Hello, Steve,
I was very interested in your Feb. 5 article concerning "right" vs wrong jobs.

You said, " My lowest scores tend to come in the domain that requires a great deal of order and organization, attention to detail, and a passion for following rules."

Having been a teacher myself for -er- well, longer than you(!), I have a slightly different "slant" on what you are thinking about your abilities vs. your current (and chosen) profession.

Here is my take: Throughout history, people have misunderstood what teachers do in their classrooms. More so today, as more people (basically government types) have begun mandating how and what we are to teach. I think THEY are the ones who think they know what we are supposedly doing all day. THEY are ones who think our jobs are no more than pushing papers, attending to endless details and papers. THEY are the ones who think that unless you are extremely organized and follow all the rules, you cannot possibly teach children to follow the rules (isn't that what we want, after all?).

So, you see, dear Steven, I am also one who would have scored very low in organization, following rules, detail oriented. being extremely orderly, etc. If those really were the qualifications for doing this job...I would have been FIRED a long time ago!

But I consider myself an extremely effective teacher, and have a long list of successful students to prove it.

Thanks for letting me vent!

Bev

Hello, I recently discovered this website and am finding it very interesting. I have always been interested in all things education, all things, learning, etc. I have a Master's degree in Behavioral Science, which has prepared me to be basically over qualified for many jobs, and under qualified for others. So many people have suggested that I teach!

My personality/interest inventory would probably be very similar to yours,but I think I would hate teaching! I love the theories and ideas involved though.

My thoughts are that while you might not fit the organized, detail oriented profile of most good teachers, people who don't fit that just might be the ones with the creative ideas that will improve learning and schools.

Good luck with what you are doing! I know lots of kids from my school could have been saved with a program like yours!

Keri

Stephan,
The title of your blog entry intrigued me for several reasons. I have been an elementary school teacher for the last 9 years and the space in which we teach has always seemed limiting to me. I have never taken a survey like the one you mention but I imagine that I am somewhere in the middle, the parameters of the school work environment both comfort and annoy me on different occasions. They comfort when I feel that I have hooked my students on learning in a way that is all encompassing which usually involves a lot of creativity and they are annoying when I feel that we could go so much further without the obstruction of rules, standards, tests, time spent "on task" when the task is not of interest to the kids, etc. Currently, I am taking a doctoral course titled, Educational Technology. Our professor has asked us to think way outside the box on an assignment. This assignment is to create a classroom environment using innovative forms of technology. Our group was told that the sky is the limit and that we have a huge budget...for the fun of it! My group has decided to make plans for a virtual classroom. We are looking to expand the physical walls of the classroom by using screens instead of walls and a projector that displays on all four walls so that we could "be" at the Great Wall of China or inside the human body as we study it. We are also looking at comfortable and flexible work stations which allow for easy access to communicate with other students around the country and the world. We are at the beginning of the planning stages but just think it has made me rethink what I have always known to be a classroom. You are right that we are asking 100% of learners to learn in a way that only 10-20% of students learn best and it is about time that we all rethink and recreate our teaching and learning spaces. Hopefully, our dream project will become a reality one day. – Heather Summers (Chicago, IL)

I think MOST teachers, especially at my school, fall into the same category as you do on that organizational scale. Although I do not consider myself to be organized, I guess I am because I know where things are and I am able to juggle three or four preps every year. The first year I taught yearbook, my editor came to me, asking for a paper the faculty had been given and another teacher could not find.

"Why did you come to me?"

"You're the only teacher I know who has an organized desk and knows where things are."

Every year, though, I get students who have the majority of their teachers outside of my department. They are shocked and amazed at what we have in our department and what we are able to do. I always think, "what the heck is the rest of this campus doing?"

I'm a teacher of 7th graders and we have a career fair at the University of Virginia every year. Last year, the guidance counselor gave the same type of assessment that you are talking about. I took it myself and I turned out to be suited for either ministry or funeral director. Apparently I'm good at working with people in need! :)

I took a similar career inventory when I was in 8th grade. Based on my responses, it told me I should be a farmer. Well, I was very sure that that was not a possibility for me. While I live in rural Ohio, I would not consider myself a farm girl...I never have. You see, I've always wanted to be a teacher. I am currently in my second year of teaching Title 1 Reading. Prior to my current position, I substitute taught for four years. I saw so many classrooms and so many disorganzied desks. For the most part I really didn't think of the messiness of a teacher's desk. I was confident that that teach knew where things were and was able to find what he or she needed. I didn't doubt that teacher was effective in their teaching. I will have to say that I don't think I personally could teach like that. I think I am more of the organized yet. I like for my desk and my classroom to be neat so that my students can utilize the room when they come. I think it all boils down to how we are wired. Students can learn a great deal from their teachers. I don't think teaching effectiveness has to do with organizational skills (I would say that it is part of it) as much as the relationships we are building with our students and where are priorities are.

Thanks for taking the time to hear(read)my perspective.

I also took a similar test. It said I should be a farmer. The funny thing is that I am definitely not a farmer. I teach Title 1 Reading for kindergarten through 3rd grade. That's a far cry from a farmer. I know for sure that I am in the right profession.

Melanie,

Thanks for your response. I had to smile when I read about your "intended" farming career! I've always thought that teaching was a little like farming in many ways (including the need for a little fertilizer along the way!)

I alleviated the "messy desk" problem by removing the teacher's desk. That forces me to organize myself in a different way. Often, the first thing that visitors to my classroom ask is, "Where is your desk?"

Certainly, with technological advances, I can keep track of things in a different way. Spreadsheets, databases, software that helps me plan in a more divergent way are all things that have allowed me to "fit" into this profession as a productive individual.

I think that, over the course of their schooling career, our students are exposed to rich variety of teaching personalities. That gives them the opportunity to reflect on their own personality dimensions and learn that there are many ways to be considered "successful."

I am totally with you on the relational aspect of teaching. I know that, despite the added pressures connected with accountability and "student success" that this is the common thread for most of the teachers that I know!

Stephen Hurley

Hi Bev,

I enjoyed reading your comments. I found it intriguing that, as a math teacher, you would have scored low in the same dimensions that I did. I assumed that math teachers excelled in the details and order of the universe.

A question: do you find that you teach math differently than most of the math teachers that you had in your schooling career?

stephen

I am currently studying at Miami Dade College to become an Elementary school teacher and the very first line of this blog really caught my eye. As I was growing up I constantly changed my mind on what I wanted to pursue as a career. As I reached the final years of high school I finally realized teaching would make me happy. But knowing myself, I can't help but wonder if I will find another reason to change my mind. I have also taken one of those career surveys and never took into account its results. But this blog made me question if there really is a teacher type? And if there is do I fit the role? Clearly, if you have had a successful career for 25 years then this survey holds little validity. Possibly, there is no one "type" of teacher and different people can make the most of this occupation regardless of their organizational skills. I truly hope this career is my calling in spite of any surveys!