Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Day #77

I'm nearly half-way through my contractual obligation to Baltimore City Schools. I'm wiped out when I leave the building every day, I feel overwhelmed and hopeless 90% of the time, every new idea and strategy quickly comes apart, all my clothes are marked with ink stains, I put up with violence and continual disprespect. I wonder if I'll stay after next year?

Hard to say. As tough as teaching in the City is, I'm certain I'd hate teaching in the County more. Who wants administrators and parents up his ass every day? And they pay less, too! So if I don't teach in a public school, what the hell else would I do? I'm tired of drifting from job to job. I'm not going back to that adjunct faculty bullshit, that's for sure. I guess I could get a PhD, but that's a rat race too, with little reward at the end.

So maybe I'll end up deciding to hang in Baltimore for a while longer. If I get my shit together and take the Praxis in French I could teach another subject and mix things up that way, and perhaps moving to high school would help make it palatable for a bit longer. Of course after 4 years of dis-use my French language skills are in the shitter...but the amount of reading/grading/planning required for English classes is a real drag. How do people do it?

Maybe after B'more I'll find another type of teaching challenge, maybe on an Indian reservation, or at an international school, or on an overseas military base school. I need to start thinking about it because if I'm going to look for another gig after the 2010/2011 school year, next summer is the time to start planning.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

As a language teacher myself, I assure you teaching French would be infinitely easier than English (there IS no more soul crushingly time consuming subject. And if you think it's hellish now, try high school.)

I have no idea how much French is required to pass the Praxis, but even teaching at the highest level--in high school--in your current environment, you'd never get much beyond the present tense, some greetings and the most basic of vocabulary (un, deux, trois ...): your French, however bad it is, is far more than adequate, I'm quite sure. I say: go for the Praxis (and maybe a transfer to a somewhat less lifethreateningly crazy public school?)

Kai in NYC

Geoff said...

I'm going to borrow a Praxis French book just to look at it. I finished a second BA in French lit five years back, and took several upper-level grammar courses in the process, including a six-week stint in Rouen at a business school. I'm rusty, however, through disuse, but can get it back quickly I'm sure. Maryland also requires us to converse with a native speaker who is a paid evaluator for an hour as part of the certification process. I'm sure I could fumble my way through that too.

As for the crazy schools, I'm pretty much stuck with that so long as I'm in B'more. One more year at least!

fernie said...

You know you love it!