Decision Time

[danaeris]

They offered me the job on the spot, and want a decision by noon tomorrow.
It pays $400/class/month. I'd be teaching two sections of Algebra II, one section of Algebra I, and one section of tenth grade Chemistry. If I taught four classes both terms, I'd be making 20K/year, no benefits. If I take a study period both terms and babysat them, I'd be making 24K.

The good news:
-My schedule would be noon-3, Monday through Friday. I am free to do my lesson prep, grading, etc. at home.
-Class size averages 12 and caps at 16
-Although the school is orthodox, most of the students are not -- they are russian immigrants taking advantage of their Jewish heritage to get a private education, on financial aid. Because of that, the vast majority are highly motivated. What's more, about half of them are competitive ballroom dancers at a local studio I had not previously been aware of called Genesis. I kid you not.
-I will not have to move my January trip around at all... well, I may need to move the flight there by a day... as it coincides with their final exams from first time and someone else can proctor the exams.
-There are lots of holidays: January I would be working 66% of business days, February 80%, March 100%, April 50%, May 80%, June 50%, and July and August not at all. So even if we assume that I do 5 hours of prep time for every 3 hours of class time, I have some percentage of my time free without crossing the 40 hour mark all months except March.

The bad news:
-Because most of their students are on financial aid, they are sometimes late on paychecks 6-10 days
-Orthodox, so I have to wear skirts, cover my knees, cover my elbows, etc.
-I have to pick up the nightmare the previous teacher left behind after leaving suddenly after thanksgiving (but they understand that the remnants of fall term will be fudged for reasonable grades etc.)
-30 minute bus ride from Market
-Teaching high school students is very different from MIT freshmen, children, and figure skating students... young children are handled differently, adult students and MIT freshmen are very motivated and respectful. I'm a little scared of it.

There are three things I wanted out of my job:
(1) covering my rent, monthly bills, and food -- this does that before my loans come out of deferment; we'll see what happens when they do come out of deferment
(2) Not be a sucky telefundraising or admin assist job I hated -- this probably satisfies that requirement -- and be in the city -- again, satisfied
(3) Leaves me enough time to write -- I'm not sure because I have no idea how much time I'll spend prepping... It seems unlikely that it will average substatially more than one hour per hour I teach, but maybe I'm on crack.

So I'm leaning towards yes. But if anyone who teaches can speak up in the comments with their thoughts, it would be appreciated. If you know someone who TEACHES math and chemistry in high school, if you would put me in touch with them I'd appreciate it... feel free to forward this info to them. And anyone can feel free to respond to my poll...

[Poll #222342]

Comments

[nytemuse.livejournal.com]

Soapbox time, I guess (since it was requested by the poster of this entry)...

A teacher's job is less about communicating the material than presenting it. The kids could learn that stuff from books and the internet. Teachers need to make them WANT to learn it and make it understandable. 99% of my lesson prep is being creative and trying to think how to get the message past the distracted block created by TV and video games, while staying within the constraints of the school's regulations/guidelines. Basically, even if you know the material, it's not always enough. Also, if you choose to use the less conservative methods, you may be challenged by the administration. My best friend from elementary school was driven out of the school she taught at because she was sick of having to defend her lessons. She's a sweetheart, but the administration got suspicious when they discovered the students actually enjoyed her class (Oh, the horrors).

It's a Hebrew Orthodox school. I had a hard enough time being a Pagan student at a Catholic school...I can't imagine what would have happened if I had had any non-Catholic teachers. If they ever find out you're Pagan and anything you do influences the students religiously, watch out.

Didn't you also mention something about these being immigrant children? How's the English proficiency? If you have any ELL (English Language Learning) students, the techniques used to present the material differ drastically.

You're right; high school students are SO different from university students and even children. Don't always believe the administration when they say the students are "highly motivated". That's sometimes based on pipe dreams, or poorly constructed tests/figures. Trust me, you WILL get at least one slacker/class clown (if not more) and s/he WILL drive you crazy. High school, even private school, is a war zone. You will not be their friend right off the bat. You have to be prepared for them to not like you, possibly insult you. Teachers have to have a very thick shell, and from what I've seen, you care a lot about what others think about you.
A personal theory: most teachers do not spend enough time with adolescents, thus they treat them with little to no respect. Adolescents know this and begin to develop a chip on their shoulders with regards to dealings with ALL adults. Students can sense when you have some agenda or are treating them improperly and will respond in force. Especially if you come at them with an attitude of superiority or being the "expert", which I have felt like you have done to me on occasion. I'm not saying it's intentional, just that I sometimes want to stop a conversation because I feel like if you try and tell me something on a topic that I disagree with, you don't seem to listen to my objections and just keep going on like you know better, which is off-putting. If you do that with high school students, they'll tune out your voice.

And last, my protective streak. Feel free to dismiss if you like, but it's something I can't ignore. Ever since the dotcom crash, the teaching market has been flooded with underqualified candidates who didn't want to be there. And since the schools were desperate at the time, they took anyone. Now there are dozens, if not hundreds, of more than qualified credentialed teachers who can't get jobs. And the way Arnold and Dubya are going, the budget will continue to be whittled away. So when I hear of someone saying "I could go into teaching till the economy picks up again" or "I could work part-time while working on my true dream", that's one less job for me or my colleagues who really WANT to be there.

If you do not care about the job, your performance will suffer. And in this case, if your performance suffers, the students suffer. I have no problem with people going into retail or secretarial or other temp work with that attitude because you're affecting the present mostly. If you go into teaching with that attitude, you're affecting your students' future. I've had teachers that obviously didn't want to be there. The only reason I passed was because I used other sources (books, internet, parents).

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

I do appreciate the time you've taken to respond. You have given me some things to think about.

It's true I'll have to keep my mouth shut and my eyes on the prize as far as religion is concerned, but most of the teachers are not Jewish. I'm familiar with the culture and used to dealing with it. So I'm not too concerned about that.

And yeah, the principal could be lying to me about how motivated the students were, but she was so up front about everything else, I don't see why she'd lie. She could still be deluded, though, as you say.

The war zone aspect is definitely a big misgiving. But its not one I can get over until I take the plunge and see what happens.

As for my attitude... I think you misunderstand me, which isn't a huge surprise since you and I haven't talked much about my teaching background. I'm not sure that I want to do this, but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't be dedicated to doing the right thing for my students if I did do it. I love teaching. I love finding just the right way to communicate material and making their eyes light up with understanding -- finally! I love interacting with a personal level with my students and making an impact on their lives. But I'm scared of the "battleground" and worried I won't have enough free time to write. Discussions with a friend who taught freshman chemistry this past term at MIT who knows my background have killed my misgivings about lack of Chemistry background.

I'm still kind of torn, but reading the comments you and others left here have been very helpful in solidifying what's going on in my mind and what the concerns and issues are. I might have some questions for the Principal tomorrow morning before I make any decisions.

[nytemuse.livejournal.com]

And yeah, the principal could be lying to me about how motivated the students were, but she was so up front about everything else, I don't see why she'd lie. She could still be deluded, though, as you say.

It's not so much an intentional lying thing...more of either wishful thinking, or deluded. Just because kids do the work required does not make them highly motivated.

As for my attitude... I think you misunderstand me, which isn't a huge surprise since you and I haven't talked much about my teaching background.

My obversations are based on the fact that every step of the way, this has been seen as a way to pay the rent while offering enough time to develop your freelance career. This is something you could do and even enjoy, but not what you want to dedicate your life to. As I said, I don't mind people going into almost any other job with the "stepping-stone" mentality, but since teaching so directly impacts others' lives, I do have issues with that mentality in the classroom.

I think you present a very valid concern about not having enough free time to write, which is your main goal (as I see it). If this was a full-time gig, I would say definitely not. As is, 4 classes can be a bit. Not nearly as much work as for an English class, since you don't have to grade essays *wry g* but it can be a fair amount of work. And I think another question you should ask yourself before proceeding is what will happen if you don't get enough time to write? How will that affect your ability to do your job?

As I said before, I am not trying to talk you out of teaching. I fully support anyone with a desire to procede. I just want to give you some of the benefit that the talks I've had with the teachers in my family, and my in-class experiences have given me so that you don't find yourself trapped, since you did point out that you can't just "quit".

[coffeekitty.livejournal.com]

what/where do you teach?

[nytemuse.livejournal.com]

Nowhere yet. I finish my credential in the spring, then I hope to get a job somewhere in SF. Failing that, my alma mater in SJ is apparently hiring and would probably take me...

[nytemuse.livejournal.com]

Soapbox too long, had to do second post.

I'm not saying I don't think you could be a good teacher, just that high school, even private school, is not the best place to test your wings. Especially if this is a side thing while you build up your freelancing. Since you've already taught university, I'd say go that way of things, since university teaching is much easier.

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

University teaching is not an option. No college will hire me without a Masters or Ph.D., even with a Bachelors from MIT.

[fyfer.livejournal.com]

I don't teach high school, but it is something I've thought about a lot. You obviously have much more teaching experience than me since I've just TAed and stuff.

Even though the pay is low, having July and August free is nice and you could get other jobs during that time or use it to focus on freelancing. I still tend to be wary of jobs without benefits, though.

I bet teaching mostly immigrants has its pluses and minuses - are there likely to be serious language issues? I sort of suspect not, for the type of school you're describing with motivated students and really small classes (and the class size makes this job sound so much more appealing than a lot of teaching jobs...)

Would having a job somewhere in the world of publishing/writing make it easier for you to stick with the writing and get good connections?

Congratulations on making such a good impression on them. :-) It's nice to feel wanted.

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

Having a job in writing/publishing might help me get some useful experience, some more writing clips, and some useful connections, but not a lot. And when you're writing all day 40 hours+ a week, its really hard to motivate yourself to go home and freelance.

I haven't had benefits since I graduated from college. It sucks, but there you have it. I've been getting free health care because I'm poor but I won't qualify anymore if I get this job.

Apparently, though, with this job I should be eligible to cancel my perkins loan, which is somewhere on the order of 10K. That would be, well, helpful anyway.

Thanks for the congrats.

[dazzlynn.livejournal.com]

A few things I've thought about

1) do you know how much time out of class you will be spending on lessons. Are you really going to paid the per hour rate you think, and will you actually have the amount of free time you think you will to write?

2) 20K seems low to me, but I, obviously, don't know your financial sitch. Will you be paying for health care out of pocket, can you afford that? As posted above, you probably won't be paid for vacations and summer months. Can your budget stand that?

3) do you have enough clothes that are suitable for teaching in? Will you have to buy lots of new stuff for this job?

4) you really can't just quit if you find you're not enjoying it.

I don't know you very well, or your situation. From what you've written, *I* wouldn't take the job. But good luck to you with this, or any of the other positions!

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

It's not a per hour rate, its per class. So I will get paid 1600/month. The question is, how much work will I be doing to get that 1600? I'm not sure what the answer is. Prep time is unclear.

I can definitely live on 20K if I don't have loans to pay off and don't buy myself any health insurance. I haven't had health insurance since college, nearly two years now, so its nothing new... And my goal is to do freelance writing, so I would be working during the summer freelance writing, which CAN pay a lot if you're good at it.

I mostly have the clothes I need. I own... 4 skirts that cover my knees adequately. I might need to buy a few tops but I can do that cheap at a thrift store.

I can't just quit, but I only have to last 6 months, a little less, before I can stop.

Thanks for the luck!

[fyfer.livejournal.com]

I'm curious about the clothing - this has nothing to do with whether you should take the job. Do the school's rules just follow basic orthodox requirements about skirt length and exposed skin, or is some more subjective concept of modesty involved? For instance, could you wear crazy patterned/colored tights? (At this particular school, from what you saw)

[qedrakmar.livejournal.com]

Since student loans seem to be a major concern of yours, you might note that there are options available to teachers that are not available to anyone else, for forbearance and even cancellation of federal student loans, if the school is an NPO (or public, which is irrelevant in this case).

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

oooo.

Yes, I think I would be eligible to cancel my Perkins loan! But not the Stafford; there's no way I'll stay at this school for five years. But still. That's shiny. That's work about 10K to me. Thanks so much for the heads up!

[hopeforyou.livejournal.com]

As a former teacher across grades and subject matter, I have a few thoughts/comments...a number of people here have already said things I agree with concerning using different teaching methods and relating to adolescents, so I won't repeat those here.

In your situation, I would want to know if there were any additional 'hidden' hours and what the people are like that you will be working with (both administration and other teachers).

I knew of a number of 'part time' teachers who were expected to take on extracurricular activities and clubs and cover for other teachers so their part time hours were anything but. If that isn't a consideration for you or this school doesn't work that way, then it's a non-issue. For me it wouldn't be, as I expect to get compensated for all my time unless I volunteer and there was no pressure.

[nytemuse.livejournal.com]

Ooh, that is a good point I had completely forgotten about. Administration can have a sneaky way of conning teachers into taking on clubs or other extracurriculars. If there's nothing in your contract, I don't think they can force you do take on any clubs, but they do have other methods...it's something to consider.

Something else to consider/ask about...there is a teachers' union and the fees are usually deducted from your paycheck. If you're going to stay in teaching for any significant amount of time, the union is worth it. Since you're not, you may or may not wish to take advantage of the union, but since the pay is so low, I would make sure that they don't assume you want to be in the union and deduct that as well.

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

Based on what they said, the extracurriculars shouldn't be a problem. The school is set up like this:

Judaic staff
Secular staff

The secular staff come in to teach classes, and then leave. The Judaic staff build the community. That's my understanding. The school is all about building awareness of Judaism, Jewish togetherness, etc., but normally the secular staff turn out not to be Jewish or at least not to be observant. So they actually want to minimize contact between secular staff and students, I'd imagine. And unless it wasn't obvious, I'd be secular staff.

Thanks for the heads up on the teachers union thing. :)

[coffeekitty.livejournal.com]

thoughts, though i'm not sure where i'm going with them:

first, it sounds like this school may have a serious problem with hiring and retaining teaching staff, which i would see as a serious red flag until i knew more. for instance, why did the teacher you'd be replacing quit so suddenly? also, given that right now it's really an employer's market, i'm suspicious of the on-the-spot offer; it seems a bit desperate for an economy in which there are a lot of very talented people looking for work. i really would imagine that even if they came out of the interview with a very positive evaluation of you, they would want to interview more than one candidate.

also, the pay seems abnormally low, and combined with the lack of benefits and warnings about late pay, you may not even be provided with adequate materials to do your job.

i'm also questioning how much you would like being a teacher. i haven't seen you do a whole lot of teaching, so this is not an in-depth evaluation, but when i did see you teaching, you seemed kind of hurried and eager to get it over with to me. granted, this may just be me observing you under MIT-level stress, but i'd advise being really honest with yourself about whether you really want to teach. if the answer is yes, terrific.

i suppose that the bottom line i'm seeing here is that the benefit/required effort ratio here may be a little low, and i would have to be at least moderately desperate before i would take the job as described. but you know the particulars better than me; i'm sure you'll make the right decision.

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

The teacher I'm replacing was also an MIT alum with background in chemistry. He quit suddenly because he HAD been doing part time computer consulting, but he got offered a full time job he couldn't refuse doing product development in his field.

I was their fifth and last interview candidate; they had already interviewed the other five. Apparently, they were very pleased with their experience with the other MIT graduate -- students had said that it was the first time they felt they'd understood math. I think I was offered the job on the spot for a variety of reasons... I'm Jewish, I have the ballroom interest to relate to the students, I have a very prestigious degree and they've had good experiences with MIT folk in the past aside from the abrupt leave he took. Science teachers are supposedly hard to find, even in this economy, and I'd imagine finding teachers to start January 5 on this much notice would be tough. Especially for low pay.

As far as liking being a teacher... its a good question. At MIT, I was an unmedicated depressive with anxiety problems. I was scared of teaching even though I went through with it. Teaching was an extremely stressful environment because I was scared shitless of it. Teaching writing was different... I genuinely enjoyed it. The same goes for figure skating.

I'm on medication now and I've learned a lot more about myself and my strengths and weaknesses and limits. I BELIEVE that my discomfort with teaching back then was due to fear and anxiety, and not based in an actual dislike of the activity. If I can move beyond the fear and self-doubt and teach with confidence, I believe I will immerse myself and get into it the way I got into teaching both writing and figure skating.

Teaching algebra doesn't frighten me, and the Chemistry shouldn't. What does make me nervous is the high school students themselves. Rax has referred to mind games they play, and you have to play to deal with them. Intellectually I strongly suspect I can handle them relatively well, but emotionally I am definitely scared of it, and that is a concern. I need to get over that fear fast or I'll sink instead of swimming.

As far as cost/benefit analysis... its hard to tell. It really is. If I can keep outside of class time commitments and prep time and grading to a minimum without short changing the students, I'll be working maybe 6 hours a day on average about 3/4 of business days, if I calculate for a whole school year, not counting two months off for summer. Really, the wild card here is the prep time. Even if I can keep the prep time to 5 hours per 3 hours I teach and work 8 hour days, I'll still be averaging 25% of business days off + summer vacation, which is plenty of time for writing. So, yeah. I'm still not sure.

[fyfer.livejournal.com]

minor question: I can't tell from what you said if the two months off in summer are unpaid or not. If not, then wouldn't four classes for two terms be $16k?

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

You're right. It's 16K without the study period and 20K with. I think she was confused and just multiplied 1600/month times 12, forgetting that there are 2 months in the summer. I'm fairly certain they do not have summer school.

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

Oh, and after taxes that 16K is an average of about $300/week, where I've been living comfortably on $340/week at WIRED -- but this will give me substantially more free time to pursue freelance writing to supplement that income.