AMA about Teaching -the Art, the Science, and the Profession

[Sion]

Hi,
I'm 19 years old just out of high school (I was held back in first grade for a learning disability--totally right decision) and heading to become a teacher. I am really enthusiastic about teaching. I love the TEDtalks by Sir Ken Robinson and other type stuff. And in the last two weeks of my senior year I was a guest speaker in two ancient history classes and I talked about Roman politics (I brought in my replica Roman helmet which was a big hit ). Everyone in the classroom was attentive and enjoyed my lecture. I love sharing the knowledge in my head with others.

So let me be honest. What you guys are saying totally scares the shit out of me! With the bureaucracy, the bad students, the bad pay, it just sounds like a nightmare. I know that all jobs are difficult and that all jobs have their amount of bullshit, but jeez it sounds like insanity.

[BottledViolence]

Please promise that you will never bitch about teachers being underpaid.

[Mikel]

The underpaid part is true but not what concerns me most. (Yes, we get time off in the summer but I've already worked more than the hours I would have worked this summer.)

The fact that education isn't set up to help the people within it improve by bringing in new techniques and ideas (we have plenty of speaker come in who talk bullshit theory but no application. We're incredibly busy folks---give us the fucking application and a bit of the theory). We're doing some things to help that, but the constant changes are driving a lot of people out of teaching.

It would be nice if anyone knew exactly what the changes were supposed to be before they told us we had to make them. As it is, we're given a vague, nebulous thing we have to do and are told to do it while adding ever more stuff to what we do.

The best teacher in our school told me that, when a student asked her about what she thought of her going into education, she told her not to.

The best and most passionate teacher we have.