Fester, Fester, Fester. Rot, Rot, Rot.
I teach a beginning internet class at my library every month, and every time I get up in front of the students I remember why I wanted to become a math professor. Internet basics is a poor substitute for calculus or linear algebra, but I just love to teach. Of course, since preparation is minimal, and there aren’t any grading responsibilities or publication requirements, it doesn’t usually remind me of why I eventually decided NOT to become a professor. But the idea of applying to one of the two- and four-year colleges in the area has been festering in my brain for the past year, and refuses to go away.
Do any of you teach? Do you have any words of wisdom for me, whether to warn, encourage or dissuade?
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April 2nd, 2008 at 12:18 pm
If you can get through multiple offerings of the web training and still feel encouraged to do it, then I would say “Go for it!”.
My biggest struggle is with students where the majority of my time is spent teaching them the pre-requisites that they SHOULD’VE learned before taking my class. But, once in a while, you get a student or two that really did have the requisite knowledge to take the class and catch on to what you’ve been tasked with teaching.
When that happens, it makes it worth it. Otherwise, it’s normally frustrating and a waste of everyone’s time.
But, since it’s an “intro” class, you’re the one that is tasked with teaching them the basics.
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Yeah, teaching math students who don’t have the prerequisites down is a real pain. In fact, the internet basics class I teach DOES have prereqs, specifically basic familiarity with a mouse and with Windows, but even then the majority of the students haven’t ever used a computer of any stripe before. And since it’s just an hour-long course, that means that most of my time is spent bringing them up to speed on how to maximize their browser window without accidentally closing down the program.
April 2nd, 2008 at 2:47 pm
I’m a professor. And I love it.
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:49 pm
I would love to love being a professor. But I would hate to hate it. But I think I’m going to apply a few places, and see what it’s like.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:36 am
When I realized how much I didn’t like writing grant proposals, or doing mindless sociology research, or writing papers I realized that maybe PhD was not the right path for me. But I do love to teach. I’ve guest lectured a few times and TAed. It’s so much fun.