MMMmmonday - Ponderous Thoughts
It's Monday, a new week, and so far so good. Remember during the rainy season? Those overcast days? They give a sort of comfort; a perfectly logical reason to stay inside and be cozy. I love them since my interests exist both for outdoor and indoor activities. This is my second summer in WV and it's sort of funny that I'm still experiencing these types of days. The whole day has been overcast but it's about 80 degrees outside. It hasn't rained yet but the clouds look on the edge of dumping bucketfuls. I plan to make hot tea and do some knitting. I did some grading earlier, and if I do more work later today I'll work on other stuff.
I've been a TA for two years and I'm pretty over the whole job. It wears you out if you're not looking to be a teacher as a career path. Last night talking with John and another friend who came for dinner; they asked why don't you just give everyone 10/10's and be done with it? Well it's tempting, very tempting, but like I told them, I don't think I can live with passing students who don't deserve the grade. It sounds harsh, but getting an education is about learning, not so much about grades. Despite that statement, if someone gets passed through all of their schooling without knowing they've made mistakes or were taught something incorrectly then how will they ever get it right once they're in the working world? School is about learning and expanding your knowledge, but it's also a lot of life lessons. It's hard for me to accept that a lot of people in college and higher learning are not really there to learn. It's pessimistic, but if everyone were in school for learning, I'm pretty sure we would be a lot further along as a species than we are now. Then there are the life lessons, and nobody learns all of those, but the lucky ones get some and are better off because of it. For me, I'd like to apply my academic knowledge and life knowledge to a job, a task, something that isn't a course assignment.
For teachers, they have to really have passion. I know I don't want to be a teacher, not for a career. If I somehow got stuck in a teaching position for an extended time period, I would turn into one no student likes. I would most likely become bitter and that bitterness would not reflect well in my lessons or grading or anything else. With an education system that is severely flawed, schools that are more politics than academics, I would just have too high of standards that I know wouldn't be met. Whether this makes sense or not, I know I don't want to be a teacher. I see myself helping people much more in another job.
Think it's time to have some lunch and working on my knitting project. Happy Monday =)
I've been a TA for two years and I'm pretty over the whole job. It wears you out if you're not looking to be a teacher as a career path. Last night talking with John and another friend who came for dinner; they asked why don't you just give everyone 10/10's and be done with it? Well it's tempting, very tempting, but like I told them, I don't think I can live with passing students who don't deserve the grade. It sounds harsh, but getting an education is about learning, not so much about grades. Despite that statement, if someone gets passed through all of their schooling without knowing they've made mistakes or were taught something incorrectly then how will they ever get it right once they're in the working world? School is about learning and expanding your knowledge, but it's also a lot of life lessons. It's hard for me to accept that a lot of people in college and higher learning are not really there to learn. It's pessimistic, but if everyone were in school for learning, I'm pretty sure we would be a lot further along as a species than we are now. Then there are the life lessons, and nobody learns all of those, but the lucky ones get some and are better off because of it. For me, I'd like to apply my academic knowledge and life knowledge to a job, a task, something that isn't a course assignment.
For teachers, they have to really have passion. I know I don't want to be a teacher, not for a career. If I somehow got stuck in a teaching position for an extended time period, I would turn into one no student likes. I would most likely become bitter and that bitterness would not reflect well in my lessons or grading or anything else. With an education system that is severely flawed, schools that are more politics than academics, I would just have too high of standards that I know wouldn't be met. Whether this makes sense or not, I know I don't want to be a teacher. I see myself helping people much more in another job.
Think it's time to have some lunch and working on my knitting project. Happy Monday =)
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