Calling all teachers!

[JULIAFERNO 0]

Hi! I thought it would be neat to set up a forum for all of us teachers to come and chat, share funny stories, ideas, vent, and what not.

I am currently in a masters+licensure program and doing a full-time internship in a kindergarten classroom.

I'd love to meet the other teachers on VJ! And yes, I am totally turning into a teacher-nerd.

[miamiwife 0]

Okay--I'm in. Talk about teacher-nerd, just wait until all your friends are teachers and that is all you ever talk about outside of work too! You know you are a teacher when you have rubber bands around your wrists, ink all over your fingertips, think of great lesson plans while in the shower, and are in bed by 9 on Fridays! This year is my 7th year teaching and I got to admit that despite all the problems with my husband's visa--this bunch of kids is fabulous! I am teaching all 11th grade and the majority are actually doing their homework!

[JULIAFERNO 0]

Okay--I'm in. Talk about teacher-nerd, just wait until all your friends are teachers and that is all you ever talk about outside of work too! You know you are a teacher when you have rubber bands around your wrists, ink all over your fingertips, think of great lesson plans while in the shower, and are in bed by 9 on Fridays! This year is my 7th year teaching and I got to admit that despite all the problems with my husband's visa--this bunch of kids is fabulous! I am teaching all 11th grade and the majority are actually doing their homework!

I was hoping you would join in

I really do think teachers have one of the best professions, but then again I probably would be doing something else if I didn't think that. It's a lot of work, and it's hard work, but it is so rewarding and every day is something new! I keep running "quotes of the day" in my head, because students say the darndest things. Teaching is also a great way to forget about your own problems. You just don't have time during the school-day to let your mind wander - you always have to be involved in the moment and on your toes.

And yes...going to bed at 10 and waking up at 6 is becoming a habit...even on the weekends!

[jundp 191]

Another teacher nerd.

I've been teaching for 10years and I've taught all levels of high school, plus a year of teaching college freshmen, and a year at an all-girls school (very different!). I currently teach 12th grade Creative Writing and Mass Media, I advise the literary magazine, a charity group, and I'm the English Department Chair.

Love. My. Job. Though I am at home sick today (having JUST got out of bed) because I've been getting run down....

Luckily my colleagues are like family and my husband fits right in.

[greeneyedgirlfl 0]

Great to see a few of us here....

I teach 11/12 grade Social Studies (American History and Government). After teaching for 14 years, I'm just now starting to think about a Masters (in Library Science); I don't want to leave the classroom, but I do want a degree for something I can use after I retire...

I was just lucky enough to find a job that I love AND get paid to do it!!!

[jundp 191]

It would be great to get your masters and you may find that your school will pay for (or help) it. I had my MA in English when I started teaching, but I would like to go back for an MFA. I do get paid more for having the masters.

There are days when I'm so over teaching. I love the students, but it's all the other associated madness that gets to me. I also wonder why on earth I started in a field that requires so much grading!

[pixiegunn 0]

Count me in! Like Julia, I am in my Masters and doing my full time internship in first grade. I graduate in December and will be looking for a job soon. I love it!

[Yaads 0]

I am a total wannabe teacher. I have wanted to be a teacher since I was small but haven't gotten the chance to make that dream happen yet. One day I know it will happen

[greeneyedgirlfl 0]

It would be great to get your masters and you may find that your school will pay for (or help) it. I had my MA in English when I started teaching, but I would like to go back for an MFA. I do get paid more for having the masters.

There are days when I'm so over teaching. I love the students, but it's all the other associated madness that gets to me. I also wonder why on earth I started in a field that requires so much grading!

I feel like that quite often...but never directed towards the students. NCLB will be the death of me!!!

Our district (along with the rest of FL, thanks to our illustrious governor) is reeling from drastic budget cuts. We went from teaching 5 classes a day (6 period day) to 6 classes (7 period day). We had no step increases this year, and it's looking bleak for next year. Housing costs are increasing for rentals (not enough apartments since about two years ago, many were converted into condos), not to mention that foreclosures are everywhere.

Last year, I completed the first round of National Boards and went through the K-1 process. Talk about an emotional drain by the end of the year!!! I get my result from NBPTS in Nov./Dec. and my wonderful husband has been here since July. This year at home seems to be shaping up better this year ....School is a little stressful, but nothing completely unbearable...

[JULIAFERNO 0]

I will be finishing my program in May and will begin looking for a job even before that. I am willing to move somewhere in the northeast, New England area, or east coast. Where are the best jobs for teachers? I've heard that it is very easy to get a job in North Carolina and the cost of living is pretty low. Anywhere else? I'm in Ohio now, but the job-prospects here aren't great right now.

[greeneyedgirlfl 0]

Don't come to Central Florida....layoffs are common lately...

[miamiwife 0]

Same problem in South Florida! Hey greeneyedgirl--is your district the one who flipped the school hours for Middle and High school to save money? If yes, how is that going? Good luck with the National Boards--you chose the right year to do it since the program went through budget cuts too! I received mine a couple of years ago and it is worth all the writing! I think a lot of states are having problems with educational funding lately. I took a pay cut this year and all my bills went up to. You better like what you do to put up with that!

[greeneyedgirlfl 0]

Same problem in South Florida! Hey greeneyedgirl--is your district the one who flipped the school hours for Middle and High school to save money? If yes, how is that going? Good luck with the National Boards--you chose the right year to do it since the program went through budget cuts too! I received mine a couple of years ago and it is worth all the writing! I think a lot of states are having problems with educational funding lately. I took a pay cut this year and all my bills went up to. You better like what you do to put up with that!

Yes, we are the enterprising county who switched schedules. I really had no opinion (at least I have a job and classes that I like teaching), but to listen to some of the other teachers (esp. the ones with small children), most of the students, and a good number of middle school parents, you would think that we asked them to donate their livers. Damn, can some people complain!!!

The upshot of the whole situation is that it is actually costing the county more money. I hope they don't change the schedule back during the school year (what a logistical nightmare THAT would be!), but I don't care if they change it back. I'm ambivalent about the whole situation.

[miamiwife 0]

Are you serious? What a pain that it is actually costing the county money after all that effort! I thought they had considered everything already! That is one major problem with paperwork and policies--they implement without really thinking about things carefully and it falls apart! Any time there is a new paperwork procedure to implement in teaching and it seems too complicated, just wait a year and it is bound to fall apart! We are piloting a program for the 3rd year this year (think they need to re-think pilot?). There is no way this program will ever work and think how much money they are wasting designing this, training us, evaluating us, etc. to have everything filed in the Bermuda Triangle! Teaching is very simple, really. There are students, there are teachers who teach the students. All you need is willing students and willing teachers and you can achieve so much! I think that we make things way too complicated.

[jundp 191]

I am a total wannabe teacher. I have wanted to be a teacher since I was small but haven't gotten the chance to make that dream happen yet. One day I know it will happen

Do it! You know you can probably do your cert at Western or at a community college a bit at a time while working another job. I say go for it. Heck you went through immigration to get Andre here, how hard can getting your teaching cert be?

I greeneyed, I hear you on the budget cuts. Thankfully I only teach four out of 6 classes, but that's only because I'm a department head. One of my "planning periods" is spent dealing with admin stuff and observations. We're a private school so we don't get any public funding and that causes a bit of a drain. Plus, I'd say about 40% of our students are scholarship/work study/financial aid students so the perception we always have to deal with about private schools being rich, certainly doesn't apply here.

But in the end, I would never trade what I do for a more lucrative profession. I had that and it was never as fulfilling as teaching is. If I'm going to spend the majority of my days doing something, I'd rather it be something I love.