Soap Box.

When it comes to teaching there are a lot of misconceptions. Over the past four months I have come across a few commonly held ideas that I would like to clarify.

"So you graduated? You must be excited, that means you are on the list then?"

No. I mean it is very exciting to graduate but unfortunately graduation does not guarantee a new teacher a position on any substitute or TOC (Teacher on call) list. TOC positions must be applied for the same as any other job, you take in your resume and if they like what they see or who you know...then you get a spot on the list.


"Why are you becoming a teacher, isn't it like impossible to get a job."

No. Getting a teaching job is not impossible in fact the majority of my graduating class of January 2013 are now working teachers. There are certainly places where it is more difficult to get hired such as Victoria. As far as I can recall in the last six months the only teachers they have been hiring are French language speaking. It is not an easy start, that much is true but no one goes into teaching because they expect an easy ride...and if they do they are stupid.


...Maybe naive is a nicer way of putting it.


"It must be so great to have all of those holidays and to work from 9-3."

Yes. It is wonderful to have time off but a teacher's day does not begin at 8:45 nor does it end at 3:00. I arrive at school every morning at 7:00 to start my day and class starts at 8:45. I use this time to make sure everything I need for the day is in order, to do some extra photocopying  sometimes parents will drop by to speak to me, some mornings I have supervision, to be concise - I need to be there early to make sure everything is organized for the students.  My TOC friends usually start their days around 6 a.m. when the phone rings with a potential position for the day, sometimes earlier. I am often at school on Sundays to do marking, go over lesson plans to see where I can make improvements and just tinker with the class space to see what I can improve. As far as holidays go, well teachers work at the school past the point students are done for the summer. There is organizing and planning and paperwork to be done. When students arrive again in September, Teachers have already been there since August planning, decorating our rooms, and providing our employers with year plans.


"Ugh, the education system is broken why do you bother?"

The amount of times I hear this...I try really hard not to roll my eyes when this conversation rolls around. Teacher's have all kinds of problems with the education system and have a better understanding of it's failings than most. I don't really want to go too deeply into this one but to be rather direct: Yes, the system is broken but because it is the one serving the children, our future, I believe that being part of the process of solving the problem is better than giving up. If you want things to improve get political and support the teachers you value. The End.


"You are a teacher? Oh, man I had this horrible teacher who hated me and made my life hell in _____."

Teachers are people, we make mistakes. The people who went through teacher ed. with me were for the most part wonderful, caring, conscientious, hard working people. I did not always agree with their political or religious ideas but I know that none of them would purposely target a student for mistreatment. This comment, from my perspective, is often coloured by a failure of perspective. People forget what they were like in school, that they were young, full of hormones, and in a classroom with 20+ other hormonal buzzing students. It is possible the speaker was not a paragon of virtue. Having said that, yes I do recognize that there are horrid teachers BUT by and large I believe people who go into the education profession are not out to get kids.