Concerns about Career Path in Education

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ASTeacher07
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29 Sep 2013, 8:54 pm

Hello,

This is my first time posting in the forum and wanted to introduce myself. I am a 28 yr old HS physics teacher (currently) that is in the 4th year of teaching. I have taught Biology and Chemistry as well. I was official diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome almost 2 years ago but growing up there were plenty of indicators I was on the autistic spectrum.
The past two years I had difficulties with my administrator (he didn't follow the evaluation procedures, and implied he didn't want me in his building). I moved to a new school this year, but I am cynical about remaining in position that increasingly relies upon relationships and motivations. I get little excitement from the job, my students don't care, and a parent basically implied that i was an instrument to get her daughter into their choice college for early acceptance. I am doing more and more work each year for my students who do nothing in return. It's mentally exhausting. I have I to bring my work home, my place of solitude.
My predicament is whether I should leave teaching. I have a feeling that eventually I'll be pushed out because of the difficulty in dealing with people and making the material approachable for students that really shouldn't be taking my class. With a degree in Interdisciplinary Science (i've taken a bit of everything) but no particular specialty and 4 years of somewhat successful years in education, what else can i do? I can be a successful employee but i don't think it's in education

A confused Teacher



cberg
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29 Sep 2013, 9:36 pm

You still have a degree, that's more than I can say. I'm eight years your junior and as a programmer I'm confused on the same basis. That said, my mom once agreed with me that I should go into academia. My mom is a PhD microbiology lab manager, and it's quite an isolated occurrence for her to do so.



starkid
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29 Sep 2013, 10:06 pm

Perhaps you might feel more fulfilled at a private school. The students there may have more motivation. I can't speak on the social aspect of the job, however. It seems like there's no getting past that.



WestBender84
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01 Oct 2013, 3:58 pm

Hey OP, do you want to work at minimum wage around even bossier and less appreciative customers? Then quit your teaching job. Otherwise, keep it and be glad you have a professional job, because most of us with ASD don't and never will.

Enjoy your privilege of being in the same building as an admin. Most people are never allowed into a school once they graduate due to concerns over school shootings and the like. You're a school employee, a teacher at that, and this means almost everyone in the community trusts and respects you. One POS administrator does not.

You're not fondling students, right? Then why give a care about personality conflicts so long as you continue to keep your job?

As a bonus, you can promote the learning of practical skills so your ASD students can better compete against their interpersonally superior peers. (Yes, they are superior in that regard, so we need to deal with it like we're doing right now.)


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Meistersinger
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05 Oct 2013, 8:36 pm

ASTeacher07 wrote:
Hello,

This is my first time posting in the forum and wanted to introduce myself. I am a 28 yr old HS physics teacher (currently) that is in the 4th year of teaching. I have taught Biology and Chemistry as well. I was official diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome almost 2 years ago but growing up there were plenty of indicators I was on the autistic spectrum.
The past two years I had difficulties with my administrator (he didn't follow the evaluation procedures, and implied he didn't want me in his building). I moved to a new school this year, but I am cynical about remaining in position that increasingly relies upon relationships and motivations. I get little excitement from the job, my students don't care, and a parent basically implied that i was an instrument to get her daughter into their choice college for early acceptance. I am doing more and more work each year for my students who do nothing in return. It's mentally exhausting. I have I to bring my work home, my place of solitude.
My predicament is whether I should leave teaching. I have a feeling that eventually I'll be pushed out because of the difficulty in dealing with people and making the material approachable for students that really shouldn't be taking my class. With a degree in Interdisciplinary Science (i've taken a bit of everything) but no particular specialty and 4 years of somewhat successful years in education, what else can i do? I can be a successful employee but i don't think it's in education

A confused Teacher


Havy you spoken to your union rep about how this administrator's been treating you? Do you have a written log to back up your accusations? That would keep that administrator at bay.

As for the students, to me that would be quite simple, you don't want to do the work, then be prepared to flunk out of my class. Also, peer pressure by the right students might make the slackers take notice.



ckj
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08 Oct 2013, 3:34 am

I'm a teacher, too, and I struggle all the time with feeling like it isn't the right job for someone like me. I've only been teaching English for two years, but in those two years I've been more stressed, anxious, and meltdown-prone than ever before. I think it has a lot to do with having way too much social interaction with pupils and colleagues all day and then having to take work home as well. I've been thinking lately that I'd do better working as a tutor, working with just one student at a time to get them the qualification they're working on. But I wouldn't get paid as much. But I might be happier anyway. And then I go around and around in my head trying to decide what to do. Sorry if this isn't any help, but I wanted to let you know you're not the only overwhelmed teacher out there.