I am retiring at the end of this year at age 55 after spending a combined about 28 years as a teacher. I started out subbing when I was in my 20's, and frankly I loved it. I then taught part time -- a combination of adults and older teens -- in Germany -- I called it survival German, and I loved that too. Once my own kids were school age I went back to subbing and worked it as a full time job, and it depended on what state I was in and what type of district as to how much I liked it. (My husband's career had us moving a lot -- something hard to do as a teacher.) But overall I did. I taught for the past 18 years full time, half in a Catholic high school and the other half in a public high school. Boy, has the education game changed!! I think part of it is that I am over 50 and really do feel the physical strain whereas when I was younger it didn't really phase me. Most of the problem today, though, is lack of control over what you can really do in the classroom and the general state of "education" across the country. It seems now that, no matter how good you are or how passionately you approach what you do, someone else (always an authority!) wants you to do it differently. Things like group work (never worked well for me) and having to state things a certain way or being careful not to say other things just drive me nuts. I know what works for me and at this point I just do what I want, but as a new teacher no way could you do that. Plus kids today just look at school as something to get through -- there are always those top kids who keep you sane, but the great majority now do barely enough to get by and can't understand why you expect them to work and learn something. Parents focus far too much on grades for scholarships, and in the end the whole thing just doesn't work any more. I tell my own students to make sure when they have kids that they teach their kids everything they themselves didn't learn -- don't wait for the school system!! I teach upperclassmen who have no knowledge of basic English grammar, and their math skills are worse than those of the average fifth grader back in the 60's. Depressing? You bet -- and it won't get better until we as a country just scrap what we have now and start over, going back to many of the old methods that really worked. I know I sound like Methuselah, but I am on the front lines every day and still marvel at the number of kids who come to school without pens and paper but they ALL have their phones and ipods. The bureaucrats have removed all real authority from teachers and make us feel like we are wrong when kids misbehave and/or don't learn. As a second career? Some do it and do it well, but I would NOT recommend it in these times!! Getting "certified" is another thing -- everyone talks about the teacher shortage, but it only exists in the places no one wants to go. In good school districts, competition is fierce. The entire certification process is a nightmare even for young folks -- even worse for older ones. Enough said and then some....
