74 Comments!
That's a record by, like, 50.
To respond to some of your comments:
You: You don't need a master's degree to be an English teacher. You can just take some classes and get certified.
Me: Right, but I don't want to take any classes.
You: If you teach an English class online at blogtv or something, tons of people will participate.
Me: Not a bad idea, but--and nothing against working for free or anything--in that situation, who would be paying me?
You: Just come teach at my private school!
Me: Right, but your private school isn't where I live, and I can't move, because Sarah's job is here, and I feel like it would be bad for our marriage if we lived in separate houses. (Also expensive!)
You: Teach for America.
Me: Oh God. Oh God no. Like I said, I have this fantasy where I teach one class of highly motivated juniors or seniors in high school and we talk about books and why reading them critically matters. Teach for America is awesome, and it is great work, and important work, but it is not something you do before going home to write for six or eight hours a day.
You: Substitute teach.
Me: No. :)
You: Tutor.
Me: That's a good idea. That could work. Not quite the same as ordering kids to read a book and then slowly twisting their arms until they realize it's good, but potentially still fun and engaging.
Anyway, it's all irrelevant for now because I'm about to leave for ten weeks (!!!??!!) of travel. Goodnight from a Holiday Inn in Columbus, and thanks to all the nerdfighters who came out tonight! Best wishes!
posted by John Green @ Monday, September 08, 2008
30 Comments
30 Comments:
Not the same as teaching a class every day, but start a book club! Go to the public library and ask if there is a space you could use... put up flyers with the age group you're looking for, wait for your smart, motivated students to show up, et voila!
It's not like a teaching degree has any significance.
I've had some pretty bogus teachers in my time.
The way they hire teachers in this country. CRAZY.
They are telling my mom her german teaching degree isn't valid and she'll have to take classes at a junior college to relearn what she learned when she 12.
On top of that, in Germany they have 4 years of teacher training school and internships and yadda yadda.
Any loser off the street could become a teacher in this country.
And it isn't that easy to find highly motivated students.
I think the teacher often has an impact on how motivated students are.
You can't be totally boring and there always has to be a reason for each assignment you give.
pardon this rant.
Good luck in any future teaching endeavors.
A bit modest, the video directly before this has 45 comments, so at best (pauses to call mathematician friend) it's a record by 29 comments. Which is a bit surprising, seeing as how that's about what your youtube videos get with in 10 seconds of being posted. Where are all the blog reading nerdfighters?
A lot of the time when I read things I make up a voice for the words, but every single time I read Best Wishes it is completely your voice. And then I start laughing.
You didn't respond to the homeschool idea! Look online and see if you can find out if there's a homeschool community - or find a homeschool resource place and put up a flier... you might find a group of high schoolers whose parents don't want to teach them English and who would enjoy having someone teach their child with your credentials. Also, you can get away with not being licensed to teach (or even having an undergrad degree!) when you're dealing with homeschoolers. They also can be the bright, inquisitive students you're looking for!
Really wish I'd been there. At any rate, you've got us, the NERDFIGHTERS, and we're a pretty captive audience. No, I mean, we're a reeally captive audience. We'll do just about anything you ask us to. I had previously hated Catcher. Then you told me that you were going to make me like and understand it. I decided to do as I was told and borrowed a friend's copy. On the other side, I DID understand it and I even felt for Holden. See, you are twisting our arms (or mine, anyway) and getting us to read good literature for our own sakes. Even if you can't actually see how much you're affecting us, you are.
And now that you know exactly how much power you hold, do you think it'll ever go to your head?
Good luck with that 'highly motivated' part. Maybe you've been hanging around nerdfighters too long, but most kids just aren't made of awesome when it comes to learning. It doesn't help to have all the stupid tests and grades bogging you down. I'm not saying that we're not out there, we obviously are! I'm just saying that Your dream would take a lot of crud work to get to. And by crud work I mean working with the not-so-motivated cranky high school kids.
http://www.826national.org/
libraries
one-time class-type things through rec & ed places,
et cetera
teach something somewhere.
also, I'm not sure how bad you want to be paid for one class.
John, I would pay big money to be in your web class. And I'm not the only one.
soo...where can I send a check?
Write a non-fiction book about literature and become the next Harold Bloom.
Do you think that, in ten weeks of traveling, you might have time to stop by in Barcelona for coffee and biscuits? I'm sure the Spanish fans/nerdfighters would join forces to cook a paella of awesome if you did.
Hi John-- I'm trying kind of desperately to reach you, realizing now you're heading out on tour. Jackie Woodson and An Na sent me running to your books, and now I hope that you'll consider teaching a YA workshop at the Solstice Conference (Boston) next June (09). Your email box seems to be full (the sparksflyup address), as the invite I sent there bounced back. My email is kearneym@pmc.edu. I know you're incredibly busy, but if you could contact me (even just to say "forget it, Meg"), I'd really appreciate it! Thanks much, Meg Kearney
(Director, Solstice Creative Writing Programs, Pine Manor College, Chestnut Hill, MA www.pmc.edu)
Just in short reply to Elena..I am an English teacher and Special Education teacher for grades 7-12, as certified by the state of New York. I went through four years of training, including taking several literature and education classes. Each semester I was required to teach lessons in local schools. I completed two student teaching placements during my final semester, as is required by all education students, and I also completed a portfolio documenting the work I did and the work my students completed for me, to demonstrate my qualifications and skills as a teacher. I also had to pass four certification exams in order to become certified by the state of New York. Teaching is not for the lazy, the unmotivated, or the uncaring. It is for those of us whose lives are dedicated to helping all students learn how to live a better life. Forgive me, but I do not fall into that category of "loser."
John - I am currently finishing up my Master's degree and will be starting a doctorate program in the spring. However, my professors have already suggested to me that I could start teaching English and writing 100-level classes this spring. Why not contact your local colleges and universities to see if you could teach freshman intro to lit, or some other equivalent?
And, when I start teaching at college level, you can come in to teach my students, too. I'll pay! :D
CANNOT WAIT FOR ANN ARBOR!!!
brittany
I was so excited when I heard you are coming to Oklahoma my teacher almost saw my cell phone. Maybe I shouldn't watch youtube videos during AP Stat.
There are no private high schools in Indianapolis?
Hope the public schools are good...
Have a fun tour!
Actually, I wonder if you even need to take classes at all. I have a bachelor's in Early Childhood Ed./Special Ed., but if I wanted to teach middle school (GOD FORBID!) all I have to do is take a test.
But since your degree isn't Education, I don't know if that's all you'd have to do. Check with the Board of Education in your county.
Oh, and Elena, I don't know if you're talking about the States, but any loser off the street CANNOT become a teacher in this country. I had to jump through hoops to get this job (I teach Kindergarten) and will continue to jump them to keep it.
Why don't you talk to some local school and ask if they could have you do like an assembly or be a special gust teacher for a semester or something?
I wish you could teach me!
man I wish you could be a teacher at my school.
our teachers are a joke.
we didn't read ONE BOOK my whole sophomore year. it was depressing.
what's even more depressing is that the same teacher in whose class I read zero books teaches AP Junior English.
it makes me SAD.
If you did the online thing, I'd pay for it myself; heck YES I would.
Sorry to be late to the party, but here's a thought: How about starting some kind of after-school club/tutoring to prepare for the AP English Lit exam for students who don't have an AP Lit class offered at their high school?
You can still take the test (and, if you pass, get the college credit) without taking the actual class, and the list of recommended reading is, I think, exactly what you're looking for. Plus, all of the students would be highly motivated, because they're not required to be there.
As a side note, I saved myself literally thousands of dollars in tuition by independently studying for and then passing the AP Lit and AP Lang & Comp exams in high school, and it allowed me to jump right into the higher level (and much more interesting) English classes when I was a college freshman.
stephanieinca's comment is pretty kewl!
I'd say doing an online class is the way to go, i'm sure there are places out there that host that sort of thing or just do it thru private on blogtv with people able to pay thru paypal.
i keep wanting to teach a poetry and/or writing workshop in my area but organizing it is a pain! You however have WAY more street cred than I do :)
Another suggestion: Teach classes for homeschoolers. Seriously. I was homeschooled and the co-ops look for teachers all the time.
i think you can teach at ANY private school without a certificate. you just have to be smart or published or both.
or, you know, there are some pretty cool private schools in indianapolis. there might even be some in the realm of 86th street...
You may not want to take classes, but trust me, they're not that hard. Nor are the tests. I'm an English teacher. The content tests are quite easy for anyone with half a literate brain. And the classes are pretty basic methods type of stuff that you regurgitate for tests but have no significance in the actual classroom. You learn almost nothing worthwhile in those education classes. It all comes during the first year of teaching.
Some schools have "Outside Teacher funds" (Atleast, my school does...)Anyways, we have 35,000 dollars from the county to hire people to come to our school for educational purposes. At the moment we have someone to help the seniors write college essays, someone who will lead a nature hike, blah blah blah. But, a school like us could hire YOU as a literature teacher. You don't need a teaching degree, you only need credibility as someone who could "teach" literature, and you have that as an author.
So... maybe there is a school with a similar program near where you live.
Oh, I would give ANYTHING for you to teach my English class. My school has recently adopted the College Board's Springboard English "Textual Power" (their words, not mine). Its a disaster. I feel like I have an entire year of busywork planned for me.
And highly motivated students are hard to come by, but I would totally pay you for and online class.
GREAT BOOKS SUMMER PROGRAM. It's a summer camp for high-school aged students who love to read and discuss literature with their peers. It's amazing. It's held every summer at the campuses of Stanford, Amherst, and William & Mary. They have guest lecturers, you would do that really well!
More information here: http://greatbookssummer.com/
You can teach at my school. We're ranked #14 in Newsweek's top public schools in the nation, and we have a lot of staff and teachers you'd definitely get along with...
and not to mention, IT'S IN NORTH CAROLINA.
your favorite state, right? ;]
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