Teaching High School - good idea?

Hey all!

I've got a few things that have been on my mind for a few years now. I'm almost done with college here in Pittsburgh, and over the last year or so I've become really content with who I am and I don't want a job where I'm tempted to lose sight of myself. I've majored in theatre with a minor in literature, and for most of my life I have considered teaching high school english, but sometimes I get a little uneasy about this.

I hated high school - I hated most of my teachers, and I don't know if I could handle seeing a student suffering and having to make them do work even though I really want to just cut them some slack and let them sort out their lives without essays to write. My parents are both K-12 teachers, their students really like them, and my dad told me that a good teacher is so good that the students will actually want to do their work most of the time. Now if I could pull THAT off, my life would be like, complete right there. I've had a lot of good teachers, and a few met that description, my favorites were the ones who retained their individuality while still being academic - the bad ones were those who seemed overtaken by academics and who probably sacrificed a lot of who they were to get their degree or whatever.

My question is, have any of you taught or known any particularly good teachers who have been able to maintain their badass, real, bohemian, progressive, touchy-feely, bleeding heart sentimentalist selves and not get fired? I'm not sure what to expect and sometimes I get a little scared.

Thanks.

 

Sure you could be a high school teacher. I would think long and hard about it though. I had a teacher that was very laid back and cool. However, that was one out of about twenty-five. If you wanna cut someone a break, just do it. You're the teacher. They usually don't interfere too much with a teacher's methods. Of course, don't say anything about it. All I'm saying is that if you think one of the kids is having a rough time of it, you can give them a load off and just not say anything.

I'll tell you the rule you must remember in order to be a well-liked teacher: live and let live. If someone's doing something, as long as it's no disrupting that class, leave them alone. Someone wants to put their feet up or something, let them alone. Most teachers like to try to keep a very rigid and formal environment in the classroom. So, obviously, the students are then going to have a lot of fun at the teacher's expense. I sure did. But I left the one or two cool ones alone. Because... they were cool. Why mess with them?

 

yeah, that sounds good to me. my dad is/was a laid back teacher, letting them put their feet up and whatnot. thanks.

 

I did a teaching program last year. I love teaching, and I was doing 7th and 8th grade, notoriously nightmare students. But I got a real kick out of it.

The one thing that I really care about in teaching is that the person knows their subject matter and CARES about it. I don't really believe in going into a classroom if you don't know what you are talking about. But once you do, I think the goal then is to find a way to make it worth everyone's time. Hopefully students enjoy it. And those who don't should still at least take away the important life lessons for whatever it is (e.g., not everyone will be a scientist, but everyone should at least be able to figure out what the local news report on some environmental/health topic is. Or not everyone is a musician, but everyone can at least understand music a bit better).

You're absolutely right about staying who you are throughout it. We were told a whole bunch of times last year that you always want to stay who you are. You get hired because of what you can bring to the school, and so you never want to lose that once you're there! You bring your own personality to the class, and that's what makes it all the more exciting (assuming you've got an exciting personality, hehe)

If you're interested, go for it!

 

Have you considered being a high school drama teacher? You get to have a lot of fun, and the majority of the students (at least from the drama classes i've been in) are really interested in the subject.

 

The key to being a high school drama teacher is actually getting a job....

My hub's one of those - the long haired, cool english/drama teachers but the teaching situation where we live really really makes it hard for a 'new' teacher to break in, especially an English/Drama major. I say 'new' because he's been busting his ass for the past 5 years to break into a contract teaching job. Now this is a location problem but there's lots of places out there in the US having the same issues - research what the employment opportunities are in your area or whether you'd be prepared to move to get a teaching job.

What kind of qualifications do you need where you are? Here it's a 3-4 year undergrad degree and a year post grad at teacher's college. We're still paying that off. LoL

What else have you done with kids? Please carefully examine this. It's one thing to want to be the 'cool' teacher but you really do need to know and have experience handling kids and if you can't do it then 'cool' turns into 'abused doormat'. (My hub's current temp job is filling in for a guy that had a breakdown and the first sub they got to fill in for the real teacher, quit on his first day because he couldn't handle the one group of kids) Think about padding your resume out with stuff like camp counciling (even if it's not the age group) or getting extra little things like trained in "Crisis Prevention and Intervention"

Also for padding out something for a good drama job is to be into local theater. Get out there and act, produce, stage-manage, set build and write. Enter play write competitions and most importantly NETWORK. To be a good drama teacher you need to be a killer producer.

And there's also the paranoia - which I know is something you've obviously already thought about to some degree or you wouldn't have posted this thread You do get sterotyped. You do have to watch your ass and live in fear of the soccer mom that thinks you're a pot smoking freak that should be fired or the 'girl' paranoia if you're a male teacher. The latter being the fear that one day you glance at the 15 year old with the thong over her hip and her pants down to her crotch and pure midriff and she cry's " Perv " on you and ruins your entire life, let alone your career.

Wondering where the good part is yet? It's the actual classes. It's the thrill of having kids respond to you and learn. To see them take initiative and grow. And it's the pride of doing something you love, you're good at and kicking some ass. It's also the sweet ass pension

 

both of my parents are teachers(mom's a choir director and dad was my band director). Usually the high school teachers with the most influence on the kids are of the art, music, and english persuasion. Teaching is arguably this nation's most important yet underappreciated careers. If it's calling you, it probably needs you!

 

Thanks everybody, especially BodyElectric, for your advice - I feel better about it all now - I'm at the point where I know deep down that I want to do it, and every little nudge out the door helps.

And yeah, it's been on my mind, the whole deal with keeping female students at arm's length. I had a huge crush on a teacher in high school, and I'm beyond that now or whatever, but I was the kind of dumb kid who just didn't get it that like ... um ... well ... there's this little thing called the LAW. and another little thing called her HUSBAND. So yeah. I'm wondering how many high school girls are as dumb as I was as a high school guy. I think now I'm pretty good at keeping distance between myself and women my own age if I'm either not interested or not ready for a relationship in general - there have been a few times when I haven't reciprocated a girl's feelings and have had to give myself a crash course in tact. Not to flatter myself - for each, there have been five instances of a girl not reciprocating my feelings. So it goes ... maybe I should do something different. But I digress. Thanks for yinz advice.