So I found out my teaching position

**peanut** · 08-11-2011, 10:33 PM

He's a real heart stopper!

Have fun!

**Nishu** · 08-13-2011, 11:41 AM

Did I read that right? The coaches are going to be teaching the English classes?

I'm sorry about your job, good luck to you. Your little boy is adorable.

**peanut** · 08-13-2011, 12:47 PM

Yeah, nishu. I caught that too. I'm not American so I'm refraining from making any comment on your education system down there.

**brennasmom** · 08-13-2011, 01:40 PM

Originally Posted by Nishu

Did I read that right? The coaches are going to be teaching the English classes?

I'm sorry about your job, good luck to you. Your little boy is adorable.

When I was in high school there was a baseball coach who "taught" history... he didn't make the baseball players do any homework or take the tests....

**New-mom-to-be** · 08-13-2011, 01:54 PM

Football is important!

**Nishu** · 08-13-2011, 01:57 PM

I would not hesitate to spread that around. I think parents need to know if their children were being taught English by a football coach. If it were my kid, I'd raise a stink. Are these coaches qualified to teach English? At all? Or is this as shady as it sounds?

**New-mom-to-be** · 08-13-2011, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by Nishu

I would not hesitate to spread that around. I think parents need to know if their children were being taught English by a football coach. If it were my kid, I'd raise a stink. Are these coaches qualified to teach English? At all? Or is this as shady as it sounds?

It's a tiny school where I was the entire HS English department.

It is a little shady, but the coaches who are getting my classes did pass the certification test for English.

I lived an hour away from that school, so my kid will never attend there. I was upset at first and let parents know. But this is Texas and Football is King. Some parents protested, but they skewed it as a budget issue at the school board meeting. We can keep her, or we can keep the coaches that coach football and basketball.

I had been thinking about leaving anyway, but I did want it to be on my terms. That didn't happen. However, we are a happier family right now because of this loss. I am home now and less stressed.

**Nishu** · 08-13-2011, 02:18 PM

Ugh, sorry.

I really don't get the football obsession down there. Not that many of those kids can make a career out of it, and if anyone benefits from it it will be boys. Is it just an entertainment thing down there? It almost seems like the grownups are willing to put their kids through anything for a good game of football.

**New-mom-to-be** · 08-13-2011, 02:25 PM

I really don't know how it is in other states. But here, in small town Texas....dad's wear their HS letter jackets of the same school to games to watch their sons play and their daughters cheer.

**gueradia** · 08-13-2011, 07:28 PM

I feel for the OP. I used to teach HS English until I "retired" to stay home with my two, now four children. I will say that here in Alabama our coaches had to have teaching certificates with emphasis in academic subjects so they are trained to teach typical school subjects. We had coaches galore for every sport imaginable. They were paid a stipend for the time spent coaching, but they also had to teach an academic subject. Some, not all, of our coaches were actually excellent teachers in their chosen subject. That being said, I love being at home. I have a feeling you will too. Once you fully embrace the frugal lifestyle, you realize that it really doesn't always pay to teach when little ones come into the picture.

**forHISglory** · 08-13-2011, 10:39 PM

Originally Posted by New-mom-to-be

Well, I know we can cut on groceries. We spend about 500 a month for 3 plus take out and restaurants. Try to knock off a couple hundred here and stop the take out and eating out.

Entertainment--we don't really go out that much, other than having season baseball tickets for our university. We do have direct tv, so maybe it can be cut there. You can drop the direct TV, and not have season tickets. Won't hurt anyone in the long run.

Transportation--This one is going to significantly drop once my school year is over. I currently commute 100 a miles a day to my job. My husband drives a Prius, so that doesn't take much gasoline on his 15 mile a day drive to and from work. I understand, as I used to have a 100 mile round trip commute. It makes a BIG difference!

I'd like to figure out ways to get the electricity bill smaller. That' might be tricky, as we tend to use more, not less, electric now that I am home all day.

I'd also like to add that I was a HS English teacher, and I understand your frustration in having your position given to a coach. However, we did have some excellent teachers who also happened to coach. To me that is the key. I didn't want to see a coach who happened to teach; I wanted a teacher who happened to coach. I'm assuming that seniority was taken into consideration? If you really want the position back, you can take this up with your state teacher association. But honestly, it can make a tough situation if you win, and go back to the same school. Attitudes would make it very difficult to teach there again. On the bright side, can you tutor to bring in extra cash? I used to tutor and I charged the same amount as the music teacher who gave lessons. The students came to my house, and it was fairly easy to have a baby and tutor at the same time.