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I got out of teaching high school in the public school system this past school year. I'm back in higher education and sit at a desk all day. There are many things I miss and many things I do not. I thought someone who is thinking of getting into or out of teaching might like seeing this.
Things I miss:
The kids, well, most of them
Constant interaction with others
Constant movement. It made me feel energized and productive.
Learning new things. I think I learned just as much from the kids as they learned from me.
Things I don't miss:
Some of the kids
Not being treated like a professional by the state and administration. I have two master's degrees, yet we were required to hand in lesson plans. Even 20yr veteran teachers were constantly berated for not attending enough PD. It just seems like with teaching nowadays, there is the "you can always do better" attitude.
Useless tasks like administrative data collection, buzzwords, and other tasks required from the state. Instead of spending 5 days before the start of school on stupid meetings, why can't we spend that time preparing our classrooms, making lessons, copies, etc. It's supposed to be about the kids, right?
Spending time after school hours and on the weekend doing work tasks
Having to watch my mouth. Sometimes you say things that can be misconstrued. Kids love to tell their parents, who love to complain.
The feeling I got when the kids got it, especially when it was something they struggled with at the beginning.
Don't miss list
Everybody and their brother, most of whom had never successfully taught in a K-12 public school, thinking they knew how to do my job better than I did... and telling me how to do it better.
Parents refusing to believe their child is capable of wrong doing or insisting on unearned grades.
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The feeling I got when the kids got it, especially when it was something they struggled with at the beginning.
Don't miss list
Everybody and their brother, most of whom had never successfully taught in a K-12 public school, thinking they knew how to do my job better than I did... and telling me how to do it better.
Parents refusing to believe their child is capable of wrong doing or insisting on unearned grades.
Both the OP's list and yours pretty well covers things. Your last highlighted "Don't Miss" item was is my son's pet peeve. He's seen this at every school he's taught at. This item is by far the biggest difference between parenting 30+ years ago and today's all too common helicopter parents.
It's bad enough to deal with one of these parents, but in a previous school he taught at he had one who just happened to also be a school board member. The special favors that he was supposed to grant her snowflake makes Hillary Clinton's payola to her foundation access scheme child's play. Since he wouldn't budge on giving her daughter the grades she actually earned, mommy dearest tried to get him fired. Fortunately, the rest of the board saw through her vendetta.
After reading the CD teaching thread for a few years now it dawns on me how like skilled tradesman teachers are in their attitudes towards everyone else. Except plumbers get more respect from John Q.
After reading the CD teaching thread for a few years now it dawns on me how like skilled tradesman teachers are in their attitudes towards everyone else. Except plumbers get more respect from John Q.
That's what happens when someone spends years and 10s of thousands of dollars learning and honing your skills and everyone knows they can do your job better than you. Especially that guy over there leaning against a tree who has a 40 in a paper bag and who just pissed himself.
Surprisingly, I rarely had to deal with "my child cannot do anything wrong" parents. Because many of my students came from poor homes, their parents were often not involved in school work. Most of the time I couldn't even get them to return my calls or emails.
My first P/T conferences, out of 95 students, I think I had 10 sets of parents show up. So about 10% of parents showed up.
But whenever I did have one of "those parents", I just had to remember that their child is probably the most important thing in their life. And when you are discussing negatives about their child, they are going to take it very personally because deep down inside, it makes them feel like they failed as a parent.
It's nice working in higher education and being able to tell helicopter parents "sorry, your son/daughter is a legal adult, please have them contact me directly".
Quote:
Originally Posted by Felix C
After reading the CD teaching thread for a few years now it dawns on me how like skilled tradesman teachers are in their attitudes towards everyone else. Except plumbers get more respect from John Q.
I'm working in higher education and I swear that adults are more stubborn and harder to work with than kids. They will insist, and insist, and insist again that their way is right. Kids usually gave up quickly after being told differently.
Because I dealt with kids on a daily basis, using that same patience has really helped me work more effectively here.
The feeling I got when the kids got it, especially when it was something they struggled with at the beginning.
Don't miss list
Everybody and their brother, most of whom had never successfully taught in a K-12 public school, thinking they knew how to do my job better than I did... and telling me how to do it better.
Parents refusing to believe their child is capable of wrong doing or insisting on unearned grades.
Just because someone went to school as a child & teen does not mean that they are an expert on education and can do your job.
It is like me saying that because I had my teeth cleaned as a child I can now be a practicing dentist as an adult. Or because I can drive a car I am able to design and build a car and do it better than than people who trained to do those things.
I certainly do not miss parents who second guess your every move. While a parent does know their child well, they have had experience with only one child (or a few children) and I have taught hundreds and hundreds of children over the years.
Great lists-- I agree! I combined them and will add to them
Things I miss:
The kids, well, most of them
Constant interaction with others
Constant movement. It made me feel energized and productive.
Learning new things. I think I learned just as much from the kids as they learned from me.
The feeling I got when the kids got it, especially when it was something they struggled with at the beginning.
Feeling like I truly was "making a difference" in children's lives
Having colleagues who had worked with the same families; teaming with them to solve problems and come up with ideas
Being respected in my job from my fellow teachers
The work schedule (aside from working during my off hours- I still had way more free time and lots more vacation time than I do now)
Getting excited about a new year- the supplies, preparing the room, looking over the class list, meeting the students for the first time
Free PD-- in a few of my jobs, the PD was actually really good
Things I don't miss:
Some of the kids
Not being treated like a professional by the state and administration. I have two master's degrees, yet we were required to hand in lesson plans. Even 20yr veteran teachers were constantly berated for not attending enough PD. It just seems like with teaching nowadays, there is the "you can always do better" attitude.
Useless tasks like administrative data collection, buzzwords, and other tasks required from the state. Instead of spending 5 days before the start of school on stupid meetings, why can't we spend that time preparing our classrooms, making lessons, copies, etc. It's supposed to be about the kids, right?
Spending time after school hours and on the weekend doing work tasks
Having to watch my mouth. Sometimes you say things that can be misconstrued. Kids love to tell their parents, who love to complain.
Everybody and their brother, most of whom had never successfully taught in a K-12 public school, thinking they knew how to do my job better than I did... and telling me how to do it better.
Parents refusing to believe their child is capable of wrong doing or insisting on unearned grades.
Never getting more than 10 minutes to shovel lunch in my mouth
Not being able to go to the bathroom when "nature called"
Being disrespected by some parents/community members because "anyone can teach; if you can't do, teach!"
Dreading the first day back after summer (or any) vacation-- at least in my job now, I'm never away long enough to really dread the return
I retired at the end of the year. School started last week so I have missed four and 1/2 days of school.
I miss nothing.
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