High School Observations - Brady

One of my favorite parts of the quarter so far has been doing observations for my field methods class at a high school in a low-income neighborhood in Chicago. I like that it gets me back in the classroom and thinking about teaching. I also like that it reminds me that kids are kids. I think "inner-city students" are stereotyped as being scary, dangerous, and out-of-control. But the students I see at the school where I observe are very, very similar in a lot of ways to the rural/suburban students I had at Carroll.

My observations have also made me realize that it's easier than I thought to get a teaching "fix" while in grad school. Going once a week for a few hours is ALMOST enough for me. I don't think I need to be in front of students seven hours a day, five days a week to be satisfied professionally. I've been thinking a lot about eventual careers where I could combine some time in a middle or high school classroom with a research position.

Also, my tug toward going back to teaching has been seriously shot down in the past few weeks by hearing terrible stories about teachers in lots of districts being laid off because of budget cuts. It reminds me that jobs are ALWAYS unpredictable and that even though teaching may seem like a safe option for me, that might not truly be the case. Maybe now's not a terrible time to be committed for four years to graduate school. ;)