I can only echo what others have said, but hang in there!
I really believe the old saw that there is a grain of truth
to the old saw,"elementary teachers teach because they love
kids; secondary teachers teach because they love their
subjects." If you have a keen interest in science and you
want to share it with kids, you are on the right track!
Yes, you do need to like kids, but part of that comes from
meeting and interacting with them long term, not just for a
day or two as a substitute. I think of myself as an
anthropologist looking at a lively and interesting culture.
Teenagers are fascinating!
I came to teaching through alternative certification, and
the first couple of years were hard. But after fifteen
years, I'm still here and don't see any other career that
would be as satisfying for me, or as creative, or as
challenging and irritating at times.
On 5/08/08, secondary thoughts wrote:
> I recently got out of an unhappy 10 year relationship with
> a career I found, at best, unfulfilling and, at worst, an
> onerous dead-end.
>
> Not long after I lost my last job, I had one of the very
> few epiphanies I've ever had; I should become certified to
> teach high school science. I don't have any real science
> background apart from a layman's keen interest. I wouldn't
> call it a passion – but I'm just don't have one of those
> deeply passionate personalities – but I do feel very
> strongly about the importance of science education. I began
> studying for the Praxis II content exam for science
> immediately, and took the GRE Tuesday. My plan was to
> enroll in the MA in education program here in Louisiana and
> start teaching this fall under a practitioners license. I
> found myself planning lessons and thinking of ways to
> elucidate Newton's laws of motion to 9th graders. This was
> the very first time in my life I felt like I was doing what
> I was *supposed* to be doing, almost like I had a duty to
> be in a classroom sharing – to the best of my
> as-yet-uncertain ability - what I think consider to be a
> very profound truth; that the world around us is knowable
> through careful observation and reason.
>
> But now I'm having major second thoughts. What's changed
> between then and now is that I've actually substituted a
> few times. I realize that being a teacher and being a sub
> are very different games. But after actually standing in
> front of a few classes, particularly a few ninth grade
> science classes, it just seemed likely to me that if you
> have a classroom of 20 kids, you might have 2 or three who
> are actually interested and receptive to learning
> something, around a dozen who might care enough to put in
> the minimum to pass, and the rest who are actively trying
> to disrupt whatever's going on.
>
> Obviously I have a lot - probably more like everything - to
> learn about being a teacher, but my initial optimism and
> enthusiasm about making the world a better place has been
> somewhat dampened. I need to apply to the master's program
> soon, though, and I don't need this crisis compounding my
> natural tendency to procrastinate.
>
> I'm not sure what my question is. Maybe someone can suggest
> one.
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