Thoughts at the Start of the Weekend
Ah, the weekend.
There is something about teaching that is both easier and harder than the other jobs I have worked.
The easy part is the lack of direct, immediate supervision. I interact with my boss about once every two or three weeks..and even then, he acts like he’s scared his every (extremely) reasonable request will ellicit a reaction of violent fury….
I mean, he will seem utterly terrified to tell me, “You will work only 12 hours a week instead of 20, until the freshmen start class. You will still get full pay.”
And, I’m thinking like, “Bitchin’!!” while he’s looking worried and saying “Is that ok?”
Or, everytime he says something like, “Please give your final exams in the 20th week of the semester.”…his facial expressions and voice will be something like, “It is my unfortunate duty to inform you that I’ve been ordered to anally rape you…I’m really sorry…umm..Sir”
The hard part, I think, is that you have to be motivated every day. You could be teaching a bunch of teenage guys a course called “A pictorial history of prostitution and pornography”…and if you, as their teacher, seem bored and disinterested, then they will be bored and disinterested.
Or, you could teach ‘The history of classical music’, and if you seem like to you it is the most interesting thing in the world, at least a few of your students will to. I’ve seen it. I took “History of Music” in HS, and I’ll be damned if the teacher didn’t manage to make it interesting through the sheer force of his own will.
This is compounded by having to do the exact same damn thing about 8 times a week. By the eigth time, you not only know the exact wording of your lesson, you know every gesture, every place where the students will laugh, every place they will look interested, every place they will smile. Every mistake they will make.
By the eigth time you do it, you badly just want to spout it all off quickly and dryly, and go home. But, you can’t.
You have to try and make it seem like its the first time to you. Not only that, no matter how boring that paticular thing you are trying to go through really is (such as trying to help a student get the correct pronunciation of “alligator” for the 34th time in one day, and the 80th time that week), to them, you have to seem interested, encouraging, and energetic. Or they sure as hell won’t be interested.
More so than any other job I’ve worked, or heard of, having the right attitude every minute of every day is more important than anything.
Goddamn, it’s hard to pretend like the phrase “Catch you later, alligator” is the most exciting thing in the fucking world, and spend 10 minutes getting the pronuncation of alligator perfect, and being excited when each student does finally get it right, 8 times a week. By the end, you just don’t give a fuck if what they said sounds more like “Cat late, al cat.”
We’ve been asked to please spend one or two hours a week in our office, which they built especially for us. This is totally unreasonable! I mean, we already have to work a whole 20 hours a week!!! Who do they think they are? I refuse to do that!!!
At least, that’s more or less what one of the other (new) foreign teachers told us….and I’m sitting there thinking, “Have you ever worked a REAL job in your FUCKING life?”
Please, my good friends….have any of your bosses ever given you an office and said, “You know, we would like it if, sometime during the week, you can choose the hours, spend 1or 2 hours in the office. We will of course pay you for it either way, but, you know, it’s up to you. We would like it though.”
Any hands?
No?
I mean, what the fuck?!?!
We get treated with more respect here by our bosses than either me or Amber have ever gotten in our lives, and probably ever will….
And you refuse to take an extra hour, at your convenience, to come into the office when asked nicely? I mean, you are a salaried employee being paid a butt load of money to work 20 hours a week.
And you refuse?
….
Where do they find these bozos???
And why are they being paid almost 25% more than me!!!!
Oh yeah, they have degrees in things likes accounting and criminology that have nothing to do with teaching English but make them “more qualified”, despite their unprofessional, spoiled bitch attitude towards their jobs.
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