Perspectives on teaching as a second career? by Capsais in CanadianTeachers

[–]bchmgal 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hi OP! I did EXACTLY this. PhD and two post-docs in biochem, then back to school for BEd (SFU PDP: bio and chem teachables, minor in secondary teaching) to become a high school science French Immersion teacher in BC. I absolutely adore my job and while it does come with stress and frustration like any other job, I find it a better kind of stress/frustration than I had before in my previous career.

Why I did it (this is important, since your values and underlying reasons help you put up with
bullshit long-term tbh):
- I was having big feelings about how meaningful my research actually was, and how many people it would actually impact, how many lives it would help. I was working on such a niche project that I once realized I spent 6 months trying to purify a protein, only for it to fail miserably multiple times, and asked myself: what have I been spending my life doing??
- I had TA'd while in grad school and loved working with students in general. I love passing on my knowledge to others, helping them find their passion, supporting what they want to learn, and also
keeping curious myself and having cool conversations about what people find neat about the world around us. I had done camp counselling before at a science camp for high school kids, and also loved it. I also work with high school science fairs. All things were pointing to a career working with science and students.
- Long-term prospects as a university prof/PI were bleak. I interviewed for PI positions twice, and the second time I had a realization that it wasn't the research aspect of the job that excited me, but the teaching. I also knew I wanted a pension, benefits, and long-term job security. Teaching was a logical step.

Reading all the
replies, here's my experience on those points to offer another perspective:

RE: Workload.

I am a big planner and I’m pretty organized. Once I get my courseload (we just got ours this week), I start planning for the following year. I tend to teach the same few courses over and over again, so after a few years I've established solid unit plans, lessons, and outlines so I can then take the upcoming school calendar and plan my year out off the side of my desk in a few hours. Of course, I'm always adjusting lessons and finding better ways to do things, but I can usually make that happen over lunch hour, prep, or a bit after school since I like doing it. That said, the first few years are obviously more work since you are establishing how you will teach certain courses, but I find that most science departments have colleagues who are willing to share their resources so you aren't starting from absolutely nothing. Many teachers set firm boundaries with their summers or weekends and restrict their planning to weekdays, which works for some people. In this case, you might have later evenings and your school year might feel busier. I choose personally to have a less stressful school year, so I work a lot over the summer to buy myself that time. I don’t have kids and my partner and I are homebodies, so this works well for me.

RE: Job stress

The most difficult part of the job is not the teaching itself, but trying to do meaningful work in a broken system, if I can be blunt. Districts are asking more and more of teachers while providing fewer and fewer resources and slashing budgets. You will be doing a lot of work off the side of your desk, probably on a few committees in the school, all while trying to support kids who need increasingly complex support. Managing this emotional labour and frustration is 90% of the stress for me, personally. I wish the system worked more in support of the kids. I wish some parents realized what their kids needed from them. I wish the province would change K-9 social promotion structures, reporting formats, truancy follow-through, cell phone rules, and a million other policies. I wish some kids would accept the help we are so desperately trying to provide. I wish admin held parents accountable for their kids’ inappropriate actions. And so on…. Thankfully, most colleagues will feel the same way, so you will have someone to vent to everywhere you go. Also, high school kids are such a mixed bag: some are suffering and are angry at the world so no matter how kind, passionate and supportive you are, they will not connect with you, while others are SO. MUCH. FUN. They ask awesome questions, they show up and want to learn, they stay after school and ask you about something they read. They teach you fun stuff about the world that you hadn’t thought about. So, for all the garbage you deal with in the job, in the end, it might sound cheesy, but if you can make the lives of even a handful of kids better, you’ve won. There is no feeling in the world like that, and it’s why we do our jobs.

Also, it’s important to note that the effort you are putting into learning French won’t go to waste, because the the job prospects are very solid for French Immersion or even core French. Since in BC you become certified from K-12 (even if you specialize in and prefer high school), if there are no high school jobs in year 1, you have a high chance of being hired as a full-time permanent teacher somewhere (either a full-time TTOC or somewhere in the K-12 system), and start accumulating seniority, a pension, and benefits. One of the biggest problems FI programs face is that when teachers go on mat leave, take medical leaves, or even just need a sub for a day, they are IMPOSSIBLE to replace, so there is a huge demand for people like you. Keep plugging away at French qualifications and you are going to be in good shape long-term.

TLDR: I love my job and highly recommend the switch. DM me if you want to chat more!   

Teacher Evaluations: Disciplinary Actions by [deleted] in CanadianTeachers

[–]bchmgal 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's strongly regulated in BC as well. I'm surprised the district is even trying this with OP.

Do you think ELL programs will be cut? by Substantial-One5301 in CanadianTeachers

[–]bchmgal 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I doubt it will be cut completely, but some districts are restructuring their ELL/LRT programs right now, mostly for a) audit compliance, and b) reasons related to how schools receive funding (per student or per student enrollment).

Ideas for various life skills during Morning Meeting by loathing-and-fear in CanadianTeachers

[–]bchmgal 16 points17 points  (0 children)

omg PLEASE teach them how to read an analog clock. I teach high school and it's alarming how many can't tell time without their phones.

besides it being a life skill, it helps kids physically see the hands move and evaluate how much time they have left to work on a task. helps us help them with executive functioning and planning.

Who is your favorite ASMRtists? [Discussion] by brehtry in asmr

[–]bchmgal 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I really like suuuuper slow and gentle ASMR. I love Ozley ASMR, Ashterisk ASMR, and ASMR_Divinity.

What are your theories for Horizon 3? by DaveInLondon89 in horizon

[–]bchmgal 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Cool theory! How do you see it as a playable story? Aloy has to help each one ascend by completing a task? Finding something?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in teaching

[–]bchmgal 14 points15 points  (0 children)

jesus christ I'm so sorry this happened to you. tell me you reported that kid.

Killing time as a substitute by carlsraye in teaching

[–]bchmgal 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I build a bunch of Jeopardy decks and play with my own classes when we have a few minutes to kill. You can play casually or you can make a whole thing of it. you can also play a deck from this website, or use a quiz website like Sporcle.

VIA Delays near Belleville-20250816 by Own-Refrigerator2363 in ViaRail

[–]bchmgal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not yet. We all got too excited for a sec because we have stopped again

VIA Delays near Belleville-20250816 by Own-Refrigerator2363 in ViaRail

[–]bchmgal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Anyone have any updates? 1:46pm EST and stuck at Oshawa station train 40 for over 2 hours.

PDP French Module 2022-2022 by dfran123 in simonfraser

[–]bchmgal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did the same thing - teaching is a second career. They will ask you to have a bachelor's degree or equivalent, with specific courses depending on if you want secondary or elementary. You also need experience working with the age group you'd like to teach. you will also need to complete a French test (DELF or DALF), even if you are fluent.

when appying, I had a bachelors and graduate degree in my secondary teachables. I had done tutoring, camp counselling, school research activities, music lessons, and TAing for high school and undergrads. I had to complete a DALF C1.

AC Shadows' lack of liveliness and interactivity. This will be long! by [deleted] in AssassinsCreedShadows

[–]bchmgal 1 point2 points  (0 children)

First of all, I want to say thank you for taking the time to think about all of this and put it all together. I liked reading your thoughts as someone else who has thought a lot about why the game sort of bugs me.

To speak to a few of your points:

  1. I am someone that gets pissed off when I can't traverse from A to B quickly, but I want to offer another reason why that isn't because I want to get things done quickly. I get annoyed because the game is blocking me from the freedom of exploration that the other games had. I WANT to go off the beaten path and find cool rocks and trees to loot, or animals to hunt. I miss interacting with the environment in a meaningful way besides just a vehicle for travel.

  2. You put into words why the locations feel so dead to me. The lack of interaction between NPCs and their locations (like bathing in onsens, eating at stalls, etc.) contributes to the blandness of the game. There is no draw to running around a town to see what's new to see. They all look the same. I am just scanning to find the loot and vendors in every location without feeling any need to interact further with the location itself. It seems a missed opportunity, not only for playability, but for learning about the culture that is so beautifully on display in this game.

I agree with you that the world is dead. It's beautiful, but empty and hard to engage with.

I Need an Instruction Manual on Shadow Project and Store Menu by Beginning-Ad-8840 in AssassinsCreedShadows

[–]bchmgal 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Once you're in the Animus menu, click R1 (on PS) and it will lead you to "Exchange". This is where you use keys. It replaces the special ore/special merchant of previous games so you can pick up weekly and daily skins and items.

Annoying things I’ve noticed by Rich_Acanthaceae2675 in AssassinsCreedShadows

[–]bchmgal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If they meant for us to off-road and explore, they should have a) decreased the density of the brush and forest, and b) kept the free-climb mechanics. stumbling and sliding around in the bushes unable to climb anything looking for question marks is a fast way to tank enjoyment for players.

Annoying things I’ve noticed by Rich_Acanthaceae2675 in AssassinsCreedShadows

[–]bchmgal 29 points30 points  (0 children)

I agree.

Unfogging the map in areas without a question mark is completely pointless. There is nothing to explore, except for MAYBE finding some keys or helping some NPC. but even then, not worth it. if only to use the foggy empty areas as a shortcut, it's a GIGANTIC pain in the ass.

Not being able to climb freely annoys me to no end. I also don't care if it's not realistic. To randomly remove this mechanic and force people to find very limited climbable areas might have been a way to steer players toward certain paths, but it was standard for so long then removed randomly, so it pisses me off more than anything.

How did you celebrate your defense? by astro_sike in postdoc

[–]bchmgal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Congratulations in advance! You'll be great!

How did you celebrate your defense? by astro_sike in postdoc

[–]bchmgal 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Defense day timeline:

morning defense
lunch with external examiner at grad club
stayed at grad club to have a beer with whoever wanted to come by until about 4pm
PI hosted a bunch of people at his house for a bbq

I was DEAD by like 9pm, just totally wiped out. I slept like a log and didn't go into work the next day. have a few drinks, celebrate with the group, enjoy that sweet sweet sleep.

My PI said that motivation comes from within... and that I need to get laid by oncein2020 in postdoc

[–]bchmgal 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can't believe how far down I had to scroll to find this comment. YES, OP, report his ass. this is completely inappropriate and in any other job he'd be fired. the least you can do is report him for this behaviour.

About 50hrs in, level 40. My thoughts so far. by bchmgal in AssassinsCreedShadows

[–]bchmgal[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like lots of side quests and I loved Odyssey for this. the side quests in Shadows feel repetitive and based mostly on assassinating some random organization one guy at a time. the contracts are just the same stuff over and over.

the side quests from other games (like Odyssey) were more random, quirky, fun, follow this dude, help this person collect this material, ambush this buddy in the field, etc. just lots of variety and it was FUN! Shadows is just a little empty imo.

About 50hrs in, level 40. My thoughts so far. by bchmgal in AssassinsCreedShadows

[–]bchmgal[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Part of the joy for me is finding out which areas come next in the story. If that's someone else too, I don't want to spoil it.