In past lives I've been a pastry chef and a paralegal. People have told me over the years that I should become a teacher. It took a long time to come to the realization that they were right. I was held back by inertia, and laziness and lack of confidence. After a bit of therapy and one of those "discover your ideal occupations" tests, it was crystal clear that I have a calling.
One of the themes of this blog will surely be that teaching is a misunderstood profession. Some think the standards for entry are too low. Others believe that we're all lazy clock punchers coddled by the unions. I will strive to address the misconceptions surrounding the profession. I may not have all the answers - but I will describe my experiences as accurately as possible.
First, a few details about myself. I will strive to remain anonymous in this blog. I am a white male living in a major metropolitan area in California. I live in an upper middle class suburb. I am working toward an elementary teaching credential at a campus of the CSU system. I'm 37 years old.
So far, I have been in school part time for a year. I have one more year of classes and then two more semesters of student teaching. In short, I have two more years of class work. This is AFTER I attained my Bachelor of Arts degree in 1991.
In further posts, I will work to bring you up to date on how I have reached this point. There have been many bureaucratic hurdles and numerous standardized tests to pass. This teacher in training thing is hard!
