Teaching in the USA

[Jeraly 4]

For babbles et al

I can totally relate to that - I did my four year degree and I *loved* my degree. I loved the variety of things I was learning because I had to learn about all subjects. I loved working with the children and I loved coming up with new and exciting things for them. By I think my third year it began to focus more on paperwork (I graduated in 2007) and by the fourth year I was lucky to make it through my final placement because aside from driving over 50 miles each day, I was having to teach six separate subjects a day (or thereabouts) each with a detailed A4 plan (removing margins, size 8 font etc) for the lesson as well as weekly, medium and long term plans, references to E&E, ECM, NNS, NLS, NC, PNS... the list goes on...

I was in bed by 9pm every night after working 12 hour days - I prolly should have spent *longer* on my planning but I just couldn't. It almost got to the point that I couldn't be bothered - I just wanted to get through it and I thought that is no way to live. I don't want to spend my life feeling like that, the children don't deserve it, I don't deserve it... It really sucks because at first I had so much energy and imagination but it was sapped through constant assessment and cross referencing of the million different supplements the goverment had released to try and patch up the holes in its shoddy education system... harsh, no?!

The way I see it in the UK is that the NC is the only statutory doucment - give that to the teachers, let them use LCP/QCA schemes to help them plan but let them get on with it instead of trying to have them duck and weave to hit all the g-spots for the government

Ok... that's my rant Maybe the US is different - I want to at least get into TA work for a while anyway - I love working with kids, it will enlighten me to the education system there and if nothing else I can volunteer and maybe get babysitting work out of it

Truly - it's what made me train to be a teacher. Pity the profession has been degraded by so much government BS, red tape and paperwork - doesn't feel like it is about the children anymore so finished my degree then got an office job Will look into things more in the US

Truly - it's what made me train to be a teacher. Pity the profession has been degraded by so much government BS, red tape and paperwork - doesn't feel like it is about the children anymore so finished my degree then got an office job Will look into things more in the US

I just finished my teaching job on Friday. I'm considering NOT going back into teaching at all. The govt BS, red tape and bureaucracy plus lowering of standards across the board has put me off going back. I love my subject and I love being in the classroom. What happens outside of the classroom is truly demoralising at times.

Plus, I'd have to completely retrain in California. I don't know whether I'm prepared to put myself through the stress anymore. An office job sounds great right now.

*temporary thread hijack*

Agreed - I love the kids but even with my lack of experience I can see how it isn't like it used to be. Office job is ok but it isn't very fulfilling - wanting to set up my own business in the US and hopefully, if it is successful, offer opportunities for young people to be employed part time while going through school in something other than fast food or grocery stores! I'd love to offer opportunities to young people based on their imaginations, work ethic and skill rather than their ability to learn by rote and get a piece of paper - it's so competitive nowadays with degrees that are two-a-penny that I would like to think that there are opportunities for young people that don't involve going to uni

oops, it was a thread hijack. Apologies to the OP I sometimes forget which thread I'm writing on.

Anyway, your plans sound great. I really hope they come to fruition in the way you hope.

Truly - it's what made me train to be a teacher. Pity the profession has been degraded by so much government BS, red tape and paperwork - doesn't feel like it is about the children anymore so finished my degree then got an office job Will look into things more in the US

I just finished my teaching job on Friday. I'm considering NOT going back into teaching at all. The govt BS, red tape and bureaucracy plus lowering of standards across the board has put me off going back. I love my subject and I love being in the classroom. What happens outside of the classroom is truly demoralising at times.

Plus, I'd have to completely retrain in California. I don't know whether I'm prepared to put myself through the stress anymore. An office job sounds great right now.

This is how I feel right now. I am SO tired of the gov't BS and red tape, paperwork (god, you'd think I'd be used to this considering this freaking immigration journey) that I just feel my usefulness in this profession is at an end. I've been teaching 13 years now...and this is the longest my "burn out" feeling has lasted. It started before school began in August and continues today. Unless someone has been in our shoes, they can't fully appreciate where these feelings come from either. I've been looking into changing careers completely...going back to drafting or something else different. The sad thing is, I would miss my kids. But you just get to the point where it's hard to keep going when all you want to do is teach, ya know? Regulations, paperwork, and bureaucracy. That's what makes education such an unattractive field these days. No wonder there are shortages in education. *sigh*

Sorry for continuing to derail this thread.

Sorry for continuing to derail this thread.

Lol! I totally empathise with you. Maybe we should start a new thread. *Makes Jeraly start a new thread*

[bakofoil 27]

Aly, Thanks for starting the thread -I was half joking about making you do it - but you are so good at kicking these things off.

I've been teaching since 2004 so, only a relatively short time, but I feel I have aged so much as a result. The work-life balance is really hard to get right and even working as a supply teacher this past few months I've been struggling to retain it. Although, I wasn't strictly employed just for cover purposes - I was drafted in to write schemes for a shortage subject. I've loved that part of it, making resources and supporting other teachers who are not specialists in my subject and giving the kids help that they've never really been able to get before.

To be honest, I am so relieved right now to be given the opportunity to have a break from it and I'm undecided about going back. The California State Credentialing thing is a big deterrent for me, but I would be interested to hear from anyone who has gone through this after a period of being qualified abroad.

The other thing that scares me is just the difference in the systems. I have a very limited understanding of how the US education system works and it is daunting to think that on top of the usual paperwork I might have a completely alien system to get to grips with too.

So, for the moment, I'm considering an alternate career. Besides, teacher's everywhere are suffering the same issues. Why jump from the frying pan into the fire?

[bakofoil 27]

And to comment on Karen's points - I think we all feel the same. The kids make it an enjoyable job but it does get to the stage sometimes where you're too knackered/jaded to even enjoy that fully.

[Jeraly 4]

I don't know much about getting qualified over there but you're right - moving abroad gave me a good excuse *cough* I mean reason to not go into teaching. It's hard to get out of because you feel like you have put so much time and effort and training to do something that you feel guilty or even a failure if you don't stick with it - I felt awful for the longest time and I was really torn between trying to make a go of it or just not bothering. My confidence was so badly knocked during my final placement that I felt like I could never get up in front of a class and teach effectively as well as managing all the other things you need to. I felt like I would be detrimental to the children's education and that is a horrible feeling. I am sure I wouldn't have been that terrible but it is hard to bounce back when you feel like that.

I think having a fresh start will allow me at least to see things with fresh eyes - I really want to find a career that I love. I don't want to be one of those people who lives for the weekends and begrudges getting out of bed in the morning. Some people think I am crazy - that there is no way you can have a job like that and that work is a necessary evil. I think finding the perfect job is like falling in love - you might have to go through a few jobs to find the one that is perfect for you

One day I will have a job that I will love so much that I will look forward to the end of the weekend I think that is a good goal to have

[StillThePrettiest 3]

I wasn't around for the start of the conversation but it's one that interests me a lot, so you'll excuse my butting in

I'm a teacher by profession too... worked ten years in Australia, then two more here in London, and it's only relatively recently that I've moved 'sideways' into an education-related job, that doesn't see me in the classroom all that much... for the first five or six years of my career I worked easily twelve or thirteen hour days, on average, and because it was a private school there was Saturday sport and mid-week afternoon training on top... however, I found the system in Australia to be LOADS better than the one I found here; not faultless, by any means, but much of that time I was spending at work was making resources and creating schemes of work and actually doing something worthwhile, not a shedload of useless paperwork

and as I got more experienced, and I could re-use and refine the stuff I'd started with, I didn't need to stay as long each day, and I became a better and more confident teacher, so while it was still tiring, I didn't find it frustrating

teaching in the UK was a different story altogether...

if I'm over-simplifying, I think I'd blame league tables for the bulk of the problems, but there IS more to it than that... the absolutely crazy amount of paperwork would be another big thing

I was so glad to leave, after two years, and I wouldn't teach here again without knowing there'd been a major shake-up in the system

I still don't know what I'm going to do about a job in the US... I may go back to it; I get the impression it hasn't gone as ridiculous as the UK, and I don't think league tables exist

but my experience here has definitely scared me off, and there'll be the stupid accreditation issues in Texas too - I find it frankly insulting that twelve years of classroom experience, in pretty much every subject area at some point, teaching kids ranging in age from 9 to 19, six years' experience as a head of faculty, long-term positions on committees ranging from literacy to special needs, all counts for nothing

I can understand that there have to be checks and balances, but they NEED teachers, for Og's sake! it wouldn't be difficult for them to find out if I can actually do it

[Jeraly 4]

Yeah that does seem kinda crazy - I can understand some kind of course to train you on the US education system but you wouldn't need to be taught how to teach all over again. I don't have any experience outside of my training so I can understand why I might need to but still

[greeneyedgirlfl 0]

Yes, paperwork is the killer here as well...and we do more every year (most of it having to do with No Child Left Behind-NCLB)...

But I just asked a teacher I work with (originally from Nottingham), and she said there is far more paperwork in the UK than here...and since most things are computerised, even the paperwork is easier.

[bora bora 1]

Yes, paperwork is the killer here as well...and we do more every year (most of it having to do with No Child Left Behind-NCLB)...

But I just asked a teacher I work with (originally from Nottingham), and she said there is far more paperwork in the UK than here...and since most things are computerised, even the paperwork is easier.

NCLB is a four-letter word ...

[KarenCee 3]

Yes, paperwork is the killer here as well...and we do more every year (most of it having to do with No Child Left Behind-NCLB)...

But I just asked a teacher I work with (originally from Nottingham), and she said there is far more paperwork in the UK than here...and since most things are computerised, even the paperwork is easier.

NCLB is a four-letter word ...

Amen Sistah!

[Jeraly 4]

Haha - maybe that's the secret? All our acronyms seem to be three letter ones...

[greeneyedgirlfl 0]

Haha - maybe that's the secret? All our acronyms seem to be three letter ones...

That's what Alex (my ex-pat fellow teacher) said...

[StillThePrettiest 3]

what, like PGCE? NC? GCSE?

[Jeraly 4]

Nah - I was thinking, ECM, E&E, NLS, NNS, PNS, ELS, ALS, FLS... I am sure there are more but I've been trying to forget them

[StillThePrettiest 3]

I don't think I know any of them

I consider myself well blessed

[Jeraly 4]

ECM - Every Child Matters

E&E - Excellence and Enjoyment

NLS - National Literacy Strategy

NNS - National Numeracy Strategy

PNS - Primary National Strategy

ELS - Extra Literacy Support

ALS - Additional Literacy Support

FLS - Further Literacy Support...

Buttresses to the governments holey curriculum and strategies