Valsdad:
The best teachers and programs are conducted by those that can convey the future value of their efforts. I.e. one will use this in the future. One of my most valuable high school courses was typing, and I was able to relay that to my instructor at a 20th reunion as she had tears forming.
As a high schooler, I did only enough to progress. Fortunately, it was a tough school in Va, and I absorbed a lot more than grades implied. Four years in the Navy during the Nam era gave me direction. College was easy, fun, and by cutting back to bare essentials with summer and school jobs, not a debt accumulator.
Career options were teach or research, and I went for the latter. I.e. publish or perish. Did enjoy doing guest lectures though for everything from 4th graders to graduate levels. After a career's exposure to kids, if teaching was mandated, it would be grade school or college with nothing in between. With rare exceptions, middle and high schoolers are just too cool to display interest. Quite rewarding with the little guys though to see the lights come on with a realization of "wow, that's how that works." If college, I think the career courses would be most rewarding, as one would be dealing solely with kids that wanted to be there. Core courses, needed to sort of round one out would be the pits. I can not imagine sitting down to grade 200 English compositions.
As to the other thread where the kid had a 0.13 GPA and ranked in the upper 50%, I wonder what the 3 courses were that he passed? Maybe PE.
Last edited by 1minute; 03/06/21.
