response has taken a while to generate. This has really poked an
interest in my own job and how I view it. As the only millennial in my
workplace, I find myself in an interesting position as I start
developing my own life.
I love being a teacher, I absolutely loved it. I came in to my
position directly from college. I was so lucky that I took on a
position that I could grow into and develop the position to fit my own
skills. However, this also has been caused my position to be re-
defined several ways over the past two school years. Now in my third
school year, I am very rarely the teacher and more so an
administrator. Something much more than I had bargained for and
something that I have been learning to deal with in the process.
Earlier this year I met with the principal to redo my job description,
since it was horribly out dated. My hours and expectations increased
as well, my title changed from "Computer Teacher" to "Director of
Technology". However, we took a look about how this might effect my
personal life. I am newly married and this contract change would be a
9-month teacher to an 11 month teacher/administrator. My husband works
full time and then some. So taking vacations are nearly impossible,
extended weekends are more feasible. We have not even thought about
children.
I think if I ever left I would be missing something. If I dropped down
back to a teacher, I think I would be missing out on a lot of the
learning experiences I have had as an administrator. If I stay an
administrator, what further expenses will I take to keep up with the
job?
Like I said at the beginning, this has been an amazing discussion,
thank you for all who contributed. Jane, I wish you well with your
choice and thank you for making me look at the bigger picture in my
own job as well.
---Lisa
---
Lisa Sjogren
Director of Technology
St. Raphael's Catholic School
763-504-9450, ext. 311
763-504-9460, fax
lisa.sjogren@srsmn.org
My Blog: http://lisasjogren.srsmn.org
On Dec 7, 2007, at 10:24 AM, Curt Lieneck wrote:
> Great thread. Tried to resist chiming in but couldn't.
>
> Like lots of teachers, I found the notion of a summer "off" a
> foreign concept and did landscaping, teaching /running summer
> school, painting houses, even shaping 40 acres of Christmas trees
> (they don't just grow into that perfect cone shape by themselves,
> you know). During the school year, coaching and other extra
> service pay opportunities made for the long days so many teachers
> know, but it was part of the deal we all make when we sign the
> contract. I don't have much sympathy for people who complain about
> teaching salaries, btw - it's like buying a house by the airport and
> then complaining about all the planes taking off and landing. I felt
> I was compensated fairly for what I was being asked to do, and
> always realized that doing more than that was my choice.
>
> So when I'd reached most of my teaching goals, and an opportunity
> came along to wear just one hat in my work life instead of many, I
> took it, and I have not been sorry in the nearly ten years since.
> Sometimes I miss being in the classroom (not Halloween, Valentine's
> Day, or field trips to the opera), but by and large I find this work
> challenging and varied enough to be as engaging as working with
> kids. I also know that I can find ways to reconnect with kids if I
> really feel the need to: co-teach a class, work on a project with a
> teacher, sponsor another club (I do two of them now).
>
> The rewards are surely different, however. A lot of what happens in
> IT is really only known, understood, or appreciated by a handful of
> people, and that can make finding satisfaction more elusive.
>
> The hardest parts of this work are the steep, relentless, mandatory
> learning curve and the very narrow margin for error. By the time we
> really know something inside and out, it often doesn't matter any
> more. And mostly you don't get to pick what to learn about. There
> are a lot of things I now know that I wouldn't ever have chosen to
> learn (that would be a fun discussion group on the Ning site - I
> should start one). And now that a lot of services we provide are
> relied upon 24x7x365, the consequences of even very small errors in
> complex work can be large. We are accountable to a whole lot of
> people who are not especially accountable to us, and palpably so.
> This can be wearisome over the long haul. Classrooms and kids are
> much more tolerant of mistakes than servers and databases.
>
> I would complain about how slow schools are to change, but that is
> house-by-the-airport territory, so I won't.
>
> I'm thankful for a close-knit , very capable IT work group who
> supports each other, communicates well, and enjoys one another's
> company. I've also been fortunate to work with/for enlightened,
> supportive superiors who provide needed resources and trust me to
> make decisions. And while it's not really possible to enjoy rich
> professional relationships with all the nearly 300 grownups in the
> building, our relationship-based support philosophy results in many
> rewarding contacts with teachers and staff members. There is much
> support in the wider ed tech community as well - some of the finest,
> hardest-working, wicked- smart educators I know are ed tech folks
> who grin, roll up their sleeves, and keep pushing the digital rock
> up the hill every day.
>
> It's neat that we can have conversations like this. Being publicly
> personal about our work shows a lot of trust in and appreciation for
> one another that's hard to find in other occupations. Best wishes
> for a blessed, joyful holiday season to all.
>
> Curt Lieneck
> Director of Information Technology
> The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools
> 1362 E. 59th St.
> Chicago IL 60637
> Voice: 773.834.1863
> Fax: 773.702.8480
>
>>
>
>
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[ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.
