Update: My wife broke up yet another fight yesterday. This time, no lesbians or guns were involved. So before we went to bed last night, she looked really exhausted and I asked her about it. She simply said, "I just wish I could go to school and teach." It's like all her kids watched Fight Club and decided to reenact it live.
posted by Just a Few Things about Scott ... | 9:41 AM
5 Comments:
I've thought the same thing--although I admit our situations are not all that comparable. For me it's not breaking up fights that takes away from teaching, it's... well... stuff like having to write quizzes and tests, having to grade quizzes and tests... committee meetings, department meetings, advisor meetings... comment-writing, parent management...
Never mind, I'll shut up now and count my blessings.
Incidentally, I've been hearing good things about teaching at community college. Seriously. It sounds like, in general, the students tend to be more motivated and mature.
And they tend to not be spoiled rich kids.
Hey--I don't know if you remember a girl named Moriah. I think you may have met her (one of Court's friends) many years ago.
Anyway--the only reason why I bring this up is because she did the community college thing (still does, I think) as she's finishing up her degree.
If you want the low-down on that population, I can pass along her email.
I'm actually a big fan of the CC model. It allows students to grow up, they usually get a better faculty to student ratio, and they can do so in an affordable fashion. Far too many students go straight to college from HS, and it just seems to be such a huge mistake. Their immaturity continues to plague them, and it screws their chances for graduate studies.
Dude. [Please ignore the fact that I just began this post with the word: "Dude." Thank you.] That is too weird that you guys are talking about the whole CC thing. Over the last few weeks, as I have begun to consider what the next stage will look like, when I return to the working world, I have seriously begun to contemplate local CC's. The really weird thing is that I have been contemplating them for all the reasons you've just mentioned: faculty to student ratio, no sense of rich entitlement which leads to neglect of work, a chance to mold kids as they are seriously considering what's next, etc... Too strange.
While all the things that we've talked about are largely true--you'll also get your fair share of flakes there as well. I know a guy who teaches english in a CC down here, and some of his frustrations include:
1) the fact that it IS a CC, some students seem to believe that it should be easy.
2) you'll get some single moms that are really trying to improve their station in life, but don't really have adequate support to do so. As such, a lot of them fail or do poorly.
3) you'll get some rich-kid 4-year-degree drop-outs. they also fall into category #1.
In any event, I still really like the model. I still prefer grad school, because you can (in theory) just work with the best, brightest and most motivated... (in theory). Upperclassman undergrad classes are alright. But I rather disdain the lower level undergrad classes. Too many of those students are in the 13th and 14th grade.
Having taught in a CC for 3 years, I'd be happy to pass along my experiences/thoughts to people if they're interested. I think y'all have my email.
Short version: there are definite pros and cons and you should be aware of how your state funds the CC system as it hugely impacts many factors.
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