Institute Directing
Somewhere off to my left, the shower in my apartment is continously running, sending water forth in an unending spray, despite the fact that both faucets are cranked so hard to the shut-off point I have the design pressed into my palms. I sit here waiting for the repair guy to come, telecommuting or telecommunicating or working from my home office, and eating leftover birthday cake.
Like teenagers across America, I have a summer job. I am the Institute Director for a training program designed to equip career-changing professionals with the skills needed to teach in the high needs subject areas (math/ SpEd) of a low-performing urban area. The program is one of many funded and overseen by the an organization called The New Teacher Project, which has ties to TFA in a variety of ways. The goal here is to recruit career-educators, none of this "Teach For Awhile" two years stuff.
When I was younger, I would ask my accountant father what he did at work, and, probably assuming I wouldn't understand, he would tell me that he "put out fires all day." That's what I do now. Dress code complaints, summer school ending early, accusations of rampant unprofessionalism, sexual harrassment by cooperating teachers, whining about curriculum being "too theoretical." During the first week I kept a stop watch. Whenever I had solved all the problems, I turned it on. Whenever a new problem arose, I turned it off. Record: 1 hour, 7 minutes of problem-free work.
Like teenagers across America, I have a summer job. I am the Institute Director for a training program designed to equip career-changing professionals with the skills needed to teach in the high needs subject areas (math/ SpEd) of a low-performing urban area. The program is one of many funded and overseen by the an organization called The New Teacher Project, which has ties to TFA in a variety of ways. The goal here is to recruit career-educators, none of this "Teach For Awhile" two years stuff.
When I was younger, I would ask my accountant father what he did at work, and, probably assuming I wouldn't understand, he would tell me that he "put out fires all day." That's what I do now. Dress code complaints, summer school ending early, accusations of rampant unprofessionalism, sexual harrassment by cooperating teachers, whining about curriculum being "too theoretical." During the first week I kept a stop watch. Whenever I had solved all the problems, I turned it on. Whenever a new problem arose, I turned it off. Record: 1 hour, 7 minutes of problem-free work.
posted by Kilian Betlach at 9:07 AM
1 Comments:
If people had any idea of what incredible problem-solving, multi-tasking, three-ring-circus-leading people we teachers are, business would be trying to recruit *us* to work for *them*, not the other way around!
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