What do you look for in a job?

I just posted this comment at the "Silent Eloquence" blogsite.  Let me add that I have not looked through the whole blogsite, do no know what the rest of it is about.  I was just googling "what do you look for in a job."

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I stumbled upon this page when doing a little research for fresh material/a fresh approach for National Latin Teacher Recruitment Week.

I find these two comments serious food for thought:  “Now, I look for interesting work, career satisfaction and doing something that I will get personal satisfaction from.”   and “The 3 parameters good pay, interesting work and recognition are definitely what people are looking for - its also how they prioritize the 3.”

Of course, with teaching we seem to ask people to sacrifice good pay for doing something they find highly important and valuable, and perhaps even critical to the well-being of society.  Even still, it's a hard sell. 

Many teachers will even say that wouldn't recommend teaching as a job career choice.

So, how do we sell these serious jobs in economic times like these?

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This will sound stupid, perhaps, but in recent years I have somehow equated teaching with being in the military.  It's hard work for not the best pay, often goes unappreciated, you're sometimes taken advantage of by administrations and school districts and being trapped in a 9 month contract.  You are often sent to work without all the proper equipment or training.  And there can be traumatic incidents that effect you, that others will never understand nor appreciate. 

But there's also a sense of purpose and importance about the job.  There's a sense that it must be done right and to the best of your ability.

There's a quality of flexibility you must have.  You must be able to adapt to new terrain and new populations.

There's a sense of duty.  I think really good public servants feel this way too.  The West Wing often talks about a sense of duty, a sense that to work in The White House--to work long hours for not great pay--is more important than the pay.

Here's the thing: working for The White House has RECOGNITION and RESPECT.  No one trash talks a person that works at The White House.  Teachers get talked badly about all the time.  Not too often Latin teachers, but sometimes.

And if you tell someone you teach Latin either you get their immediate respect or disrespect.  Either they think you are brilliant or an out-of-touch cerebral idiot.  People think you only teach the brainiest students.  The truth is most people don't have a clue about what goes on in schools, what it takes to teach.... legislators are the worst.  If the yhad any idea, we wouldn't be having kids taken out of class for the "fat test."

But there is a certain safe quality to teaching.  If you make yourself valuable, you'll always have a job.  You can't lay off a whole school, or even if a school does close, as in the case of Porter MS, the students don't go away.  There will always be students, always other schools that need you.

You aren't at the whims of the economy like some jobs. 

You will have the same holidays, more or less, as your children.  It is in some ways a good job for parents, or one parent in a two-parent, two-job family.

I dunno....

I guess the trick is figuring out how to be the pied piper and call others to service.   Bad analogy.  The pied piper tricked rats into drowing themselves....don't want people thinking teaching is a suicidal mission, even if that does cross my mind from time to time.

I was brainstorming last night on what to put on new flyers and ads for NLTRW...  Here are some of the thoughts I had:

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credo quia incredibile

BELIEVE (really big lettering)

Believe because it is unbelievable—unbelievable that it only takes one person to make a difference. It only takes one person with vision; one person whose influence can change the course of events; one person who can change the future not just for that person but for the entire profession.

It only takes one person participating in National Latin Teacher Recruitment Week to change the number of new teachers available in your area within a few years. Just one person.

And if more than one person participates, well… what’s holding you back?

BE that person. Take a day, the first week in March, to talk to your students about becoming Latin teachers. Talk to them about one of the most challenging and rewarding jobs on earth. Talk to them about the importance of service, of shaping the lives of future generations, of continuing to carry on the torch of knowledge.

We can turn around the shortage of Latin teachers in this country.  We can if we all work together because together we can make a difference.  But it starts with just you. 
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Well, that's all I have so far.  It needs more shape, more something.  Maybe I should work on a look; that often helps me.