| Aug. 5th, 2009 @ 09:11 pm Teaching |
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cross posted from Facebook
As I am in the process of seeking a better teaching job friends often ask "what do you teach?" or "what are your qualifications?" The two questions are quite different.
My qualifications vary by jurisdiction but the core is always History.
In Kansas my Conditional Teaching License is for US and World History grades 7 to 12. That license is currently expired but I have put in motion the renewal process.
My Missouri license is for Social Science grades 5 to 9 and 9 to 12. It expired this January. I need to begin the renewal process for it.
My Tennessee license simply says History 7 to 12. It expired back in 2004. I have no plans at this time to return to Tennessee so renewal there is a moot point.
I've taught in Ontario longer than anywhere else and I have more teaching credential there than anywhere else: Intermediate and Senior division History (7-12 in the format of my US licenses), Senior division Individual and Society (a Social Science qualification), Senior division English as a Second Language and Senior division Special Education.
Qualifications are not as portable from jurisdiction to jurisdiction as one might think.
What do I teach/What have I taught? That is a much more diverse group.
In Ontario I have held a number of long term occasional (LTO) positions. These are essentially short-term contracts replacing a permanent contract teacher who is not available for whatever reason. It could be a maternity leave, a surgery leave, medical, or even in one case an odd collection of courses for which no permanent contract teacher could be found. Often these LTO positions occur mid-semester and as a result schools may have difficulty filling them. As a result I've taught classes that I have no qualifications for.
I've taught science. It was fun. It was exciting. I was only a few chapters ahead of the students. The school had already had two (or was it three?) supply teachers quit from this job so they were in dire straits.
I've taught Geography many times. It is closely related to History so it is a pretty natural fit. I've taught English and improved my grammar immeasurably as a result. I've taught Career Studies and Business. Media was an interesting course to teach. I've been a Librarian. I've taught Drama and learned that it is not as easy as it looks.
I've taught Religion. The head of the Department asked me how it felt as a non-Catholic to teach religion in a Catholic school. I explained to him that I did my undergraduate degree in Theology. He exclaimed that I was more qualified to teach the class than he was.
Of course I've taught History. I've taught World History, Canadian History and US History. US History I have taught in both the US and Canada. That is an interesting comparison in and of itself. I've taught a variety of History related courses principally Civics and Government and on one occasion Law. In Tennessee my supervisor asked me to teach a unit on Canadian government because as he explained it: Canada is our largest trade partner. The kids need to know about it.
I have taught History for ESL students. I have taught a combination course that surveyed Anthropology, Sociology and Psychology. I'd like to teach that one again.
I've been able to handle all of these different assignments because of my education, my own varied interests and the assistance of my colleagues. I have a Masters degree in Education. I've said to people that I can probably teach anything if I am given the course materials and adequate time (which is far less than enough time) to prepare. Certainly I've not done as good a job in some of the classes I have taught than a true specialist in the subject would have done. In one of the science classes I taught I had a student who spent the entire semester wearing an expression on her face that said 'sir, you don't know what you're talking about'. She was gracious enough to never actually say it out loud.
So that is what I am qualified to teach and that is an incomplete list and description of what I have taught. |
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