I've had a bit of a rough week this week. Not only have I been fighting whatever this is that's had me with a fever four out of the past six days, but the kids have really sucked this week, at least in one of the classes. Because of this, I've left work fuming the past two days, unable to respond to K in more than grunts and monosyllables, and quick to snap at her for little annoyances that I just don't have the patience for after using up my entire store by refraining from walking up to students and sucker punching them in the face repeatedly.
However, there is a bright spot to my work days now. Instead of burning off frustration by avoiding human contact like I normally do on crappy days, I have to go to tennis practice, which sounds like it would be something that would just make my day worse, knowing I have more work to do when I could normally just go home. Instead, I always leave practice happy, as if I'd never walked into a classroom that day. Lucky for K, I only spend 10 minutes or so in her presence before heading to practice and afterwards, I'm happy and willing to talk (as long as she doesn't mention work. I've always hated shop talk even when I liked my work.) It's a nice change of pace to work with kids to teach them something they want to learn and who actually show up because they want to and not because they have to. There are no kids who compete to see who can make you angrier or who continually try to sabotage the lesson in any way possible. And if there were, we could just dismiss them and send them home instead of being required by law to find some way to reach those who have no desire to be reached and teach them things they neither have the desire or ability to learn.
And I think to get paid for it too. That's got to help, although it's sad that I don't even really know how much I'm supposed to be paid for being a coach. That's probably why I ended up in career paths that don't pay enough for me to have my own yacht. Luckily, I never really wanted a yacht or a huge house. It would be nice to be able to buy a tank, though. That'd be awesome.
7 comments:
That's the beauty of sports.
And exercise. I always feel better after going for a run. Getting outside and moving around for a bit makes everything better.
Dude, you're one of the people who has really talked me out of being a teacher.
My dad's a Maths teacher. He's at a school where violence, drugs and sex are rife i.e. he is working on the Cape Flats. He says sometimes the other teachers smack the kids around. LOL! So far he's still enjoying his job. He's only been working there for a month though.
I think it could only be called a sucker punch for the first time you hit them. Repeats are not really a surprise.
Some people thrive as teachers, I'm just not one of those people.
Yeah, I've been working out more regularly and it makes me feel so much better. I guess it's the endorphins or whatever... glad you have something to bring your mood back up.
If you're comparing your coach salary to the salaries of coaches around here, you are grossly, grossly underpaid.
Good for you. I've always thought it would be kind of fun to be a track coach, since that was my sport in high school. Seems rather far removed from my current career path, though.
Post a Comment