I like being a reading teacher, because it is just such a good thing to teach people to read.
A couple of years ago, I taught high school reading, for those who had somehow slipped through the cracks and were reading at something like a second grade level in the tenth or eleventh grade. A few weeks ago, I ran into one of my former students, one who had done really really well (as in, she was reading at her grade level by the time she graduated). She was going to technical college and working at the grocery store. I thought that was great. She seemed really happy. I walked away feeling good about being a reading teacher, wondering how she would be doing without our reading class.
Today, though, took the cake. Today, I was at the University, and ran into a another student! I just said "Hello," from across the room (we were both giving blood), so I'm not positive he was actually a student, but I think he is. He had been, in the eleventh grade, very behind in reading mostly because English was not his first language. He was doing really well in the class, I recall. I was very happy to see him there at the UW.
This year, I'm going to substitute teach part time, starting next week. It might not be as much fun as teaching reading, but at least I'll get to be with Little Z quite a bit, too. Anyway, it sure beats selling power tools at Sears, or driving that big ole' school bus, or doing the hotel laundry, or working at the Old Time Photo Booth at the fair, or selling jewelry, packaging tea or, well... doing any of those other things I've done.
I've been keeping track of fellow blogger Slimbolala's progress at becoming a math teacher, after formerly being some sort of rocket scientist. Becoming a teacher is a real shock to the system. It's highly entertaining to read about someone else's plunge into the unknown. It seems like he's way more competent than I ever was my first year!
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