It was so awesome I am left feeling like I've missed my calling. I hate to admit my Mom might've been right on this one but I think I should've been a teacher. I loved working with these kids and was amazed by their intelligence and humor, even when for some of them English is their second language.
I've loathe to admit it not because of pride (my Mom is usually right and I've excepted that a long time ago) but because I hated school growing up.
Now hate is a strong word so I think I'll use it twice. Hate hated school. I never wanted to be a teacher because a) I would need to go to school longer to learn to teach and b) I didn't want a job where people disliked me as I disliked so many of my teachers. Now granted, I liked some. A few I liked a lot. The vast majority were akin to the Legion of Supervillains. They were Eeeevil.
Anyway, I'll do a little recap of each session tonight when I get home from work. Pretty funny stuff. I also want to get to continuing my break downs and recaps of my Champions game. Oh! And I have an idea for a product to sell that may just kick butt. It could also suck. Help me decide!
Seeya later,
AD
Barking Alien
That's great that you had fun. But it's not too late to start teaching now, is it?
ReplyDeleteDon't worry--just because you like working with kids doesn't at all mean you should necessarily be a teacher. I had a brief flirtation with the public education system last fall and it was terrifying. And I was only working in a support capacity (as librarian). But I loved working with the kids. Unfortunately, that's a very small part of the job. I'm still thinking about doing some volunteer/after-school work so I can keep that up.
ReplyDeleteBut if you hated school and its institutions as a kid, it would be about 10 times worse as a teacher. I myself had an almost visceral reaction to walking back into an elementary school a quarter-century later--all the sights, sounds, and smells brought me back to being 10 years old and hating school. And every jack teacher was completely demoralized by the bureaucratic/political nonsense that's not-so-slowly choking public education to death. Honestly, my hat is eternally off to folks who can hang in that scene.
Keep up the after-school GMing!
@Happy Whisk - I'm honestly not sure. See sirlarkins response. He pretty much summed up my feelings quite well.
ReplyDelete@sirlarkins - I think part of the reason I didn't like school was because most teachers I encountered hadn't found a way to engage the students so that what they were saying seemed important or interesting.
As you noted, it probably wasn't (or wasn't only) the fault of the individual teacher but rather a need to conform to a system that didn't always allow for the necessary customization needed to teach different students in different ways. Not everyone learns in the same way and at the same rate.
That said, I am looking into alternatives. I'll definitely keep you guys posted on what I find.
Looking forward to more of this
ReplyDeleteTeaching isn't a bad option if you do like the kids - that's something that will keep you going. I'd recommend trying out the substitute teaching option to see if you can tolerate the structural side of it before rerouting a career choice. Not all teaching has to happen in a public school system either if that's the barrier to doing something you find attractive.
If not, Librarian isn't a bad idea either, specifically working with children.