graduated back in 2010 with BA in history/film. I worked in the entertainment industry for a little while, but decided I wanted to go back to school for education. I love history and English, and I think that I would really enjoy teaching. In the fall I'm enrolling in a certification/Masters program, so I will be cross-certified in secondary history and English. I was feeling pretty confident about my decision.

But then I come on here and it seems like everyone who works as a teacher hates their jobs. Is there anything you actually enjoy about it? Am I ruining my life by going into this field? The general consensus is that students today are lazy and disrespectful...do any teachers who post on here have generally well-behaved kids in their classes? I mean, I understand that teenagers are teenagers and some obnoxiousness is to be expected, but some of the horror stories I'm reading are freaking me out a little. I only graduated from high school a little less than six years ago, and my experience was that most kids were well-behaved, if a little apathetic and bored.

Another thing...in your opinion, do you think it's going to be impossible for me to find a job teaching once I do graduate? I wanted to get cross-certified so that I would have more opportunities, but am I just kidding myself? Ideally I would like to work at a school in either a suburban or rural community (I've subbed in urban schools and unfortunately I can already tell that it's just not something I'm cut out for)...is this crazy? Would trying for the private school route be easier or more difficult? I'm sort of freaking out a little bit here.

I love the idea of teaching. I'm the kind of person who just sits around and makes up lesson plans in their head, and I like to think that my enthusiasm for the subject (especially history) would go a long way in making it seem less boring...but maybe I'm way off base?

Any thoughts?

[maf763]

Be aware that most people who are happy with their jobs don't need to share on a forum like this to the same extent as unhappy people who need to denigrate a profession or situation to feel better about themselves. Talk to real, live teachers you may know to get a sense of what people think and what is involved - there's a lot more to teaching than uncorking killer lesson plans.

[trisprefect]

Thanks, that is very true. I substitute teach, so I'm somewhat familiar with the ins and outs of public schools. I'm just a worrier, and when I see so many people complaining about their careers, I immediately think, "OMG what if it's way worse than I've been envisioning??" Knee-jerk response.

I am somewhat amused/bemused about the stories of OTT parent involvement, though. When I was in high school, everyone would have made fun of you so much if you got your mom to call the school and complain.

[Ivorytickler]

Originally Posted by trisprefect

I graduated back in 2010 with BA in history/film. I worked in the entertainment industry for a little while, but decided I wanted to go back to school for education. I love history and English, and I think that I would really enjoy teaching. In the fall I'm enrolling in a certification/Masters program, so I will be cross-certified in secondary history and English. I was feeling pretty confident about my decision.

But then I come on here and it seems like everyone who works as a teacher hates their jobs. Is there anything you actually enjoy about it? Am I ruining my life by going into this field? The general consensus is that students today are lazy and disrespectful...do any teachers who post on here have generally well-behaved kids in their classes? I mean, I understand that teenagers are teenagers and some obnoxiousness is to be expected, but some of the horror stories I'm reading are freaking me out a little. I only graduated from high school a little less than six years ago, and my experience was that most kids were well-behaved, if a little apathetic and bored.

Another thing...in your opinion, do you think it's going to be impossible for me to find a job teaching once I do graduate? I wanted to get cross-certified so that I would have more opportunities, but am I just kidding myself? Ideally I would like to work at a school in either a suburban or rural community (I've subbed in urban schools and unfortunately I can already tell that it's just not something I'm cut out for)...is this crazy? Would trying for the private school route be easier or more difficult? I'm sort of freaking out a little bit here. If you think you can make learning English fun, go for it.

I love the idea of teaching. I'm the kind of person who just sits around and makes up lesson plans in their head, and I like to think that my enthusiasm for the subject (especially history) would go a long way in making it seem less boring...but maybe I'm way off base?

Any thoughts?

If you want to go into teaching because you love english, consider teaching college. I'm teaching because I love chemistry, physics and math but finding teaching teenagers has little to do with the subjects I love. The best thing I have to offer is subject matter expertise but my students don't care about that. Their parents give it lip services but just let their child's grade slip .

If you want to teach high school, you need to love working with teens. I'm also the type of person who makes up lesson plans in their head but I'm finding it's not about the content or the lesson plans. It's about the kids. I've come to the conclusion that my students would be better off with a more entertaining teacher who isn't a subject matter expert because he might be able to hold their attention. I can't lead them to new heights if they won't follow.

I'm headed back to engineering after the next school year.

FTR, I don't hate teaching. I love it. I've just realized that what I have to offer isn't what is needed. In order for subject matter expertise to matter, you need students who want to learn. Too many of mine don't want to learn and I don't have the personality that can trick them into learning. They need Bill Nye the science guy even if he is sometimes way off base (No Bill, atoms do not come apart when excited and give off colors when they come back together...some of the science misconceptions out there make my head hurt...UGH). If you just love teaching English, get a PhD and teach in college.

[TabulaRasa]

I am certified in secondary English, middle school language arts, and special education K-12. I got my BA in English, and got a secondary (7-12) certification as an undergraduate. Years later, I picked up my special education credentials after working with students with autism.

Liking the idea of teaching, or liking teaching in theory isn't the same as enjoying the experience of actually doing it. I pursued teaching because I love my subject and work well with kids, and figured that it would naturally follow that I would love teaching my favorite subjects to kids. And that's true, but it also didn't take into account a lot of the things you don't necessarily know or realize about teaching until you actually do it. The in-the-classroom stuff is great. A lot of the other stuff is crap - the stuff that's part of every job, in every sector...the interpersonal stuff, the workplace-specific stuff, the politics, the red tape, bureaucracy, hoops to jump through in order to just do your job. You have to be able to tolerate the crap enough that it makes it worthwhile for you to do the stuff you actually LIKE doing. For people who love what they do in their classrooms, it's more likely that they'll be able to tolerate all the excess junk. For those who are shaky on if they even like the teaching end of things, it can be the kiss of death.

I hated student teaching. I hated the typical public school setting. So much that I hightailed it out of education, and spent almost ten years working in other fields. I only got back into education when I found a nontraditional private school that suited me...at this point, I would still never work in a public school...it's just not me.

There's tons I enjoy about my job, or I wouldn't be doing it. I teach students with severe behavioral issues. All my students have IEPs. Some have learning disabilities, some have autism, some have behavioral disorders. In addition to being their IEP case manager, I also teach reading and language arts. I have also taught social skills/life skills, and a hands-on job skills curriculum. My students are not typical public school students. Most of them were unable to find success in the traditional environment, due to their disabilities and behavioral challenges.

They are really great, interesting kids to work with, but they are not kids who learn in standard, textbook ways, so I have plenty of opportunities to put my creativity to the test, which I enjoy. And while my kids have special needs, they also are very much typical preteens and teens in that they can be lazy, willful, snotty, and disrespectful in the way that any kid can be. Some of their behavior is due to disability, but some of it is because they are just kids, like any other. And often, they are very, very frustrated, because things that may come easily to others doesn't always come easily to them, and because they are dealing with some pretty significant neurological issues and communication problems, which can cause a lot of anxiety and frustration.

Some kids are bored no matter what you do...which is something that it's tempting to take personally, especially when you're new and think that you can make anything fascinating. The longer you do it, the more you realize that you can't please everyone all the time...and that even the best stuff you put together won't be everybody's favorite. And that it's okay. I love reading, writing, and words...Some of my students do, too. Some never will. When I was starting out, I had the idea that if they didn't all love English the way I do, I wasn't doing my job/wasn't good at my job. I learned that that was an overly simple, idealized notion of what a teacher is...and I no longer tie my sense of the value I provide on whether or not I magically produce a crop of future English teachers, writers, reading lovers, etc. There are plenty of ways I see the value in what I do that are more subtle, but no less important.

Being creative and enthusiastic is a good start in doing well in teaching (a very critical part, actually). But it's only part. When I started out, I was the most creative, enthusiastic instructor in the world, but also disorganized, tended to try to think on my feet rather than do thorough planning, figuring I could wing it. I was crappy at organizing my time, mapping out the logistics, etc., and that made things very stressful for me. As I got less green, I figured out what I needed to do to make the road smoother for myself, but that kind of stuff can make or break you, especially if you're in a setting without any kind of mentoring for new teachers, etc., or worse, one where there's an adverserial atmosphere (what I noticed during my student teaching). Being awesome in theory and having great ideas is a very important thing...but if you don't have the (some would say boring) planning and organizational skills, or if that's just not interesting to you and you flake on it, it can cause you to struggle in big ways, and nobody will care how smart you are or how on fire you are for your subject. Overall, I would NEVER recommend somebody teach who doesn't really enjoy being around kids...especially at the middle and high school level, as they can be very trying of one's patience...but really enjoying kids alone isn't going to be enough to be a successful teacher. It may be enough to be a mentor, which is an important part of teaching, but it won't necessarily make you an effective instructor, unless you have those skills well-honed, too, and are willing to learn more and more about improving them. When I started, I thought really knowing my subjects and being great with kids would be enough...it wasn't. But it was a good start.

I've worked rural, urban, and suburban, and kids are kids wherever you go. Their lifestyles are different, but the basic development is the same. The biggest difference is the interaction with families, in my experience, but that's also something that varies wildly going from regular ed to special ed, too. You can't really pigeonhole the people wherever you end up, because you'll always end up with people who do and don't fit preconceived stereotypes, so it's not the most useful.

Being certified in multiple areas is helpful, but it's ultimately going to come down to what employers need, and that varies. There's no real way to hedge your bet. Private and public all come with their own challenges...for me, private is the way to go, because it allows for more nontraditional approaches in some instances, and that's more interesting to me.

Just some thoughts, based on things you asked about, and hopefully, food for thought to let you know that there are lots of different types of teaching environments out there, and paths to educating that are traditional and less so.

[maf763]

CleanSlate, you're a credit to the profession. Kudos.

[robabeatle]

You may like it??

Each teaching situation is different.

@Ivorytickler: there are schools that need subject experts where students are intrinsically interested and you do not have to deal with behavior so much and no need to worry about "bumping the grade." Are you willing to relocate? (PM me)

@trisperfect: from what I hear the job market is really tough right now for a noob with a history degree. might as well go for it though and see what it is like.

[OROSO]

. . . .

[zthatzmanz28]

I have taught over 20 years. I LOVE teaching--when I get to do it. Between the test and paper work I am lucky to have any time to teach. Though I have it better than other because I do teach SpEd and have a bit more latitude in what I teach.

[TabulaRasa]

Re: teaching special ed vs. other types of teaching...having done both, I'm not sure that, for me, the instructional flexibility makes up for the mounds of paperwork and deadlines involved in managing IEPs, etc. Everything has its upsides and downsides.