How do you teach a subject you barely know?

[PhiMed]

I get the feeling you want me to ask what your job is, so I'll bite: are you a Marine? Are you an NCO, in charge of a fireteam, or a squad, or an entire rifle platoon? Corporal? Sargeant? Staff Sargeant? What are you doing arguing on the internet, Devil Dog?

And no. I'm a physician. It's a good thing you're a teacher, because you're a terrible detective.

My apologies. I was guessing what other profession could possibly equal being personally and continually in charge of the continued health, well-being, and morale of the people placed in your hands.

...and paid shit for it.

Ok. Actual last post.

I stated I was paid better than you (which actually isn't true right now, because I'm still in residency, but I will be pretty well-compensated once I'm board certified). I stated my job required more hours (70-90 a week. 3 weeks of vacation each year), more education (4-year degree plus 4-year medical school plus 3-5 year residency where you're paid substantially less than a teacher, but have considerably more school debt), more legal liability (Do I really need to elaborate on that?), and the word MED is in my damn screen name. You got some sort of military career from that?

Would you really like to discuss life and death decisions with me? Really?

 

[Death God]

Just tell your boss. But if you insist on keeping the job, take private lessons from someone and teach from that. But it is a safer bet just to tell your boss and find something else to do instead.

 

[Paksenarrion]

Every choice we make has consequences, and only airport traffic controllers make more decisions than we do each day.

I can't tell whether we've stepped into the world of hyperbole, or the world of delusion.

We're discussing our respective professions, so it's subjective.

Very subjective.

So I guess that answers that: Delusion.

Did you just call us both delusional? Well, you're the medical expert. I can't fault your logic.

Explains how medical bills are calculated, though.

Last post on this. You're clearly mentally unbalanced.

No, I'm calling you delusional. Stating that "only airport traffic controllers make more decisions (with consequences) than we do each day" is not a subjective statement. Saying that it is a subjective statement means one of the following:
a) you're exaggerating (that's what hyperbole means, btw)
b) you don't understand what "subjective" means, which makes me question your qualifications as a teacher of anything
c) you have delusions of grandeur so profound that you actually believe that a teacher doing a bad job has a similar effect to an air traffic controller doing a bad job.

Sorry to break it to you, but a huge number of primary and secondary school teachers are bad. There are some amazing ones out there, and they deserve every bit of recognition they get, but at least a quarter of them are bad. Sorry, but it's true. If there were a proportionate number of bad air traffic controllers, I seriously doubt flying would be the safest possible mode of travel.

Where do you think a majority of "badly taught" students go without the educational and personal attention they need? The Prison-Industrial Complex. We want to change that.

Have you ever tried maintaining an environment where everyone felt safe and confident in their ability to learn? For the most part, there are procedures and common sense rules, much like any profession, but each student is different, and are affected by people and events outside of the classroom, and therefore out of your affective control. So, no, I am not exaggerating.

Subjective: existing in the mind; belonging to the thinking subject rather than to the object of thought (opposed to objective). We are both thinking subjects, and the things we have discussed exist in our minds. What is *your* definition of subjective?

You are mistaking "taking the responsibilities of one's profession seriously" as delusions of grandeur. I would not want an air traffic controller who did not take their job seriously to direct any plane I am on, much like I would not trust my child (if I had one) to a teacher who did not take their job seriously.

And I definitely would not want to be treated by a physician who did not take their job seriously.

 

[CrystalShadow]

Tell the people who are telling you to teach chorus that you don't know how. Seems like the most logical thing to do.

Unfortunately I need the work and I am afraid I would be fired if I didn't teach it. My boss isn't too keen on keeping me up to date on the goings on with the program. so I have had to hit the ground running with every program.

Welcome aboard, fellow teacher! We are the most underpaid, under-appreciated, and overworked profession in my opinion.

*Wall of text from someone who is obviously not a teacher.*

As a teacher, you are in charge of 30+ students per class, depending on which grade level you're teaching. You don't just teach a lesson and that's it. It's not a "fire and forget" missile. You do everything in your power to make sure your students understand what you're teaching, why you're teaching it, and how they can use it in life. Teachers work during weekends and during "summer vacation". And, depending on where you are teaching, you also have to deal with gang violence, bullying, domestic abuse...and you are tied down by numerous restrictions and liabilities. This is a very condensed summary of what a teacher must deal with.

Also, who says fellow teachers can't commiserate about our profession? Does it really irk you to hear that teachers are human, too?

When teachers work during the summer, they are paid for it. In most cases, they're paid extra for working weekends, too. You know that. You have to keep track of things as the year goes on? Oh noes! That's only exactly like every job with any responsibility ever!

I could give you a list of things that suck about my job, too. We could compare hours, liability, restrictions, exposure to violence or physical harm, reasonableness of responsibilities, and vacation time, and I almost guarantee I would trump you in pretty much every category except pay. I most likely make more than you, but that's because my job requires more hours, less vacation time, more education, and more legal and physical risk. Those things, however, don't mean my job is harder than yours, and I don't harp on them whenever someone so much as mentions my job. This is what separates me from the vast majority of teachers.

If it was only commiseration, no, that wouldn't be a problem. But this has been the chorus of every teacher who appears on a talk show and every teacher who speaks in a forum for at least the past twenty years. Give a teacher a microphone and an audience, and he or she will be talking about the trials and tribulations of teachers (whether that's the subject of discussion or not) within five minutes. Put a teacher next to someone with a microphone, and that person will be talking about how we should pay teachers more almost as quickly.

Think about it. When's the last time you saw a teacher as a guest on a television show when both of these things failed to happen: 1)The teacher decried the status of teachers. 2) The host kissed teachers' butts. There isn't another group of professionals in the nation who whine as much about their jobs.

Uhuh... Yeah, how about I tell you something... I'm not a teacher, and I hated school in every concievable way.

Yet, I watched as my mother taught high school classes, and literally got up at 6 in the morning, went to bed at 12, and had maybe 20 minutes along the way where she wasn't either at school, or dealing with marking / lesson preparations or something similar.
Maybe your job is worse, but seriously, looking at her life from the outside, she had literally no free time whatsoever, despite living in a small town (and thus having next to no travel time).

The pay wasn't exactly bad, and because of the location being very remote, there were other financial incentives too, but on the whole I'd list it as one of the most annoying, thankless, and unrewarding jobs around. (And I don't mean that in a financial sense. Bureaucracy and working conditions make it difficult to teach effectively... You're dealing with kids who rarely want to learn - especially in a high school, and you're expected to be a fascist bully as a matter of course just to keep the kids in your class under control.)


So... Yeah. By observation, my list of shit jobs so far includes:
- Teaching (especially high school. Adult education is the least stressful). Aside from the stress of the work itself, there's also all kinds of insane qualifications and security certifications involved.
- Taxi Driving (Yay. Long hours. No money (averages less than minimum wage, and is unpredictable to boot). Though this can be better or worse depending on the laws relating to taxi licensing, and thus whether you can afford your own taxi or not.)

As for the OP, I really don't know what to suggest.
My mother said she found it odd too, being asked to teach all kind of things she didn't really know about.
Officially she was the school's IT teacher, and somehow that made her qualified to teach industrial design, woodworking, math, physics, cookery and whatever else might come up randomly?

The head of the school told her "you're a teacher first, everything else is secondary"...
Which implies some attitude that 'teaching' is something in and of itself independent of any subject matter.

 

[Paksenarrion]

I get the feeling you want me to ask what your job is, so I'll bite: are you a Marine? Are you an NCO, in charge of a fireteam, or a squad, or an entire rifle platoon? Corporal? Sargeant? Staff Sargeant? What are you doing arguing on the internet, Devil Dog?

And no. I'm a physician. It's a good thing you're a teacher, because you're a terrible detective.

My apologies. I was guessing what other profession could possibly equal being personally and continually in charge of the continued health, well-being, and morale of the people placed in your hands.

...and paid shit for it.

Ok. Actual last post.

I stated I was paid better than you (which actually isn't true right now, because I'm still in residency, but I will be pretty well-compensated once I'm board certified). I stated my job required more hours (70-90 a week. 3 weeks of vacation each year), more education (4-year degree plus 4-year medical school plus 3-5 year residency where you're paid substantially less than a teacher, but have considerably more school debt), more legal liability (Do I really need to elaborate on that?), and the word MED is in my damn screen name. You got some sort of military career from that?

Would you really like to discuss life and death decisions with me? Really?

You're still paid better than me, because I'm a student teacher; we don't get paid anything. Our students and their myriad strengths and needs are in our thoughts 16 hours a day, "vacations" are times we need to prep for lesson plans tailored to fit student assessments, and even when we have to take sick leave to recover our health, we are thinking about how to make up that lost instructional time.

Teachers are continuously taking classes in a myriad of subjects and educational plans (much like how doctors keep up with the latest medical procedures and technologies), and as a student teacher, I do not even get the benefit of an assured residency. I would be lucky to get substitute work every so often. You'll be well-compensated once you're certified; as a new teacher (if I find a position) with a teaching credential, I am probational.

Legal liability: a doctor accused of malpractice versus a teacher accused of sexual harassment...both are fairly equal, since both would result in job termination and jail time.

MED as in a combat medic, or general practitioner? I did not want to assume you were a plastic surgeon, so I aimed high. In which case, I will admit that I am still wrong. Marines do not have Medics. The Navy provides them.

Life and Death decisions: bad decisions that lead to ignorance of bullying that lead to a school shooting or suicide mentality. It's a longer road, but the guilt and anger is just as strong, if not worse.

Doctors can't afford to become emotionally attached to their patients.

Teachers can't help but become attached to their students.