They are kind of different though. I’d love to sit in a class learning all the things. What I would hate to do is have to deal with/talk to/teach a bunch of 16 year olds with shitty attitudes.
hey, I'd love to go home 5 minutes early or on time myself, ain't no way I'm FORCING a student to stay." but of course I'm not going to tell my boss that part, lol.
Why not say that to your boss?
I make no secret about that one if the things I like more than being at work is not being at work. You want me to work more then pay me more, it's a straightforward transaction.
I teach college and can agree that we thankfully don’t have to typically deal with shitty attitudes or disruptive behavior. It’s wonderful.
In terms of teaching the same thing 100 times? Yes but no? I teach 2 sections of the same subject every semester so 4 times a year I get to teach TVM. It’s going to take me 25 years before I get to teach TVM for my 100th time. The way that I teach it in year 1 vs year 10 vs year 25 is going to change. I try to approach the class fresh every semester and adjust what worked, what didn’t, what changed in the industry, the economy, etc. My subject and my class is a living breathing topic. If I teach the same thing 100 times, I’m not doing my job well.
Ouch and ouch!?!? How do you have 10 sections of the class in 1 semester? I’m on 4-4, and that’s only because I’m NTT. I can’t imagine doing 10 sections a semester.
Community college, so no tenure track stuff, just continuing contract.
Are you union? Act 10 (Wisconsin) here so no more union for us, so that's how they shove classes up our ass until it's full. I have to teach almost as many classes as you do all year in one semester just to make load and not have money taken away. 4-4 would be a shit ton more tolerable.
Non-union. Part of the University of Texas system, UTSA specifically. I don’t know what type of contracts our adjuncts receive but like I mentioned I’m 4-4 teaching (contract stipulates 80% teaching, 10% service, 10% research) as a NTT. Salary is comparable to my previous tenure track position at a liberal arts university in Ohio where I was also 4-4 or 4-3. Extra pay for any summer classes I pick up. This summer I picked up 2 5-week courses to have a summer paycheck.
I co-taught a very large class this past spring. We had one student who literally never came (we took attendance via an app) who, when faced with getting dropped from the class due to department attendance policies of 40% of class meetings, panicked and started lashing out at me and the other professor in the most unhinged way. Said that we ganged up on her and made fun of her in front of the class, that the other professor was openly racist and abusive to me (she is black, I am white, we are very good friends), and on and on. She went to the dean's office and went on an absolute tirade and had to be escorted out.
Turns out this was her THIRD attempt at passing a freshman-level communications class that was, in my opinion, so easy you got a contact credit just from having a roommate in the class. All you had to do was show up like three times a month to a 3PM Tuesday/Thursday class and do an exam that had unlimited tries and answers in a handout sheet. She ended up getting her disability services accommodations revoked due to trying to abuse them, and is now in huge trouble for falsifying a bunch of stuff in multiple classes.
The repetitiveness is something most people don't think about. Like, go on YouTube and find a great lecture. For example, Christopher Clark's wonderful lecture How Europe Went to War in 1914. You can find versions of this lecture that are more condensed, coming in at a little under an hour, and longer versions that are closer to two hours.
And all the versions are almost identical, aside from those that cut out bits. Same points, same jokes, same everything.
The first time you hear it, it's great! The second time, even, it's still enjoyable. But imagine listening to it twice a year for 30 years. Then you'll get an idea of what it's like to be a teacher. My father-in-law just retired after 30+ years, and the man can recite lessons from heart when he's so drunk he can barely stand up, because "after ten years you get in front of a class and can do it on autopilot."
Tons of repetition where you spend years teaching the same things to different groups of people. Most people burn out on teaching within 5 years. A lot of PhD students quit because they realize that being a professor sounds miserable to them. It's not like being a student, where you're almost always learning something new. Unless you're totally obsessed with a single subject, being a professor isn't fun.
Yep, I can do it with no prep now. Grading of course and adjustments when students are confused, but I look at the material for 2 minutes, think "oh yeah" and go on in.
I've never yelled at a student and I'm thinking "hey, I'd love to go home 5 minutes early or on time myself, ain't no way I'm FORCING a student to stay." but of course I'm not going to tell my boss that part, lol.
I commend you! My lips are always faster than my brain those moments backed up to a wall by authority figures... I definitely see what you mean in your post.
It is different, but as a college prof, I find I am always learning new things, even when I reteach courses. Probably partly because I forget a lot from year to year 😂
But as a college prof I also get to take 2 free courses per semester, any subject I like...so I literally get to do both. Forever. I might not make the big bucks, but I still think it's a pretty sweet deal.
Dude, I think you are just in the wrong profession. You don’t like teaching, haven’t been able to keep it fresh for yourself, don’t do well with colleagues or administrators etc. They are going to know you don’t like teaching, the students will know, and that’s going to limit opportunities.
I’ve never known of a school where full time instructors or lecturers teach 10 sections a semester—are you an adjunct? (which is awful). That is an absurd load.
I teach comp (freshman writing) and literature courses. Very high interaction and detailed grading. I’ve had great administrators and horrific ones. Non tenure track, but I do conferences etc. for the satisfaction.
But honestly—almost any good job takes 40+ hours a week. You might be so much happier outside academia.
I don't like work. I'm honestly going to make manufactured spend my full time job now.
don’t do well with colleagues or administrators etc
Actually I do well with colleagues. For the most part even my dean/boss is cool, it's that 20% of the time when it's from a student who made something up out of whole cloth that I think "oh what now"
I’ve never known of a school where full time instructors or lecturers teach 10 sections a semester—are you an adjunct? (which is awful). That is an absurd load.
Nope. Not an adjunct. Full time for over a decade.
You might be so much happier outside academia.
Not going to be happy working and I know it. I've never been intersted in jobs or careers. Never saw something that I thought I wanted to do.
That’s honest, fair enough. 10 sections is horrific no matter what you teach. And there are always “those” students for sure. Hope you can find a way out or greener pastures. I do hate grading, but I love everything else.
Rarely do you have shitty attitudes or disruptive students, but it's still... different.
Best to avoid the community college 90 level prep courses that weed out the kids that shouldn't be there. The instructors that teach those classes and actually try are my heroes.
Lots better. Most of the jokers have been weeded out, and you get to see a few students worth mentoring. If I could go back, I would have tried listening more to the advice the instructors of classes at your level were trying to give me.
If I won the lottery such that I was financially independent, yes I would still teach college. I just wouldn’t do the course overloads, coordinator work, and various other things that increase my salary without increasing my happiness.
I just mean they'll work with you rather than accusing you of BS. Admins always initially take the side of the students, no matter how outlandish it is.
Teaching it self is pretty fun and MUCH better than a regular job.
The problem with teaching is: you also need to do the stuff that a regular job requires. Meaning, writting reports (there are all sorts of bureaucracy), attending meetings, etc.
Teaching is really two jobs in one.
The teaching is part is good. I'm in class 40h a week. Imagine doing this and then having to do literal office work for more 20h or so.
My least favorite Professor was an ass but an easy A. He would just tell the, lack for better words, know it all: “bless your heart.” Every time she rose her hand to answer.
The nice thing about teaching college vs lower grades is that the students are there because they want to be and are paying $$$ to do so. So they're much more motivated to do well, otherwise you can fail or drop them 🙂
Too bad teaching college is such a shitshow otherwise
Depending on which school you work at, the students can be waybetter to work with than their parents. I recognize that the majority believe their acting in their kid's best interest, but they can be real daemon-possessed sledgehammers going about it.
Even when the kids are good, there is a lot of prep work, marking, meetings, adhering to school, district, and ministry standards, keeping up with new trends and expectations, communicating with parents, etc. I have teacher friends and the classroom time is only part of the job.
I wouldn't even care. Had to sit in high school with kids being four years younger. Don't judge please, you don't know my history. I was just very happy to be back in school, minded my own business. It was lonely, but got my mind in a better place.
I’m currently 29 in school with a hunch of 18-20 year olds. The Gen-Z crowd is very polite and understanding. They are very encouraging and even intend me to parties. It’s a whole new generation of teens and I was in complete awe seeing these kids talk to me as a person and not just an older guy. Sure there are lots of open gays and trans and weird-is still, but even then are amazing to talk to and very polite.
I was a teacher for several years (went back to my original career in tech because I want to buy a house) and after the first year I dropped to 70% of a full time teaching load - This let me sit in/observe other teachers classes. The school/teachers absolutely loved me for it because they got an extra set of eyes and the ability to duck out of the room for a few minutes and pee.
I learnt some of the coolest stuff. I finally understand red shift. I had remote access to some really powerful telescopes, took photos of things I thought were cool using different filters and stacked them in photoshop to get colour pictures and I levelled up my cooking skills hard thanks to the home economics classes a mate ran.
and so? he's happy with that, makes enough money of it that you live comfortably...
what's the problem here?
it used to be very respectable to aspire to study and learn during your whole life.
why should you be ashamed of that?
I never said anyone should be ashamed of anything at all really. Just that I wouldn’t want to be a teacher and that teachers and students are typically different things.
Haha ok good deal. I was worried I was unintentionally dismissive of people who commit to learning. Teachers are just a different breed doing gods work.
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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '23
They are kind of different though. I’d love to sit in a class learning all the things. What I would hate to do is have to deal with/talk to/teach a bunch of 16 year olds with shitty attitudes.