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Author Topic: 'Dawg at the Crossroads  (Read 24220 times)

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AlohaDawg

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'Dawg at the Crossroads
« Reply #75 on: March 29, 2005, 08:28:12 pm »
Just to drag this back on topic, it's still pretty unlikely I will be moving to LA.

However, I am looking at a potential setback. I may have signed a mobility clause 13 years ago, and even if I didn't, they may be able to use the 'intent of the position' argument to deny me the opportunity to collect severance and/or unemployment by forcing me to choose between resignation and termination.  This would also deny me the potential for priority placement for Federal Jobs here.  This costs me at least 16K, makes it slightly harder to get a Federal Job (impossible if they terminate me) and basically burns my ass.

It also works toward making me even less likely to go where they tell me - I don't like being treated like a piece of equipment.
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AugustWest

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'Dawg at the Crossroads
« Reply #76 on: March 29, 2005, 09:05:30 pm »
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Bozack

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'Dawg at the Crossroads
« Reply #77 on: March 30, 2005, 01:44:05 am »
Yeah, for someone being so totally messed with, you're really being a pretty cool guy about it. You are CHILL.
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AlohaDawg

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'Dawg at the Crossroads
« Reply #78 on: March 30, 2005, 04:08:18 am »
I got God on my side. It helps a lot. Y'all know when the preacher talks about the "Peace that passeth all understanding"?  I'm 1% of the way there.

Also, I'm in Hawaii which makes complaining about ANYTHING besides painful terminal illness seem kind of ridiculous.

It will work out, no matter what. I know it.
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'Dawg at the Crossroads
« Reply #79 on: March 30, 2005, 06:40:46 am »
Shantih.  Shantih.  Shantih.
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wombat

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'Dawg at the Crossroads
« Reply #80 on: March 30, 2005, 01:37:45 pm »
Quote from: "AlohaDawg"
Y'all know when the preacher talks about the "Peace that passeth all understanding"?  I'm 1% of the way there.


Ha.  Maybe when I'm 100 years old I'll get that far...  Good for you.
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Mite

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'Dawg at the Crossroads
« Reply #81 on: March 31, 2005, 01:18:51 am »
Belated good wishes, 'Dawg. I'm soon to be jobless too, so I'll keep pulling for both of us.
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AlohaDawg

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'Dawg at the Crossroads
« Reply #82 on: March 31, 2005, 01:21:29 am »
Hawaii needs quality teachers really badly; special ed teachers even more badly.

Someone suggested that I could be a teacher here. I have no training at all. It seems like the fact that this suggestion was made sincerely and could actually work seems to me to be part of the problem.

Well, that and the really shitty pay.
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AugustWest

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'Dawg at the Crossroads
« Reply #83 on: March 31, 2005, 01:31:35 am »
Quote from: "AlohaDawg"
Someone suggested that I could be a teacher here. I have no training at all. It seems like the fact that this suggestion was made sincerely and could actually work seems to me to be part of the problem.


I disagree.  I think we need more dedicated, intelligent and creative teachers.  The training is secondary at best.
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AlohaDawg

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'Dawg at the Crossroads
« Reply #84 on: March 31, 2005, 06:36:51 pm »
All true. So they would start me at around 30K to work 9 months. Can't really argue with the benefits or Union Protection.

The bigget problem I have is the whole 'teaching to tests' thing. That and I've met  and talked to teachers here individually and they are so far apart in terms of philosophy, in terms of 'no child left behind', in terms of what they feel needs to happen that it's almost scary to contemplate jumping into that pool.

I appreciate that training is probably secondary to really wanting to do the job, but this environment seems to grind that sincere desire out of an awful lot of teachers.

That and the pay is not so good (< 50% of my current pay) and what would I do with the summer? And wouldn't the new guy get dropped into some hellish place with all Samoan 4th graders who are bigger than I am?

Mr Kotter I'm not.
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'Dawg at the Crossroads
« Reply #85 on: March 31, 2005, 07:28:10 pm »
Quote from: "AlohaDawg"
The bigget problem I have is the whole 'teaching to tests' thing.

what would I do with the summer?

My mom's been a teacher for about 30 years now and she hates the tests. If the kid has to pass an SOL (Standards of Learning) test to advance to the next grade she has no choice but to teach the material covered on the test. Which is annoying when that means spending time on "Dwellings of Native Americans" when she should be introducing the concept of multiplication.

Also, depending on your school system the "summer off" translates into 1 month, not 3. Plus the fact that the days are 7:30–10 (again, depending on grade).
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Mite

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'Dawg at the Crossroads
« Reply #86 on: April 01, 2005, 12:19:53 am »
I'm teaching in a school that's 99% free and reduced lunch kids (translation: really really damn poor), so my experiences aren't really standard, but I can say for sure that this has been the hardest damn thing I will ever do. 12 hour work days, constant disrespect (even to the point of violence) from students and parents, with no support from administration. And then there's the tests. I could teach to the test just fine, but not when half the 8th grade is cutting class to go smoke pot and have sex in the bathrooms with no consequences whatsoever. It's truly maddening. Oh, and we have 4 unions, none of which do a damn thing.

Some of the little knuckleheads are truly amazing though. If it weren't for them, I would have broken my contract ages ago. I don't regret joining up for a minute, though I can't imagine doing it any more.
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V-Adore

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'Dawg at the Crossroads
« Reply #87 on: April 03, 2005, 08:01:28 pm »
Yeah, if there's one thing I'd caution -- teaching is not exactly an easy job to just drop into. My mom's a career special-ed teacher, and between lesson plans, IEPs, and classroom time, she works like a dog. Furthermore, while I agree that training is secondary, for special ed it is fairly important that you actually know something about the kids you're dealing with. (LD? BD? Mixed classes? My mom's current job, which appears to be "kids the classroom teachers don't want to deal with at the moment?")
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AlohaDawg

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'Dawg at the Crossroads
« Reply #88 on: April 03, 2005, 11:28:01 pm »
It's more-or-less the last option. Aside from the learning, which I know I can handle, it's ten years to get vested in the retirement system here.

And you wonder how it is that Hawaii comes in behind Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi in the rankings......
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Golfhaus

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'Dawg at the Crossroads
« Reply #89 on: April 04, 2005, 05:19:44 pm »
My girlfriend is in her first year of teaching special education here in the Commonwealth. V's mother's work-day sounds a lot like her's. She also has the fun of dealing with parents who really think their MR kid belongs in "normal" classes, having a number of students who have made threats to her, etc. My girlfriend teaches, my best friend is wrapping up her student teaching this semester, and my sister is lining up her ducks to get into teaching. And I would rather be unemployed and living off Welfare than switch places with any of them. It's a thankless, stressful job, and I have mounds of respect for those that enter the field.

Me, I'll keep playing with airplanes for a little while.
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