Does anyone here teach?

sarajoy

Seriously considering the career jump.

Am filling in the application, have emailed my ideal referee, am contacting as many people as I know who already teach or are in training...

...so is there anyone here? Would love to hear experiences. I understand the holidays sound nice but in reality it means incredibly long hours during term-time.

I'd like to hear about how it is, as a life, as a vocation.

Electronic Engineering just doesn't do it for me any more.

gtvlusso

Primary or Secondary....I know a few teachers.

Most of them moan about how many hours they do (marking, lesson planning and sorting out coursework)! My mum was a secondary school teacher - she was worked to death over her 40 year career....worked most nights and weekend when I was a kid.

But - I do hear that it is terribly rewarding too!

Just being honest! if you are interested, go for it!!! I know a couple of people in teacher training at the moment and loving it.

sarajoy

Secondary for sure.

I'm not great with very young children, I like them to have some smarts about them...! Not that young children are dumb, but they haven't yet got that spark of strong personality...

Yup I even hear the PGCE course is pretty hardcore.

There's something much stronger calling me to develop teenagers than the whine I get telling me to get on with the schematic entry.

I realise parts of teaching will get boring but I'm much better at ploughing on when there's a higher purpose...

DonDaddyD

A few friends of mine are teachers, new teachers. They moan (one friend in particular) about lesson planning, marking, hours and not having enough money, which I don't accept...

I have to say that I hardly see my friend most nights when we all go out. In fact when I was a kid I never really thought of my teachers as having a life outside of school. Now having friends that are teachers I know that to be true. Its like every given hour is spent marking or lesson planning.....

Despite all that all would say the reward is seeing the children you teach succeed, which I think in and of itself is rewarding - in a social worker/doctor/nurse save a life sort of way.

I think you have to be a 'I wanna help other' type of person to be a really good teacher.

Linsen is a teacher.

shoulder_of_orion

Teacher's are champion moaners. I can verify that.

Bad ones should be shot at dawn no questions asked, but good ones are worth their weight in gold. I think that attitude ie not being a jaded cynic is one of the main criteria for being a good one...

sarajoy wrote:

Secondary for sure.

I'm not great with very young children, I like them to have some smarts about them...! Not that young children are dumb, but they haven't yet got that spark of strong personality...

You obviously don't know many small children. As I am sure plenty of others can cverify there is no shortage of personality in our little friends...There is a shortage of good primary school teachers and you shouldn't discount it for that reason. But you should definitely go with what you feel comfortable...

DonDaddyD wrote:

A few friends of mine are teachers, new teachers. They moan (one friend in particular) about lesson planning, marking, hours and not having enough money, which I don't accept...

Teaching is almost comically underpaid. We should pay them a "proper" salary commensurate with what is available in the private sector, I dunno, say like £80K per year.....

Feltup

sarajoy wrote:

Secondary for sure.

I'm not great with very young children, I like them to have some smarts about them...! Not that young children are dumb, but they haven't yet got that spark of strong personality...

Yup I even hear the PGCE course is pretty hardcore.

There's something much stronger calling me to develop teenagers than the whine I get telling me to get on with the schematic entry.

I realise parts of teaching will get boring but I'm much better at ploughing on when there's a higher purpose...

Her indoors is a primary teacher and believe me having been in to see her those little darlings even at the age of 5 have a personality (some have a personality disorder!)

Teachers get a lot of stick for their long holidays but the stuff they have to put up with in term time I think they deserve them! Parents evenings in particular sound horrendous! But most of the time she loves it.

A friend taught for a year and got glowing reports but it stressed her out and she quit so it isn't for everyone.

sarajoy

Shoulder of Orion wrote:

Teacher's are champion moaners. I can verify that.

Bad ones should be shot at dawn no questions asked, but good ones are worth their weight in gold. I think that attitude ie not being a jaded cynic is one of the main criteria for being a good one...

I'm probably a lot less moany (currently) than people in general. Hopefully that wouldn't get quashed out of me! Depends how rose-tinted my view of kids is, at the moment...

Shoulder of Orion wrote:

sarajoy wrote:

Secondary for sure.

I'm not great with very young children, I like them to have some smarts about them...! Not that young children are dumb, but they haven't yet got that spark of strong personality...

You obviously don't know many small children. As I am sure plenty of others can verify there is no shortage of personality in our little friends...There is a shortage of good primary school teachers and you shouldn't discount it for that reason. But you should definitely go with what you feel comfortable...

It's true, I don't really.

What I mean is that I almost want to have to earn their respect, I want them to have that twinkle in their eye that they're about to cheek me, I want them to ask fairly complex questions of me. It sounds like a good challenge...

Shoulder of Orion wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

A few friends of mine are teachers, new teachers. They moan (one friend in particular) about lesson planning, marking, hours and not having enough money, which I don't accept...

Teaching is almost comically underpaid. We should pay them a "proper" salary commensurate with what is available in the private sector, I dunno, say like £80K per year.....

I think people outside the know just like the idea of the long holidays. But when you're ultimately responsible for the future of several hundred kids that pass through your classes every year (hands up those who have fond memories of a teacher sparking your interest in something? Me me me my hand's up, miss!), the personal responsibility must feel immense.

Stuey01

My mates girlfriend is a teacher and loves it. There are definately those who are cut out for it and those who aren't...

She tells us about her housemate who hasn't had a night out in months because she is too busy, works every evening, sunday and bank holiday - currently scripting, that's right scripting, not planning but word for word scripting lessons for September (!). Apparently this person also freaks out when asked a difficult or slightly off topic question by the kids, and is by all accounts currently holding back at least one of the more gifted kids as she can't handle the questions.
Some people should just quit.

If you are cut out for it then it is supposed to be very rewarding (not financially...).

sarajoy

Stuey01 wrote:

My mates girlfriend is a teacher and loves it. There are definately those who are cut out for it and those who aren't...

She tells us about her housemate who hasn't had a night out in months because she is too busy, works every evening, sunday and bank holiday - currently scripting, that's right scripting, not planning but word for word scripting lessons for September (!). Apparently this person also freaks out when asked a difficult or slightly off topic question by the kids, and is by all accounts currently holding back at least one of the more gifted kids as she can't handle the questions.
Some people should just quit.

If you are cut out for it then it is supposed to be very rewarding (not financially...).

That's a real shame. Man, that must be difficult! What a palaver!

My fondest memories of lessons are the A level ones where one kid trying to be funny asks a daft question (like, why isn't the sun green?) and the teacher gets a twinkle in their eye and whoosh off they go on an interesting tangent. Brilliant.

A similar question in a younger history class once led to an hour on politics - and the teacher was so charismatic he had us in stitches. Of course he threw in historical stuff but he drew a line on the board from far left to far right and dotted various regimes and political parties along it. It would have been many a year before I 'got' politics had it not been for him.

ince

Get your self into a school, go and spend some time in the diffrent classes in diffrent schools and see what its like and if its what you want.

It's somthing I have been thinking about as mywife is a teacher. Befor Christmas I had some days in the DT dpt in her school to see what it was like. Some classes were great, then some were shocking in what the teacher had to deal with.

If you have friends who are teachers use them to get some time in the schools. Always looks good on an application if you have given up time to explore the career you are thinking about. The more you can do the better, you will also get a good feel if its somthing you want to do.

sarajoy

Oh will definitely do that soon as I can. Got my feelers out already!

linsen

I am a teacher, secondary (languages) and have been for 13 years. Holidays are brilliant and make up for the intense workload in termtime - show me a teacher who does a stroke of work in August.....

It does depend how motivated by money you are, though I must say I don't think it's all that bad these days - considering I started on 13 grand in 1996

I am not a champion moaner

Sarajoy - get in touch and I will happily answer any questions you have - I am on MSN etc

Linds

always_tyred

linsen wrote:

I am a teacher, secondary (languages) and have been for 13 years. Holidays are brilliant and make up for the intense workload in termtime - show me a teacher who does a stroke of work in August.....

It does depend how motivated by money you are, though I must say I don't think it's all that bad these days - considering I started on 13 grand in 1996

I am not a champion moaner

Sarajoy - get in touch and I will happily answer any questions you have - I am on MSN etc

Linds

I always wondered - if teachers DID work in the children's holidays, would the work load, in terms of lesson planning for example, be better?

I am aware that this may be an inciteful and possibly naive question. But hell, the rest of the working population wants to know and I'm brave enough to ask.

linsen

Always Tyred wrote:

linsen wrote:

I am a teacher, secondary (languages) and have been for 13 years. Holidays are brilliant and make up for the intense workload in termtime - show me a teacher who does a stroke of work in August.....

It does depend how motivated by money you are, though I must say I don't think it's all that bad these days - considering I started on 13 grand in 1996

I am not a champion moaner

Sarajoy - get in touch and I will happily answer any questions you have - I am on MSN etc

Linds

I always wondered - if teachers DID work in the children's holidays, would the work load, in terms of lesson planning for example, be better?

I am aware that this may be an inciteful and possibly naive question. But hell, the rest of the working population wants to know and I'm brave enough to ask.

I like your question.
I shall attempt to answer it....
I have often wondered myself whether the hours we teachers do equate to a normal workload for someone who gets less holiday, and I think it probably does. Which is why I don't moan all that much.
The reason it is all so uneven is because a lot of what we do has to be done in term time - trips, parents' evenings, marking books, and even lesson planning, as I always plan the next lesson after I have taught the last in order to react to the specific needs of a specific class. There is always work that can then be done over and above all that - the longer term stuff such as re-writing policies and devising schemes of work etc, but I do find that if ignored these jobs can go away eventually ;-)
I love my job - it is varied and interesting, teenagers are truly the most passionate people to be around and whilst teaching has probably aged me, it has equally kept me young.
I shan't be changing professions for a while....

linsen

PS Sarajoy - if you want to come spend time observing you are welcome down my way for a day or two

always_tyred

It is probably true that if you take long enough writing new policies, the government will issue a new one anyway. So taking longer is actually more efficient.

[Naive] If you have to teach to a curriculum, surely materials can be gathered out of term time and worked through at a pace appropriate to a particular class? I get the fine tuning, but the grunt "Wikipedia" work can surely be done any time? [/Naive]

[Inciteful] Marking isn't work. It can be done in front of the telly. I know, I used to mark uni level stuff in front of the telly. [/Inciteful]

sarajoy

linsen wrote:

PS Sarajoy - if you want to come spend time observing you are welcome down my way for a day or two

Ooho, where's your way?

Sadly though I think I'd have to toddle off to the Physics/Science classes...

linsen

Hmm planning - You are right to an extent and after all these years I don't spend much time gathering resources, but I do have to spend a few minutes each day deciding how to teach something - every child matters agenda is very current and to be honest I could teach a "Set 3" one year and then the netx and they could be completely different. The literacy levels of some pupils these days is shockingly low.

Marking isn't work - no, obviously not :roll:

Writing reports - now that is a bind - especially as we are not allowed to insult the lazy oiks any more.....

It is true to say that I could work in the holidays but it would not reduce my workload in term time. It would just mean I do more work.

For the record, I am also not in favour of striking for more pay in the middle of a recession.....

Jus13

Sara,

I had a similar calling to you about two years ago - quit a well paid job with company car and all the perks for a year's PGCE course and financial ruin (although it is only temporary, teacher's salaries aren't as bad as all that once you move up the ladder) !!

I have to say, that as I reach the end of my first year as a fully fledged teacher it was one of the best decisions I ever made . . . .there is nothing that even comes close in terms of job satisfaction. The PGCE course is tough in terms of getting back into the swing of writing essays but otherwise okay, as for teaching - it's exactly the same as most jobs, if you are organised, committed and hard working then you can get all you need done in a sensible amount of time and still have plenty of time for a life.

I have a four year old son and another on the way so I leave school pretty sharpish, cycle home and spend the evening with the family before doing planning after the others are in bed. I also try and get some marking done in lunchtime.

The advice on here about going into schools is the best I can offer, you have to decide if it's really what you want rather than just an alternative to the job you currently have - if you decide it is then you won't regret it !!!!!

Hope this helps,
If you want any more info just ask.
Jus

sarajoy

Thanks Jus, stories like that are really nice to hear

Linsen - thanks for your other message too, hope I can catch you on MSN sometime!

I'm off to see my old uni tutor at some point in the weekend - I've asked him to be my referee and he's invited me over - esp as he used to teach, is now a lecturer, and his daughter is currently a teacher, so I bet he has a lot of useful stuff to say and hard questions to ask me!

I realise I've come into this saying something like "my job is crap - hey, why don't I teach?!" which sounds like entirely the wrong way to approach things. But to be honest I've always considered teaching, but been waylaid by engineering opportunities cropping up just in time for the teaching idea to fall by the wayside again. Also, you get people making the old joke that those who can; do - and those that can't; teach. So I've been putting the idea aside.

Until now. For once I'm not looking at it because I'm fearing a lack of alternatives. I'm not looking at it because I honestly think I'm far better suited to it than I am my current career path.

bomberesque

Mrs B has been a teacher for about as long as you Linsen and I think she'd agree with just about everything you've said. She is an ES teacher currently teaching Grade 6 (11 year olds) although she's done all grades from JK up to 6 (she always says JK was the hardest!)

She certainly works a lot in the evenings and weekends and the workload in termtime is probably as you say Linsen about balanced by the time off. In her junior years working for the Ontario school board in Canada, they weren't paid during the Summer break so she had to work in a resteraunt to pay the rent, so times have improved.

Once you're up the ladder a bit the payscale gets better, plus once you're a few years in many of the things that bury you in the early years (lesson plans, marking etc) suddenly become automatic (a friend of ours had the epiphany year after 8 years exp. suddenly eveything seemd so easy in comparison to the year before).

Still, I would not do my wife's job for the money she gets paid, frankly I probably wouldn't do it for any amount of money ... I just don't like kids enough. And that, I think, is the key. you need to know that you not only are capapble of the nuts and bolts of the job, but that you really WANT to do it.

Sara, I would take any offer you get of spending time in a classroom, language, arts, social studies or sciences it matters not just get in there. Not sure about the UK but many schools here accept volunteer assistants. That way you will see the sharp end and you may well find yourself thinking "F&^k this sh1t" but either way you'll know within a couple of weeks. Better now than after you've put a year into a PGCE.

Best of luck, but make sure it's what you want before you leap! And buy a new bike before you start the PGCE, it will be a few years before you will be able to afford another one

gtvlusso

After meeting you Sara - I think you'd make a great teacher!!

There are plenty of schools that are now designated academy's. I think my old secondary modern is no a technology academy.....maybe your career past experience can be more directly utilised at one of these schools?

Depends on what you wanna teach of course. One of my dads mates made the leap from engineering designer to physics teacher - has never looked back!

sarajoy

Well that's exactly me - I'm an electronic engineering designer looking to go into Physics.

D&T sort of has a draw (often lots of cool toys, forges, circular saws, milling, CNC machines to play with) but I dunno, kids used to treat those lessons as more of a doss-around and I have better memories of Physics.

Really kind of you GTV (you coming pub tonight?)

I've dealt with youth through other means, mostly with the tall ships, been on a couple of youth voyages in a slightly more responsible role before, when kids from disadvantaged backgrounds have literally had their tags removed just before coming aboard... Some of them are very difficult but usually you find a little spark somewhere... Mind you there's more opportunity for the 1-to-1 on ship than there may be in a classroom...

simple_salmon

Please don't let me put you off but I am going to offer an alternative view:

I taught PE, maths and science in a secondary school for 7 years; I moved up the ladder from newly qualified to Head of PE and I would say I was OK at my job - had the respect of the majority of the students etc.

However - the job nearly put me into a breakdown, the battles with difficult students and their even more difficult parents was a nightmare. I left to do a PhD (which was a million times easier) and now you could not pay me enough money to go back.

I met my wife at the school and she still teaches - I guess some people are more suited than others.

I will add that Mrs S_S works very hard during the holidays and weekends and evenings including August.

Personally I never felt underpaid and that wasn't the reason I left.

If you want to try it then go for it - don't regret having never tried it. Be prepared that the PGCE year is very hard but, like I say, it is well rewarded if you're suited to it.

Good luck.

laughingboy

I'm another example of someone who is glad to have left it behind. I should have been quicker to quit, actually.

I did a PGCE and did my year's teaching to qualify. Then I walked away as soon as I could. So, not a very well-informed view, but teaching didn't suit me at all.

This probably says more about me than about teaching, but I'd warn you it is not for everyone.

The subject you teach might have a strong bearing on job satisfaction. Look into what the curriculum expects you to 'deliver'. In my case, I found GCSE languages to be:

- undervalued (by school, parents and pupils - 'what's the point, sir?'), - examined in a very unsatisfactory way (some teachers primed their pupils with set phrases that 'demonstrated' that they could use particular tenses, inflating their marks. Teaching, or exam priming?), and - barely worth studying for the end result (

Une chambre avec douche, s'il vous plait.).

If I were a pupil, I'd want my money back, too.

sarajoy

I think at this point, I'd be stupid not to try.

But I accept that it could not be the thing for me (though that'd be incredibly disappointing).

I dunno, I like youngsters (gad, that's patronising).

Yes, some are really barstewards and I think something like a foundation GCSE physics class would be a very hard bunch to teach. They still /have/ to be there, they aren't likely to have an affinity for the subject, and probably they're not too bothered about their grade. But, we'll see.

What did you feel about teaching before you went into it, laughingboy and simple_salmon?

I've been told I'd make a good teacher a few times, usually for fluffy reasons like I explain things well, how I can speak with a bit of authority when needed, how I'm robust and straight forward.

Just hope I can cut it, tbh!

alfablue

I teach youngsters at Uni - the great advantage is that they choose to be there. Classroom behaviour is usually excellent, and if they don't turn up, it's fine by me. Would your interest extend to HE?

Agent57

After 20 years of programming/IT, I've considered retraining as a teacher (ICT being an obvious choice). But then I remember that I don't even have a first degree, so can't just do a one-year PGCE, and I further remember that the reason I don't have a degree is that I dropped out of my B Ed in the second year.

simple_salmon

TBH I'd never really considered it; just drifted into it really after a degree in Sports Science and Physics.

I've also taught at degree level and it was much more enjoyable; many universities will want you do have a PhD and do research as well though - not sure about FE colleges and the like.

laughingboy

sarajoy wrote:

What did you feel about teaching before you went into it, laughingboy and simple_salmon?

I've been told I'd make a good teacher a few times, usually for fluffy reasons like I explain things well, how I can speak with a bit of authority when needed, how I'm robust and straight forward.

I seem to recall thinking that I wanted to teach because there was a shortage of language teachers, that I thought languages were undervalued in the UK, and that - although I didn't think I was naturally suited, despite people having told me that I'd make a good teacher - even if I wasn't a natural, I wouldn't be worse than the teachers I'd had.

Not exactly the right reasons to go into teaching, in retrospect. They boil down to the pampered middle-class liberal cliché of wanting to 'make a difference'. Which is only fine as long as there is something else going on - will it fulfill you? Does it align to your natural strengths? Can you think of interesting ways to convey things?

It sounds like your motivations are nearer to the correct ones than mine.

Try it, visit some schools.

Those that are suited to teaching are evangelical about it.
It might be the best thing you have ever done.

MTA

I teach (secondary maths) and I'm one of those who love it, I couldn't imagine doing anything else. The kids in my school can be 'challenging' and that's definately the hardest part of the job, learning how to deal with behaviour.

As far as the work goes, training and the first two years were non-stop, I was always asleep by 8 on a friday night. And then as if by magic you do get a life again. I'm now at my desk for 7 and leave about 5 or 6. But I don't take much home. One of the worst things are sundays as you've always got to do a couple of hours, it's never a day off.

Get a feel for schools when you look around and watch, but i always thought it looked sooo easy. It's like everything you only learn by doing, so get stuck in and give it a try. One of the best things to realise is if a class is horrible one day, usually because of something that has happened before you see them, the next time you see them they'll probably be lovely.

Very unpredictable these peskey kids!!

But to say again I absolutely love it.