Teachers

Does your ex teach at the school too?

Are the girls hot?

So she's the ex, then?

You really shouldn't date your students, it sets up all kinds of problems.

Great, now I have to hear the Police singing "Don't Stand So Close To Me" for the rest of the day. Thanks.

A friend of mine from highschool just stopped by my job today. Turns out he's now teaching at a local school! Time sure flies. He was coming in with all these little kids and introduced me to them. It's really weird being introduced to kids as a childhood friend of their teacher. Makes me feel old

I don't know if he's a teacher by trade, but I'd bet Long Dong Silver sure gave you a lesson to remember about staying friends with exes.

But sweetie, your staying friends with exes thread was hilarious.

Your mistake was to mention the previous thread in the first post. You were asking to get banged. Like your wife.

Wait, Long Dong Silver is PK's ex?

That is mesmerizing in its own way. I never pictured PK as a LDS kinda gal.

Wait, what?

A is for Apple, B is for Balloon, C is for COLOSSAL CROTCH CANNON

That was easily one of the funniest threads of the year. Brad was in rare form on that one.

I'm pretty sure Bob was being sincere.

I taught Intro to Film as an adjunct several years ago. Of course, given the writing ability of the average college freshman, it ended up being a Comp 101 class, too.

Tears.

I did answer with sincerity.....mixed with confusion, certainly, but still.

My wife, Lady Vivisector, is taking classes to be a teacher. She's been an aide for a long time in many age and devopmental levels. She could teach now with the amount of experience she has, but you have to have the degree and certificate, go figure.

I'm an assistant professor at a local private college in Boston's South End. I teach College Composition I and II, as well as Film and Society (soon to be The Wire: Systems in the Modern City), 20th Century American History, Technical Communications and (occasionally) Oral Communication.

The students are mostly inner city kids that unfortunately had a pretty poor public education.

We're a small school, and the reason I was able to move up from adjunct to full time position quickly was my willingness to take on new jobs outside of teaching. I tutor in the academic support center, I'm an academic advisor, I help out at school functions, I'm the chair of the faculty academic advisory committee and I'm the coordinator of placement activities (which means I oversee incoming students, ensuring they take our placement examination, then take the date from that test and give it to admissions and the registrar to best figure out the students schedule if they qualify to enter their program).

Needless to say...it's a LOT of work. But I love it. Best job I've ever had. Lately I've been thinking about getting my PhD but I don't know if I'll have the time. It's a constant struggle. Do I get another higher ed degree so I can work somewhere else, somewhere with possibly less outside (non-class) work? Or do I do more here, now, at a school with students that really need someone dedicated to their success?

I'm an adjunct professor at one of NYC's public universities and have taught Psychology of Women and Social Psychology Statistics. My first year teaching I tried to please everyone, giving extra credit and letting people argue over 2 measly points on tests. Then I got over it. I won't accept late papers or excuses for not coming to class. You miss a test, zero. That's it. There are people who will excel no matter what and people who will flunk no matte what, and a whole lotta people will just get by. It has nothing to do with you as a teacher. That's just how it is. My teacher evaluations both by students and senior professors have been excellent, so I feel good about that. And I love when people tell me that I helped them see the world in a different way.

My school is also pretty diverse (both ethnically and economically), and its easy to get sucked into alot of committee work because you want to help everyone. But you can't. Figure out what is best for you. I am going for my PhD because it brings with it a better salary and other benefits. You can still help people in need with a PhD. Doctoral programs are a lot of work, but is so creatively nurturing. I'm in my fourth year now, and I'm starting to get burned out. But I can also see the light at the end of the tunnel, so all the frustrations at being a poor college student at my age are worth it.

Glad to see other teachers. It really is such a wonderful profession.

Bwahahahahahaha. How did things end up with Cockenstein anyways, Bartelby?

I get to teach sporadically as part of my role here at the college. I am doing a Ruby on Rails course in January and I am excited as hell. The picture I have in my head is that I will have access to an army of impressionable nerds whom I can train to do my bidding! THEN WHO WILL BE SORRY!!!!

I plan on teaching when I get closer to retirement or if I win a bunch of money in a lottery or something.

I frequently flirt with the idea of teaching. I'm likely going to get my certificate (for high-school in Florida) this year and have another go when hiring begins next summer.

Not to derail, but has anyone gone into teaching as an abrupt, mid-life change-of-career? Is it a significant investment of time/money?

Just something I'm mulling over in a not-at-all serious way.

Has anyone taught high-school before? Curious how you'd rate it vs. teaching Jr. College/College/University.

Only as a sub, but members of my family have taught for public ed high schools. I wouldn't do it for all the money in the world. They hell they have to go through due to the administration is often beyond frustrating, not to mention the government demands (thanks to No Child Left Behind) that discourage actual teaching and encourage mindless "teaching to the test" and constant documentation that takes the focus off of solid classroom time all while lacking the crucial funding needed to make schools better places to learn.

It's a nightmare.

I am an adjunct at the local technical college and the students are all pre-health. I began teaching Medical Terminology a few years ago to add instructing to my resume. I had planned to move back home and wanted to practice near and teach at the college I graduated from.

Plans change but I enjoy it and it helps keep me primed for teaching seminars to other D.C.'s.

The friends I have who've done it (high school/public school) all said the same things about the "no child left behind" bullshit.

What did you all have to go through to teach at a college? Master's in education? Mainly, how'd you qualify to get hired. What prior teaching experience, if any, did you have?

I teach.

That really all depends on the college and your area of expertise.

For example, if you have a technical skill you could easily got a well paying job at a small technical college that's looking for people in that particular field with real experience. They might not even care that much about teaching experience as long as you know what you're talking about. Larger colleges will demand more and more qualifications.

If you're thinking about teaching English, for example, you need a Masters...or (in the very least) you need to be currently working on your masters. Doesn't necessarily have to be a Masters in Education (I have an MFA for example) but you need one. Bigger colleges require a PhD.

English/Lit is definitely the direction I'd want to go in. Almost had a job at the local University, which would've been great as I could've gotten my Master's for free.

I had a pretty good career going as an campaign organizer and began my doctoral studies in my 30's. A classmate just graduate at age 27. I'll be nearing nearing 40 by the time I graduate.

All you need is a BA and a good in with the school. Generally, graduate students are hired as adjuncts as part of their fellowships. They get free tuition and the school gets cheap labor. My classmates got shipped all over the city. I chose the school and course I wanted to teach and got it because I'm awesome.

I teach 6th grade English. Surprisingly some of these kids write fairly well. I've assigned essay topics and get back what I'm expecting. Hearing them cry over having to write just a page and a half makes me laugh. I slip in lots of bigger words to them to expand their vocabulary. I'll say it. It can at times actually be pretty fun. I don't even have to wear a dress shirt and a tie, but I like to do that. Got to look professional.

I'd love to teach a history class or two as an adjunct one of these days. Maybe on the Civil War. And I had a great teacher in college who taught a fantastic pre-law course I'd love to emulate somewhere. But things being as tight as they are time wise these days, that'll remain a dream on the shelf for some time, I think. My wife teaches 5th graders, and has also worked in pre-schools. The many & varied stresses she has to deal with make me want to tip my hat to her and her ilk. Couldn't pay me enough to teach at below the college level. I'm not renowned for my patience.

A friend of mine teaches Social Psychology and has his class watch the episode of The Simpsons of the Springfield vs Shelbyville rivalry to start off his discussion about social identity, and how people's attitudes and behaviors can be influenced by the attachments they have to certain groups and people.

This is roughly the area I was thinking about. Grade 4-7, perhaps. Did you specifically start off with degree in Education/English? Or did you fall into this career?

I'm a little surprised that so many Chewers are responsible for molding young minds. I had no idea. Now I'm a little more optimistic thinking about our future.

In all honesty, I was going to teach until the CA public school system took a complete shit. Now I'm re-evaluating and kicking around a handful of ideas. Teaching ESL in a Spanish-speaking country might even be on the list.

I started off with an English degree, but had no interest in teaching. I went through and Alternative Certification program after I figured "What the hell else am I going to do with an English degree?"

I wouldn't say I completely fell into it, as my Mother is a retired teacher, and my Dad is an administrator. It seems to come naturally to me. I like being in front and talking to the class. I still need the second half of my certification, but I have my certification to teach English to grades 4-8.

I'd say go for it Ratty. Where I'm at, the kids can be a pain at times, but after working at K-Mart, and working customer service for Dish Network early last year, and last summer before I got hired to teach, being a teacher on my second year at that, I'm VERY happy with what I'm doing.

I hope you're also teaching them the virtues of Seagal and Van Damme every chance you get as well.

Every chance I get, Jake.

I play lots of film scores from my iPod while they're quietly working. Lots of them have become Michael Jackson fans, so I play some of his tunes every so often for them. It's amazing how by just telling them I won't play any music if they keep talking, they all get quiet.

I'm bummed.

I thought this was going to be a "Hot for Teacher" thread.

I had been teaching Evolution at University. It's kinda fun.

I'm a high school teacher.

There's a lot of bullshit I have to deal with, but I truly love it.


I like to throw in some pretty geeky references to my lessons to see if anybody picks up on it. There's usually a couple of kids that notice.

I taught in a detention centre until the province jumped on the super-prison bandwagon.

Now I teach a mixed bad of at-risk youth, FAS, crown wards, Aspergers, etc. Pretty good job.

I like to throw geeky references in there too. I had a kid who got several references to Twilight Zone: The Movie that I put in a list of sentences I had them work on.

I've been teaching for 5 years at the university/college level. Four years as part of my graduate training, and then now as a real job.

The type of student I'm teaching now has changed drastically, though. I actually had to verbally scold someone in class this year. First time ever. I'm really mellow in general, so I don't think they saw it coming. Ah well.

As some people mentioned above, qualifications vary by subject area and by school. Larger universities will usually require a PhD in your field (as far as I know, you almost never need any training in education, just in your field of expertise), but smaller colleges, 2 year colleges, community colleges, etc. will often take Masters degrees and sometimes even just Bachelor's (but I think that is pretty uncommon, unless you have experience in a field that they need taught).

I REALLY love teaching, but this nowhere near a 40 hour a week, job, haha! I'm sure I'll learn better ways to streamline my "busy-work" and departmental duties, but right now I'm burning the candle at both ends. Luckily, I do really love 75% of it, and most of the other 25% is tolerable.