Last week I was made a permanent employee at the school where I’ve been teaching these past six months. This comes with a raise and paid sick days. This has made me happy.
Since I became an EFL teacher (that’s English as a foreign language which is technically different that ESL in that our students are neither children nor for the most part people residing permanently in the US) I’ve been at three schools. I left the first because I’d grown weary of the commute. I left the second because it was falling apart at the seams. I then returned to the second but it closed so I’m now on number three. I’ve liked all three a lot. I’ve liked about 95% of my co-workers. At my current place of employment that total is 100%.
Unlike when I was a public school teacher, I’ve found site administrators to be reasonable, supportive people who make teachers’ jobs easier. This has been most welcome for someone who regularly crossed swords with principals and vice principals and even those odious creatures who worked as district administrators. In turn I’ve been respected and appreciated and have had infinitely less stress. Indeed, teaching English to people from other countries is as stress free a job as one can imagine.
While both being a middle school history teacher and an EFL teacher are in the same ballpark (teaching is teaching) they are miles apart. For example when I form groups in my current job no one yells: “I can’t work with him!” Indeed there are no cases of one student loudly accusing another of farting or a student insisting I tell another to “stop messing with me.” There are no fights in class, no name-calling, virtually no interruptions. After teaching thirteen-year-olds this job is a stroll in the park.
It has been brought to my attention that I’m quite a popular teacher and I’ve been asked what is the root of this popularity. I suppose the best way to address that is through advice:
Be yourself
Be prepared
Be sensitive to your audience
Be personable
Be patient
Be cheerful
Be encouraging
Be creative
Establish certain routines but don’t be afraid to mix things up from time to time
Don’t talk too much
Be professional, dot your i’s and cross your t’s with things like attendance
Don’t get carried away with yourself
Remember that the class is about them not about you
The best thing you can do is accumulate a lot of experience without burning out in the process
Make that the second most important thing you can do, number one is: work hard, have fun
On a not unrelated topic I a friend of mine is applying for a position as a high school history teacher. Having both been interviewed for a lot of positions and having also been an interviewer, I offered to give some advice. My friend took a chance and accepted.
Here’s what I told him:
Emphasize your love of history and the depth of your knowledge and how you’re a life-long student of history. Tell them you want to instill an appreciation of history in your students, particularly as a way to understand the present and look to the future. You’ll constantly be making connections between the past and today as a way of emphasizing the importance of the class.
Talk about how you want to make the class interactive and student-centered. You’ll often be in the role of facilitator leading class discussions. Student voices will be integral to your classrooms. Thus you want to guide student learning, not be the center of it. Students will be encouraged to develop their own opinions as you stress critical thinking skills. Beyond recitation of facts you’ll expect students to put forth their own opinions but ones based on facts. For example on a test you might have a questions like: What do you think were the three main causes of the Civil War? Be sure to support your opinion with relevant facts.”
You intend to get to know your students as individuals so you can better help them through the learning process. By having a familiarity with them you can better assist those who are struggling and better challenge those who are excelling.
You’ll also be aware of classroom dynamics and note that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work with some classes. You’ll occasionally have classes that tend to be quieter and more passive and need a bigger push and others that are more energetic and maybe need to be reigned in a bit.
Mention your flexibility and adaptability and how you are skilled at “calling audibles” that is altering lessons depending on the needs of the students on a particular day.
As a teacher your most valuable tool is a mirror. Anytime a lesson goes poorly or students don’t do well on a test you’ll look in that mirror to remind yourself of who’s responsible. A bad day, or a bad class or a bad interaction with a student is an opportunity for you to examine how you could have done things differently. A good teacher never blames students for being bored or confused, they figure out how they could have done things differently.
You know that teachers have to learn and grow constantly.
You will look to and learn from your colleagues, especially those with more experience. You believe in collaboration and collegiality. You know from sports that it’s important to be a team player. You’ll take advantage of in-services, professional developments, conferences, seminars etc. to enrich your professional growth.
Also talk about the school and why you would be a good fit for them. Ask them questions about the school, the history department, the curriculum etc.
When you can, answer the question you want to answer and not the one they ask. Let yourself get across the points you want to emphasize.
Though it may sound contradictory, try to appear confident, relaxed and enthusiastic.
Emphasize those work and even life experiences that most relate to the position your seeking.
You’re less likely to stress over it if you’re prepared and have thought about what you’re going to say.
Any prospective history teachers out there may feel free to use this, or not.
As an added bonus (is there any other kind?) to this post, here are rules for teachers from the 1800s. Don't let the current administration see this as they may elect to enforce them.
Rules for Teachers in the 1800s
1. Teachers each day will fill lamps, clean chimneys.
2. Each Teacher will bring a bucket of water and a scuttle of coal for the day’s session.
3. Make your pens carefully. You may whittle nibs to the individual taste of the pupils.
4. Men teachers may take one evening each week for courting purposes or two evenings a week if they go to church regularly.
5. After ten hours in school, the teacher may spend the remaining time reading the Bible or other good books.
6. Women teachers who marry or engage in unseemly conduct will be dismissed.
7. Every teacher should lay aside from each pay a good sum of his earnings for his benefit during his declining years so that he will not become a burden on society.
8. Any teacher who smokes, uses liquor in any form, frequents pool or public halls, or gets shaved in a barber shop will give good reason to suspect his worth, intention, integrity, and honesty.
9. The teacher who performs his labor faithfully and without fault for five years will be given an increase of twenty-five cents per week in his pay, providing the Board of Education approves.
