Why I’m Not Still Teaching

And, since Chat-GPT, it’s gotten a LOT worse!

I was reading an essay by a teacher, one who holds to high standards in a world that encourages “loosening up”.

I retired in 2017. The immediate reason is that I’d been fighting ill health for several years - respiratory issues, fatigue, joint pain - and I thought it best to retire before I died on the job.

I’m 74 now. My health problems became more manageable, and, with knee replacement, I have a certain confidence that I will be able to live a healthy long life.

Like most people, I never envisioned what a mere 8 years would bring to the education field. This gentleman has the depressing story.

What he says about History classes being mostly taught by coaches is, sadly, true. In fact, a teacher I’d met during a practicing assignment strongly advised me not to bother applying for a History job. The slots were left for the coaches.

Elementary (by which I mean K-8 teachers) are woefully ignorant of MOST Social Studies content. While taking a Social Studies Methods class, I became acquainted with several K-8 teachers. On the last day of class, as she was preparing to graduate, one of them asked me, “I know there’s a Constitution and a Declaration of Independence. What I don’t understand is which does what.”

Once I picked my jaw up, I did answer the question. I also suggested she read them (they aren’t that long).