MrsHughey.com

Jobs, work, and paychecks

I'm getting quite discouraged about the job thing. I signed up with the staffing agency more than a week ago, but so far I haven't gotten to work yet! ACK! Today, feeling a bit desperate, I went to Barnes & Noble to follow up on my application there. It was rather fruitless. I got the stock speech about how they'll review applications if and when they have a vacancy. Ug. I need income, dude!

So I've been here appying for more jobs online and stuff. I know I'll get something worked out at some point, but sooner would be better.

In addition to job searching, I've been doing lots of looking at teaching books this week. I love books about teaching! You'd be amazed at the plethora of information out there about teaching English. Or maybe you wouldn't. There's a ton. I love reading about new ideas, strategies, lesson plan ideas, teaching philosophies and the latest research updates. It's so fascinating and complex. Teaching is a really tough job, but there are books out there for basically any challenge you might face. If you know where to look (so you get the books based on solid experience and sound research) you can resolve a lot of difficulties teachers face. This means you'll like your job better and, in turn, your students will learn more easily and effectively. It's all good stuff. And if you read a book and its ideas don't work for you or don't jive with your philosophy, at the very least it's one more thing you've considered or tried.

So I've been digging back through some of the books I kept about teaching. I take them out with a notebook and my post-it flags, then flip through making notes and flagging good ideas. I prefer the books like Going Bohemian, Activities for an Interactive Classroom and The First Days of School, which are very practical, hands-on guides for how to do things in the classroom.

I love making learning interesting in my classroom. I frequently use DVDs, TV and movie clips, music, or interactive learning with my classes. There's a lot of backlash against teachers coddling students and making school "fun". People who don't understand the underlying philosophies think we're just babysitting and not challenging students. But you can be a caring, fun teacher and still challenge and teach your students well. The fact is I can teach the same skills traditional teachers do in a more fun way with my students. And by doing so, the students are much more likely to be engaged in the activity, and therefore more likely to learn what I'm teaching. Plus my methods can help some students deal with the complex emotions of adolescence. No, not every student needs that, but it's vital for those who do. My main goal is to engage students, not to entertain them. I'm very good at teaching things in new and interesting ways, and would like to continue that next year.

I love the planning process in teaching. It's one of the reasons I chose to teach older students, because I can plan much more complex lessons. When I plan, I think about problems I have had to tackle in my classroom and ways to fix them. I also think about strategies or topics I want to teach and fun ways to teach the concepts involved, plus ways for students to give me their "proof of purchase" and show me they learned it. Whenever possible, I give students choices.

The summer is my favorite time to plan because I have lots of time to think about my plans. I can plan the lesson with lots of different possibilities and contingency plans. I am very organized and tend to plan great units when I'm away from school and have the time and energy to really think them out. I come up with my ideas, then try to think of anything and everything that might go wrong and come up with a way to deal with it. So, even though I don't know what exact classes or grade levels I'll teach next year, I've started coming up with lots of strategies and ideas I want to try. I'll do this pretty much all summer. It's really fun for me! Too bad I'm not being paid for it just yet!

Posted by Erin at May 8, 2003 04:12 PM