What do you want to do for a Career?, Or state it if you got one. Options

[redsrock]

My biggest dreams are to publish a novel someday, preferably in a horror setting, but I also want to someday publish a whole series of novels set in my world, Teir.

But my realistic goals are to become an effective writing/english teacher at my old middle school.

[Olen]

I've never had a clue what I want to do, I doubt I ever will. Brewing could be interesting but it would involve not living in Scotland which I'm not sure I fancy because its all beer here and beer doesn't interest me so much. Also I'm doing entirly the wrong degree for that sort of thing.

I was a TEFL (english as a foreign language) teacher for a year but it wasn't for me.

[canis216]

Redsrock, man, I don't know about aiming for middle school teaching... it's can be a pain enough teaching college freshmen. It can be really rewarding too, granted, but it can sometimes be exasperating. I don't care to ever try my hand at middle schoolers. (If you do go that route, many props and much respect to you. Braver soul than I.)

What would you be brewing, Olen, if not beer?

Edit: I doubt I could teach English as a second language. I mean, I never, ever struggled with English classes in school. I never really had to LEARN it, like some folks have to work at it. When I was teaching composition I had the odd student who struggled with usage and grammar, and while I could correct them readily enough, I couldn't really teach them any rules to write by, in that sense. I mean, I just KNEW. That's all. That, and teaching grammar wasn't really supposed to be my job--that's what outside help like the writing center and tutors were supposed to be for. But it was frustrating.

Second edit: Don't suppose it helped my cause that I was a biology guy trying to teach comp. Hey, you take the TA jobs you can get. I submitted a writing sample. I took two english classes in college. That's it. I was coasting on natural ability, mostly. I'm guessing if Redsrock goes into teaching English, it will be with more formal training than I. Which would be good.

This post has been edited by canis216: Oct 28 2008, 04:29 PM

[redsrock]

Redsrock, man, I don't know about aiming for middle school teaching... it's can be a pain enough teaching college freshmen. It can be really rewarding too, granted, but it can sometimes be exasperating. I don't care to ever try my hand at middle schoolers. (If you do go that route, many props and much respect to you. Braver soul than I.)

Heh, I already know how crazy the little gremlins children can be. I shadowed my old history teacher for about a month or so, and just ended last Friday. They definitely are a pain at times, but I think I at least want to start at middle school, because I don't think I'll be ready for high-schoolers right off the bat. I don't really want to teach 5th graders that much because you just can't connect with them, at least not as much as you could a group of 8th graders. Does that make any sense?

So you're a teacher as well?

[canis216]

Teaching assistant. In the '06-'07 school year I taught introductory composition at the University of Montana--my department loaned me out to the English folks. In Fall '07 I lead lab and discussion sections (the actual professors did the lecture) for a physical science class intended for elementary education majors. I'm not a teacher by profession, but I've done it. My preferred sort of education to do is park ranger work--helping educate visitors about park resources. I did that at Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas, in summer of '06.

An odd mix, I know. And I only turn 25 next week.

And yeah, I can see how middle-schoolers might be a bit more pliable than the older kids. The good thing with the college students is that, with exceptions, they generally want to be there--they've exercised a degree of choice.

Edit: And to reiterate, I'm a biologist by profession. That what's I did this summer, working for the U.S. Geological Survey. Right now I'm hoping some guy in El Paso will call about a job sampling vegetation out on Fort Bliss.

This post has been edited by canis216: Oct 28 2008, 07:22 PM

[Olen]

What would you be brewing, Olen, if not beer?

Edit: I doubt I could teach English as a second language. I mean, I never, ever struggled with English classes in school. I never really had to LEARN it, like some folks have to work at it. When I was teaching composition I had the odd student who struggled with usage and grammar, and while I could correct them readily enough, I couldn't really teach them any rules to write by, in that sense. I mean, I just KNEW. That's all. That, and teaching grammar wasn't really supposed to be my job--that's what outside help like the writing center and tutors were supposed to be for. But it was frustrating.

Brewing - cider, wine, or distilling would be much more my style. I don't drink beer.

Teaching english as a second language is easier than you might think, you can get books of 'rules' and with the help of textbooks and the internet lessons can be wirtten in 20 minutes once you get the hang, I could give a half decent lesson on the fly too. With the older ones I would often just talk with them. I was teaching in a tibetan monestary a few miles south of Darjeeling which was an experience, young monks aren't the most well balanced individuals... It was a great experience but I wouldn't do it again simply because I'm not a great teacher.

[redsrock]

So how did you like being a teacher, Canis? What were your likes and dislikes?

[canis216]

Well, my biggest dislike with teaching was simply that I was teaching subjects that weren't in specialty. I'm a good writer, and looking to break into it professionally to some degree, but it's not something I studied a lot--it's mostly something that I just DO. So teaching writing was sort of a hit-or-miss thing for me. Then last fall I was doing physics, chemistry, and astronomy--again, not in my specialty. I'm good at chem and physics, but astronomy was struggle for me to teach, because I was refreshing my knowledge as I went. If I were to teach again, I'd limit myself to stuff that I'm a genuine expert at. Not doing a good job--well, it rankles.

Another issue: I can be pretty disorganized, and I like to do things on the fly. Teaching forces you to be really organized. So I'd have to work on that. Preparation is critical. Once you get the hang of things it becomes easier to freelance, but again, I wasn't working in one of my specialities. (Sigh)

I hated grading. And explaining to a student why you graded a piece of writing a certain way (as opposed to say, a math problem) is sometimes a lose-lose. I was subject to some bias accusations in my end-of-semester evaluations, which was frustrating because I was killing myself to try to be as objective as possible. Grading sucks. I think me and my fellow TAs were in agreement with that.

Good stuff: Helping people is nice. I think I was able to help some students really express themselves and discover their talent.

I was able to do some cool things with my curriculum, like choose some of the stuff my students read, make cool assignments. Some of my colleagues did amazing stuff. My friend Nathaniel Miller (who, if there is justice in the world, will become a famous or at least very successful writer--he is amazing) had his students doing some wonderful black humor type stuff. Me, I exposed my students to a wonderfully descriptive piece by Ed Abbey about experimenting with LSD in Death Valley. That got some great/amusing/cool responses. I tried to expand their minds, and I did enjoy it. (Quick note: I imagine that it is considerably easier to get away with blowing people's minds in a college environment than elsewhere--just a thought.)

My colleagues were great. A lot of them were fiction writers, or creative writers of some ilk. Interesting people with great ideas. Talking shop with them was great. (Caveat: We were all TAs--young grad students. A middle school environment would likely be a lot different.)

This post has been edited by canis216: Oct 29 2008, 02:07 AM

[redsrock]

Thanks for the info, man. This one part I liked in particular:

Good stuff: Helping people is nice. I think I was able to help some students really express themselves and discover their talent.

I love helping people with their writing right now at age 19, so that's why I want to be a writing teacher. Right now I don't think I'm a great writer, but I don't think I'm horrible either. I'm hoping to take some writing classes to further my abilities, so I'll be absolutely ready when it comes time to actual teaching.

[treydog]

I will add just a bit to Canis' wonderful insights on what it takes to be a good teacher. I have taught writing and literature at a college level in the past, and hope to do so again once I reach retirement age. Nothing else I have done has been as fulfilling as teaching. At the same time, it can be a grind- you have to assign enough papers to make the students practice the craft- and then you have to thoughtfully grade those papers. Consider 1 paper per week x 20 students per class x 3 classes for 14 weeks.... But- when you have an older than average student, a man in his 40's looking to start a second career, and he isn't sure he can be a writer. And you work with that student to prove to himself that he not only has something useful to say, but that he has the tools to say it... there is no feeling like it.

If you want to teach students to be better writers, teach them to be better readers. That doesn't necessarily mean forcing them to read exclusively "capital-L Literature". But you need to equip them with critical reading skills- get them to a place where they can articulate why a story or poem or play "worked for them"- or why it didn't. I always told my students that a piece of writing is a transaction, a deal, between writer and reader. The writer has the burden of saying something interesting in a clear, readable fashion. The reader has the obligation of making the effort to be open-minded. Sometimes, a reader doesn't like a piece of writing because the author failed.

Another key that I found success with was learning what my students cared about. And then I said, "OK- write about that." One of my (female) students was involved in dirt-track racing with her family. She spent the entire semester writing papers about racing- narrative, description, compare-contrast, etc. And she did a good job because she knew the subject matter and because it interested her.

Show the students that almost anything can be an "occasion" for writing. Bring in an object and let the class free-associate off of it, generating ideas and then organizing those ideas into a paragraph or a paper. I had great fun with a jar of peanut butter.

Insist that the students draft and revise- but be flexible in your definition of what constitutes a "draft". Some people live and die by outlines- others never use them. But all good writers do revisions. Separate the process of writing from the process of editing/revising. Grammar, spelling, punctuation, paragraphing, etc., etc., etc. are NOT writing. Writing is putting words on paper or on the computer screen.

Above all- great teachers are enthusiastic about their field of study- and they communicate that enthusiasm to their students. Not all people who excel in a profession excel as teachers- they don't have the spark, the facility that allows them to be "missionaries" for the work they love. On the other hand, a good teacher can do a good job on almost any subject, given enough time and resources to prepare.

This post has been edited by treydog: Oct 29 2008, 04:56 PM

[redsrock]

Thanks, Treydog. Yeah, I totally agree about how reading helps one become a better writer. And I also understand how dedicated one must be in order to become an effective teacher. In my case that means reading bunches and bunches of papers, and at the same time grading each and every one to my best ability. I am ready for that. I want to teach writing. The one thing that gets me down right now is that I don't know a whole lot of stuff right now, but college classes will of course change that. I'm only a freshman after all...

[Colonel Mustard]

I'm in the middle of my GCSEs and I still haven't made my mind up! However, since I've worked on a computer at school since I was ten (due my dispraxia) I imagine that it will be something to do with IT.

I considered teaching bu the problems that I'm not always very authoritative-and being fourteen really gives you an insight into just how big a w****r a teenager can be.

This post has been edited by The Bean: Oct 29 2008, 09:30 PM

[seerauna]

My two lifelong dreams are to be either an author, because I'm working on my own novel at thirteen, or to be a herpetologist. In case you don't know what that is, it's a person who studies reptiles. (I think snakes are the coolest things in the world. )

[Badda-Tish]

I wanna be like a cook (almost dispelled it ) or chef, or a industrial worker, or a military guy.
Yep, one of those things I want to be.

[canis216]

My two lifelong dreams are to be either an author, because I'm working on my own novel at thirteen, or to be a herpetologist. In case you don't know what that is, it's a person who studies reptiles. (I think snakes are the coolest things in the world. )

Sea turtles is where the funding's at, for herpetologists. I'm trying to break into that biz, sort of. I'm all kinds of biologist, but I've recently applied for jobs with sea turtles in North Carolina and desert tortoises in Arizona. One of my bigger regrets is the time I decided to not put off grad school in favor of studying sea turtles in Costa Rica. Would have made life much easier if I had gone, because I could have gone to grad school later, in that field, and then found herpetology work damn easily.

The lesson: when someone asks if you want to study sea turtles in Costa Rica (or similarly nice Latin American country with beaches and a stable government) you say, "Yes!"

[Blackdemon]

I am retired and don't want to hear about work anymore.

When I was young I already wanted to earn a life doing absolutely nothing, then I achieved my goal but it took a long time : I had to work 15 years as a tax inspector before they let me out.

In the future I plan to beat Diablo 3, if I live long enough to see it released

[Ahrenil]

I personally want to become a researcher for the BBC doing ancient History programs, or anything based on ancient History, especially from the aspects of Mythology (Heck any Mythology, personally I find Norse mythology much more entertaining than the Greek)

[Darkom]

I have switched career dreams for a long time, from wanting to be an librarian when I was a kid to my last goal, architecture. But what I think I'm really going to go for, at least it is my current ambition, is medicine. It's going to be a tough experience, but I really would like to become a doctor. And as far as specialties go, and this is the real driving force behind it, I would most definitely want to be a psychiatrist. People ask me why I would want to listen to people's problems, but if there is anything beyond astronomy and philosophy that interests me, and always has, it is the human mind. I read psychology textbooks for fun

This post has been edited by Darkom: Nov 27 2009, 06:51 AM

[Tellie]

Well, when I was still a school kid my dream was actually to become a hairstyler, yet for some reason I educated myself and started working as a construction engineer, after doing that for some years, I spent the two last years at school and have now started to work in the oil business in the north sea.

Needless to say that my new job, coupled with the fact that I am an educated engineer my paycheck is rather nice if I might say so. :biggrin:

[Bolzmania]

Looking back 2 years ago I said I wanted to be a chef, pfft. Next year I start Senior High School (I think... It's called gymnasium in Sweden and I'm not even gonna try to explain the Swedish school system) and I'm choosing between 3 programs. Since I have pretty good grades I can pretty much choose whichever I want.

Etec, if I choose this one I only have to go to school 3 more years and then I'll be an electrician.

NV (Science program) this one is pretty good since you can pretty much choose what you want to be, my dad, minque and my older sister all went to NV.

TE (Technology) I think this one speaks for itself.