I have at times considered the possibility of working as a high school teacher- hey wouldn't that be cool? No. No, it wouldn't be cool. Not according to any teacher I have spoken with about it. They all dreamed of one day inspiring young minds to better themselves through acquisition of knowledge and the adventure of intellectual discovery. They all paid their academic dues and celebrated their first day on the job. By month 2, they were already counting down the minutes until retirement. "It used to be better!" They all say, and "Oh my God, it's actually going to be worse for new teachers!" I just want to take a moment to thank bad politics, bad bureaucracy, bad parenting and, yes, bad studentship for ruining what could have been a great job for millions of people over the next several generations that it will require to fix the darn thing that you broke with admirable precision. Admirable. Precision. I laud you for finding ingenuous ways of systematically destroying enthusiam, creativity and innovation down to the very quantum level. Systematically. Detroyed. Quantum. Level. At least it's one less option in life for me to be indecisive over. :banana:
I've been hearing bad teaching stories for at least 20 years. Of course it's only recently that I made the startling discovery that EVERY TEACHER IN AMERICA seems to have bad kids, bad parents, pay money for everything out of pocket, teach in the ghetto, get paid around $18K a year, and get no respect. Why do people continue to teach? I don't get it either. Why would anyone do this job?
It was better at one time.... http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/08/us/us-adults-fare-poorly-in-a-study-of-skills.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
If someone wants to become a teacher, it should be his dream. This profession demands much time as teachers continue working when they come back home. They always need to ccheck something, to write, to read... One should think well before devote himself to teaching!
When I speak to a happy teacher, it is invariably someone who taught, or still teaches, in a country other than the USA.
No wonder! I read a post by an American teacher in this forum a week or two ago. He had 14 years of teaching experience and his salary was $37,200! What's going on there? Here in Ontario, teachers average about $85,000 and the salary grid maxes out around $95,000. They have an excellent pension scheme, which they pay for; it costs them around 9% of their salaries, if I remember correctly. I believe the average retirement age for teachers in this province is around 57 or 58 years. My son is a teacher - and despite the recent attempts of our Provincial Government to demoralize all teachers, I'd say he's still among the happy ones. He has about 14 years "in" now, and his workday usually starts around 6:30 or 7:00 am. That's so he can teach and prepare well - and still spend time in the evening with his own children. He gave up what he had (rightly) called "the coolest job in the world" when he secured admission to Teacher's College. Here, many apply but only a few get in. He'd wanted to be a high school teacher, ever since he was in high school. Until they are "de-elected," I'm sure the Provincial Government will try to ensure that the coming years in Ontario are not as favourable to teachers as the past has been. I'm also sure that my son - and most of his fellow teachers - will still be in their profession when this Government is long gone. Here's an article: Jan Wong: The province Yes - things aren't going to be the way they used to be - but teachers here won't be earning $37,200 with 14 years of experience! That's shocking! Johann
OMG! I've thought about moving to Canada before, but I never thought about teaching there. Maybe I could do the degree in Math after all and find some predominantly French-speaking area that is in need of math teachers and live an adventure while making actual money for doing something I love! hehe, the multiple dreams this Maniac has. Qu'est que je peux faire? :smirk: Just yesterday, I envisioned following my dream to learn Swahili and move to Kenya.
It fluctuates, but lately it's been close to par. 1 CAD is currently 0.97 USD wholesale, 0.95 retail at my bank. $85 000 pre-tax in Ontario can yield, via a back-of-the-envelope web calculator, about $64 800 after income tax. Cost of living comparisons are complex.
About the same -- Seriously. The USD is much weaker relative to the CAD than it used to be, such that they trade nearly at parity now.
Bonne chance, mon ami! :smile: At current prices, we won't be having a shortage any time soon! That's why we keep Teachers' College enrolments down. I hear there aren't enough jobs for our own, let alone outsiders. You could qualify to teach in Canada at one of the very good U.S. border schools, e.g. Niagara University, Lewiston NY. It would take a year and be very expensive -- and your job prospects would not be good - likely direct competition with many, many locals. And Ted, may I suggest you have a look at this site: XE Currency Converter - Live Rates I use it all the time in this forum, when dealing with dollars, pounds, rupees, ZAR (South African Rand) etc. It makes me look much smarter than I am. Johann
I was going to say, Maniac, that perhaps your knowledge of Spanish would serve you well in the Canadian job market, as our latest wave of immigration is from Mexico, Central America and South America, notably Colombia and Chile - the latter being a country doing much trade with Canada. But maybe not - the immigrants I have known personally either arrived knowing pretty fair English, or they learned it in about a week! Without a doubt, they're a talented, smart and hard-working group --- most I've met are all three! Back 20-odd years ago, my Spanish prof. in college, a remarkable Mexican-Canadian lady, was in demand as a court interpreter. There are very stringent qualifications, of course, but we still seem to have enough qualified applicants -- so maybe even that's not a sure thing. Hey - if you wanted real adventure in Canada, you could apply to teach in the Far North! Not quite your kind of adventure? Then stand out on a Montreal street, say something and make a mistake in French! It'll be just like you made a Spanish mistake at a Zetas meeting in Culiacán! :smile: Who knows - the Language Police (yes, they are real) might even arrest you! :jester: Even with its many quirks, pretty well all of Canada is a darn good place to live. Wouldn't trade places with anyone else - for anything. Glad to be a Canadian, i.e. an unarmed American with Health Care. :smile: Johann
I know a teacher who works in a private high school. They have virtually no disciplinary problems because in a private school you can just kick them out. You can't do that in a public school. The teachers focus on teaching not behavioral intervention.
