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LonelyJar
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20 Nov 2013, 11:41 am

I want to know if companies like Teach for America & City Year are good places for someone like me to work. I'm an introvert who doesn't work well with others, has had minimal social experience, and can easily have breakdowns (especially about failure). However, I am very proficient in mathematics, and I have frequently helped anyone who needed help with math throughout my life.



Thelibrarian
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20 Nov 2013, 11:49 am

LonelyJar wrote:
I want to know if companies like Teach for America & City Year are good places for someone like me to work. I'm an introvert who doesn't work well with others, has had minimal social experience, and can easily have breakdowns (especially about failure). However, I am very proficient in mathematics, and I have frequently helped anyone who needed help with math throughout my life.


I would advise somebody with your personality to avoid teaching anywhere except on the college level, and then only with students who really want to learn. The problem with teaching at the primary and secondary levels is that many students don't want to be there, so doing the actual teaching is only a small part of the job. Many captive students seem to have no other purpose in school other than to make the lives of their teachers as difficult as possible.



thewhitrbbit
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20 Nov 2013, 3:08 pm

I would def advise against teaching.

Working with your students an integral part of teaching and you have to be able to adapt if a student is not learning.



Mollyw
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21 Nov 2013, 3:07 pm

I qualified as a teacher but never taught. I loved Maths and enjoyed transmitting my knowledge. The trouble I had was that the kids didn't want to be learning it most of the time. I didn't know I had autism at the time but I now realise that teaching pushed all my triggers and I had a very difficult year that affected my private life badly. On top of having to manage the kids, I also found managing colleagues difficult to the point of completely avoiding/ignoring the staff room, which is where other teachers go to relax (not me!). I think that a better way for me would have been to stay in academia where I could have done a mixture of research and teaching. Have you considered that option?



rainbowbutterfly
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21 Nov 2013, 10:24 pm

I've worked in the field of education for years, not as a classroom teacher, but as an instructor with smaller classroom sizes. (I've been a recreation instructor, outdoor ed instructor, and an instructional assistant for special ed.) Using my best effort, I've performed at the average skill level, overall. Although the days were fun while they lasted, I'm now looking into another line of work.

I was okay with disciplining the kids and controlling the class, but not great at it. I normally had consequences and consistancy but my monotone voice made it slightly harder for me to control the kids. Also, there were some times when the kids would fool me or talk me into believing that their behavior was accidental, in spite of my own initial gut reaction.
Also, due to the fact that I'm normally not good at multitasking, it took a tremendous amount of concentration to be aware of what was going on with all of them at 1ce, and on days when I was stressed out or upset my thoughts would be spinning in my head so fast that it would be difficult.
Additionally, I'm not good with nonverbal cues.
However, I excelled at breaking down/teaching complex information and giving clear verbal directions. I was better at explaining things thoroughly compared to many of my coworkers.

Though, another reason I'm trying to get out of the field of education (especially mainstream education) is because of all the nasty workplace politics, gossip, and backstabbing that tends to go on among teachers. Some teachers can be judgemental and catty. Some might act friendly to you right up front, then stab you and gossip about you behind your back. I've been told this often happens among teachers by someone who I met that works in the field of education. Also, I think I might have just experienced this myself.

Asperger's might or might not make it hard for you to teach, depending on the degree you have it, and how passionate you are on the subject. I've been told by someone else with AS that those with Asperger's can be good at social interactions when involved in their interests. It's probably a good idea for you to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, and see if they could impact your teaching, and if any of your weaknesses could be improved if they do.

Also, it seems like toturing might be less overwhelming than teaching a classroom. Though, classroom teaching does involve benefits and better pay.