ALT-3 What you need to know before you become a Teacher
By practice, teachers are dreamers. They dream of a classroom that is well behaved, is eager to learn and will always be nice to one another. But the hard, cold realities are all the opposite. I know, because I am a teacher. Despite all of these factors, rolled in with thousands of others, I still like my job and it is not just for the paycheck at the end of the month.
You need to be prepared to be assigned to a classroom with no windows and air conditioning that does not work. You need to be prepared to be assigned to a class for which you do not have enough chairs, you need to be prepared not to have the right number of textbooks for your students. Most of all you need to be prepared to NOT be supported by the administration. I have had students sent back to me after I refer them for one class indiscretion or another. When they are sent back, they are laughing in your face and telling you what to do. And they continue to get away with what ever they were doing.Too often, administrators take the word of the student over the word of the teacher. Example: About three years ago, at my 2,200 student campus, a couple of ball players were caught red-handed in some suspendable offense.. It was mandatory 2-day suspension. The Principal let them play in the Friday game, then suspended them for Monday and Tuesday.
Be prepared not to get much help if needed. A new teacher friend of mine was cornered by a student in a rage and no one came to his assistance. The student was later re-admitted to the school.
Here's one thing that a new teacher should know and practice: Make friendly with your custodial staff and secretarial staff and they will bend over backwards for you. They are a valuable part of the school environment. Example: I have chronic back problems. One year I took of nearly two weeks to deal with the problem. I could hardly walk. At the prompting of the sub teacher that was brought in, the head custodian fixed my chair so it would make my life easier. Since I owned the chair, the official 'work order' would probably had not received any weight.
I am not cynical as a teacher, about this anyway, but just want to make sure that anyone going into teaching is prepared for reality, not what they teach you in college.
