Teacher Question
Busy, busy week. I've been in new teacher orientation and training the past couple of days. Fortunately the soon-to-be ex has helped out by taking Monkey Boy with him to the Michigan House, so I can focus on my work. I have a question for those of you who are teachers: Is being asked to join a school district committee a good thing?
I was wrapping up at orientation this morning and someone asked me what my last name was so I told her. After telling her, the trainer whipped around and asked, "Are you [insert real name here]?" I suspiciously asked, "Why?"
"Human Resources forwarded your resume to me because they were so excited about it. They said that you could do some teacher training and we want you on our technology committee."
You see, I'm not just a geek. I'm their queen. I've written several books and once upon a time, I was a trainer for Microsoft. I was informed by the trainer that my resume has been circulated around the county already. Very scary.
Hmmm, is this request to join a committee a good thing? Seems like a good thing, but I'm such a newbie, I don't know if this is something I should get involved with. Any feedback would be appreciated.
New topic: I'll try to get photos of my room posted this weekend. I'm in a trailer, which they actually call trailers at my school. No pretty names are being used for these things like 'pods' or 'instructional cottages' or 'mobile training units.' Nope, they just call them plain ol' trailers. I have decided that my students and I will not be calling it a trailer. I've renamed mine to the Cabana. I like the sauciness of it. How about you?
I was wrapping up at orientation this morning and someone asked me what my last name was so I told her. After telling her, the trainer whipped around and asked, "Are you [insert real name here]?" I suspiciously asked, "Why?"
"Human Resources forwarded your resume to me because they were so excited about it. They said that you could do some teacher training and we want you on our technology committee."
You see, I'm not just a geek. I'm their queen. I've written several books and once upon a time, I was a trainer for Microsoft. I was informed by the trainer that my resume has been circulated around the county already. Very scary.
Hmmm, is this request to join a committee a good thing? Seems like a good thing, but I'm such a newbie, I don't know if this is something I should get involved with. Any feedback would be appreciated.
New topic: I'll try to get photos of my room posted this weekend. I'm in a trailer, which they actually call trailers at my school. No pretty names are being used for these things like 'pods' or 'instructional cottages' or 'mobile training units.' Nope, they just call them plain ol' trailers. I have decided that my students and I will not be calling it a trailer. I've renamed mine to the Cabana. I like the sauciness of it. How about you?
Labels: teaching
posted by Peach Pod at 1:18 PM
5 Comments:
If it is a nonpaid job...no. You will have enough to do.
Well, I say that if there's a chance you may enjoy it and get your creative computer genius flowing, then it could be fun. Like the President of the Junior League of Computers!
But it also sounds like you are going to have your hands full being a single parent to a boy who will need you a lot. So, there has to be a balance.
go cabana girl! I say sign on with caution--just keep some decent boundaries.
if you say "no" it will be a negative against you--trust me...I am a "teacher" of residents and medical students--and the academic guys are MUCH more easily offended than the medical ones....
Go for it ... you can choose how much to do, but hey, if you can help steer the wobbly boat of school tech adoption at *all* it would be a good thing.
As for the teacher training, I'd be careful to delineate how much you're willing to do for free before you start charging. And sit down and figure out what you would realistically charge to do a weekend training session.
Ok, first year is going to be all about learning the hard way. Be prepared for stress, and have a reminder, something you can use as a touchstone to put it all in perspective; It isn't life or death, its middle school. Keeping this in mind, the one lesson you don't need to learn that way is that the district will bleed you dry if you let them. Follow the advice above; don't take it on without being certain how much it requires and do some research to find out about pay. If they are offering a decent stipend then it could be a good step. Pay or no pay you'll need to establish boundries. The last thing you want to do is get locked into giving up evenings and weekends to fixing computer glitches.
I know you're going to have fun in your Cabana.
Oh, you must get a hold of the book, Teacher Man by Frank McCourt. Everything you need to know about teaching is in that book. Better yet, rent the audio from the library, you won't have time to read for awhile.
Thinking of you and sending all good teacher mojo your way!
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