NationStates Jolt Archive

Here's the basic situation, I bombed out badly lasy semester at high school so I even with the marks I'm getting now I still only even out pretty average at the end of the year. So there goes my career in psychology. Good thing though, because I don't think I can spell it.

So I'm going to teach, it's really the only way I can justify my subject choices. My other option is doing a BA and becoming a full-time hobo. Teaching seems prefeable.

Plus my English and Ancient History teachers already volunteered to take me for my prac courses. Whic depresses me because in four years I could be teaching kids I knew from high school... sigh.

And I'm sure I can survive on a teacher's salary, assuming a sell one of my kidneys! Also, as long as I don't snap and tell my class the have no futures and should give up before they are old and bitter like me... I assume I'll be in my mid-twenties then...

Just remember what bastards anyone* under 16 are.


















*obviously not EVERYONE just most of you. No, really. No... Really. Shutup.

It's somewhat worrying that academic failure would prompt someone to teach the next generation.

Don't look down on a BA. The reason they're not viewed so favourably is because most students who do an arts degree are, to put it mildly, not the sharpest pins in the box. If you manage to get a good average mark in a BA (Its really not hard) you have a lot of varied jobs, from journalism to a diplomat, open to you (especially if you have done an honours year or post graduate work). Plus, once you have your foot in the door, you can always upgrade your degree to something else, like law for example, provided you have good marks.

That's how it works in Australia. In the States, i can understand if the price of the degree might put you off upgrading and doing an extra year or two. I was in the same situation as you are now last year, btw :) Good news also- it's easy to change into a psychology course from an arts degree.

It's somewhat worrying that academic failure would prompt someone to teach the next generation.We both know these kids have no future*, I'd be a stark reminder of why they should give up while their ahead. We have a wonderful weflare system they can leech off.






*quote borrowed from Simpsons

Well, if it's any help to you - I was in a similar situation a few years back. I did a Business degree, mostly cause I was the first in the family to go to College and felt it was the 'thing to do'. Didn't like it - far too many up-themselves arrogant a$$holes do Bus. degrees and by implication they'll be the people you'll work with. So did a Science degree, majoring in Psych. Got invited to do a Masters, but turned it down to move to a non-Uni town with my then-girlfriend who took a job there.
So after a few years wasting away in dead-end jobs did a Teaching Diploma (finally realised I liked telling ppl what they should know) and started teaching (at my old High School, but only cause they were the first to offer me a job).
It's not that bad, honestly. Sure some kids, especially Yr10s (ie.14-15 yr olds) can be right little sh*ts, but as long as you don't take it personally, it can be very rewarding. Especially when ones that were absolute horrors (as in pushing someones head thru a window, bringing a gun to school or turning an aerosol hairspray can into a flame thrower) come up to you in the street to tell you they in the Navy and still call you sir cause they say they respect you and felt you were one of the few adults who actually cared for them.
And right now, as I write this, I'm in Hong Kong, about to start teaching at a private school for aprox. $4000 US p/month, after tax. Plus a bonus after a year. Which isn't a bad wage, especially as I can buy dinner here for equil. $1.30US.
So if you look at it as a job that will help you travel, it's ideal.
Hope this helps.
But: If US kids are anything like the ones I taught, you do need a VERY thick hide. Kids certainly go out of their way to see if they can get at you. So if you have a nervous disposition, I wouldn't recommend it.

Sure some kids, especially Yr10s (ie.14-15 yr olds) can be right little sh*ts, but as long as you don't take it personally, it can be very rewarding. Especially when ones that were absolute horrors (as in pushing someones head thru a window, bringing a gun to school or turning an aerosol hairspray can into a flame thrower) come up to you in the street to tell you they in the Navy and still call you sir cause they say they respect you and felt you were one of the few adults who actually cared for them.
And right now, as I write this, I'm in Hong Kong, about to start teaching at a private school for aprox. $4000 US p/month, after tax. Plus a bonus after a year. Which isn't a bad wage, especially as I can buy dinner here for equil. $1.30US.
So if you look at it as a job that will help you travel, it's ideal.
Hope this helps.
But: If US kids are anything like the ones I taught, you do need a VERY thick hide. Kids certainly go out of their way to see if they can get at you. So if you have a nervous disposition, I wouldn't recommend it.


LOL and here I went from a career in business because I wanted to make money into a career in teaching because I thought it more rewarding work. :)

Got a BA in English (3.77 GPA, for those who are interested) and went into advertising/public relations. Hated it, went back to school, got a MA in Secondary School Teacher: English, (GPA 3.91 for those who care ;) )

Would not trade it for the world but, as others have said here, teens can be by turns the most nasty, brutish, uncouth bastards on the face of the Earth. Learn to deal with them with patience and humor, but be firm about what is NOT acceptable behavior. Most of all, you must at least LIKE what you're doing, and you must, must, MUST respect and like your students, unless individually, they give you an *amazing* number of reasons not to.

Disagreeing with me, for instance, is acceptable, if you can give reasons for it. "Macbeth sucks" is not acceptable because there is no thought in it, "I don't think it's very believable and the characters are not likable..." is. "You're a f***ing b****!" is definitely not acceptable, and as long as you do not descend to that level and maintain composure, you're not the one who looks like a fool.

I don't think teaching as a second choice is necessarily bad; I originally wanted to become a novelist and got into publishing first. That job opened my eyes to what a wholesale disaster (and low paying job) publishing would be for me; it enabled me to try PR and finally teaching.

Also remember folks, psychology is a pretty specialized field and so not succeeding at it may not be indicative of overall intelligence and the rest of one's academic achievement; the background will most definitely be useful in dealing with any field in which you deal with the public. (I took courses in Personality and Abnormal Psychology I & II in college -- I cannot tell you how they've helped!)

My best advice, since you have two teachers willing to take you under their wings, is to, for the first year at least, depend on their advice. See how they recommend keeping the records, what sorts of tests they advise, find out if they can show you some lessons and teach you how to structure them, see what they advise for classroom management and behavioral modification techniques. You'll find your own style once you've got the basics down.

Best of luck --

Kat