It is not the best paid job, but it is a job. Everyday I go to a different school and a different class, and a whole new group of students, although I have had a few repeats which makes it easier.
Some days I actually enjoy the time spent instructing the kids. Other days I am frustrated with having to police students all day rather than teach them. And then there are the days when I am at a school with pretty decent kids but not-so-lovely teachers.
This usually happens at the elementary schools. There seems to be the School Clique to which outsiders are not welcomed. You can be as jovial and chatty and charming as you can muster, and you still are treated with disdain. I don't get it. I am also a professional teacher so assume there will some amount of camaraderie. Not so. Worst of all is that I finish the day feeling miserable and excluded and questioning what I might have done to warrant the Cold Shoulder attitude of The Teachers.
But I have no real reason to moan. The pay is ok for a days work even though there are no sick days or vacation days or any sort of benefits. But once I leave the work site, my day is done. No papers to mark or meetings to go to. And Sunday at 4pm is still the end of the weekend rather than the beginning of lesson planning.
I took myself off the call list today; yet another advantage. Now I just have to get started on all those tasks I set for myself.
kate
