It’s super important work, but you need to look past a lot
Pros
The kids The impact you can make / the kids will make on you. You’ll definitely become a better teacher and as someone who worked in the public sector for years, I had wish there was more accountability for teachers constantly “winging it” and teaching their own values instead of content. The access to data to check on your proficiency as a teacher and see how much you’ve moved your students academically The new CEO is incredible. He’s a problem solver. He’s level headed and he was the piece I felt we were missing when I taught there. My best days at the school were when he would come. He was awesome with the kids and his criticism was constructive and made sense. Sometimes criticism there felt like it was more for leadership to have something down than it was about the instruction.
Cons
Constant criticism and critiquing So. Much. Work. (12+ hours per day) They’d have you hand out ads in a low income neighborhood on a Saturday after your 60 hour work week. Career opportunities are vast, but career sustainability is essentially non-existent there Behind on tech and constantly wastes recourses by printing instead of going digital. Long hours and very repetitive Lots of PD days full of time wasted Criticism comes with inconsistencies depending on who is watching Feeds ADHD by constant changes in instruction. It can be confusing for the kids to have their teachers critiqued right in front of them, specifically when “modeling” I recall a time where my instruction was remodeled mid-lesson in front of the students and the administrator was actually entirely incorrect regarding content. It was awkward to have to undo that in a respectful way that would maintain a mutual respect for not only myself but the students and the administrator. The principal was super nice nonetheless and our vice principal would have made an awesome principal. She was insightful, intentional, and informative. I looked up to her while I was there!
