Any teachers out there?

So I have a very big passion for art, and currently majoring that in college but still pondering career paths I may want to take. I thought about becoming a art teacher.... My problem is I can't understand people when they talk (and as you know lipreading can be tiring).

Out of curiosity, those of you who are teachers are there any accommodations provided for you?

I'm just trying really hard to have a little more faith in myself and set a good goal plan.

I'm not a teacher (still a high school student myself), and although this isn't an accommodation, you could work at a Deaf school (I don't know if you know ASL or not). But if you'd rather not, I hope someone else can give you suggestions about possible accommodations that there are! Also, may I add that you sound to me like you'd be a great teacher, no matter where you decide to teach.


-Jason

ladysolitary85 said:

So I have a very big passion for art, and currently majoring that in college but still pondering career paths I may want to take. I thought about becoming a art teacher.... My problem is I can't understand people when they talk (and as you know lipreading can be tiring).

Out of curiosity, those of you who are teachers are there any accommodations provided for you?

I'm just trying really hard to have a little more faith in myself and set a good goal plan.

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I'd look hard at the profession as it has changed A LOT becoming high pressure and political. A former teacher of 30 years in my building absolutely hated her job and couldn't say anything good about the experience. Closer to home, my sister - with fifteen years under her belt, just walked off the job without another job to go to she hated it that much. Lip reading and communication would be the least of your concerns going into that field. It's no longer about teaching anymore which is why many are leaving in disgust.

Laura

A lot of public schools are cutting extra curricular b/c of a lacking funding and do not teach as much today some private schools will teach art. You should made sure there is a need for art teachers first.

I see that you live in Sac. I'm not familiar with Sac School Unified districts there. My sister lives in SLO. Last year, she was laid off in San Luis Coastal Unified School district due to budget cut, but managed to get another education job with more experiences in same San Luis Coastal Unified School District because of her knowledge and experiences in foreign languages and Education. Plus she is very involved in the SLCUSD. She is aggressive and a people person and can work well under pressure. She doesn't take any crap from parents' accusations and tempers. The CA schools still want foreign language teachers desperately.

You may have passion for art, but can you answer those questions?

Are you a people person?
Are you mentally prepared to take heat from the parents?
Are you mentally prepared to deal with bureaucrats?
Are you mentally prepared to work and grade your papers in bed?
Are you mentally prepared to deal with kids' behaviors?
The full health benefits are expensive.

I had a few art offers from the charter schools in San Diego to teach deaf kids, because they know I have art experiences with public relation, art shows, and art galleries. I had to deal with idiotic people under pressure. You have to interact with children constantly and know their weaknesses and strengths. I only volunteer to teach there every time I visit California.

There are several Deaf teachers in California I know that prefer hearing aides and interpreters, so they can communicate with kids' parents.

Long time ago, I had an Algebra II teacher at a private school. He wears hearing aids. He doesn't know any ASL. He is hard of hearing. He is extremely brilliant and erratic. He loves to give difficult assignments and tests to piss off the students. Actually, I'm his favorite student because he knows how I feel. True story. Actually, some students in my class often whispered to each other to make sure he can't hear them. All the time. Sometimes, my teacher happened to hear them whisper. And he dropped his algebra book on the desk, and hurled some harsh words like "I can hear you. If you keep it up, you get out of here!" He often threw students out of his class for bad behavior, and said his famous mantra, 'Bye, and have a nice day!' It put a smile on my face silently. Eventually, students' behaviors improved a lot. Sometimes, when the class started, the students still chattered, and he literally slammed the door on purpose to silence them. It worked.

I am a bit of both a invert and a people person (years of retail and food service forced that one into me). I can put on a game face and be tough when I need to be, my biggest concern was communication issues. I'm currently working on my ASL and attempting to becoming more fluent with it. My current accommodation in my college now involves a live caption-er (with the severity of my hearing loss that I have, that's something I really need at the moment) I know teacher's don't get a lot of credit for what they do... I've just got a huge passion for art and just trying to think of realistic careers I can do that involves art. I'm definitely open to ideas, especially those who are Deaf and HOH that understands being who we are and trying to build a secure career.

Lau2046 said:

I'd look hard at the profession as it has changed A LOT becoming high pressure and political. A former teacher of 30 years in my building absolutely hated her job and couldn't say anything good about the experience. Closer to home, my sister - with fifteen years under her belt, just walked off the job without another job to go to she hated it that much. Lip reading and communication would be the least of your concerns going into that field. It's no longer about teaching anymore which is why many are leaving in disgust.

Laura

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I so badly wish I can say that I disagree but I left one teaching job because of that and started another teaching job only to find that it is just as bad, if not worse. Several of the teachers at my new job said that it wasn't like this 10 years ago. It was the exactly same at my other teaching job...when I first started out, it was enjoyable and then things changed. I thought it was the new principal but now it is hitting me that it wasn't really her..it is the field.

I don't hate it at my new job but there are so many uneccessary stuff that do not really benefit the kids ..all because of politics. I feel bad for the kids...they are the ones who lose out. I hope I can hang on to the teaching job because I love my students that I have now. It is so hard.

I work in a public school teaching deaf kids and one hearing student. Nobody knows any ASL so it was a huge challenge at first but now, everyone is comfortable with me so I am getting there. I use ASL with the students. The hearing student is not verbal but she is fluent in ASL.

Maybe teach in a small school?

I sadly must agree with the horror stories above, though it can also be rewarding. I teach differently abled kids simply because general education English made me want to quit in a year. As for your hearing loss being am issue ... I have seen people discriminated against for less. Principals evaluate you in the classroom and their subjective opinion of that short time decides if you keep your job. While it may be possible, I would have a backup plan. Especially for an elective like art. Elective jobs are super hard to acquire and you will be competing with teachers who have years of experience, whether you can hear or not. If you feel teaching is a passion (and it MUST be your passion to TEACH, not just for art, to be willing to put up with the crap) then go to it! But because you are going for art (highly sought after) and have a hearing issue that the general public doesn't always understand, I would have a fall bAck plan.

I'm just trying to figure out what else I can do with art. I just don't want my time in college earning a degree go to waste you know?

I majored in World Religious Studies and went on to teach special needs kids. Get what you enjoy in college--as long as you have a degree there will still be tons of jobs open to you. You can even teach other subjects with an Art Degree, all you have to do is take a written test on them. Then when an art job opens up, you snatch it!

Maybe art galleries, museums, etc?

ladysolitary85 said:

I'm just trying to figure out what else I can do with art. I just don't want my time in college earning a degree go to waste you know?

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Commercial artist.

Puck said:

I sadly must agree with the horror stories above, though it can also be rewarding. I teach differently abled kids simply because general education English made me want to quit in a year. As for your hearing loss being am issue ... I have seen people discriminated against for less. Principals evaluate you in the classroom and their subjective opinion of that short time decides if you keep your job. While it may be possible, I would have a backup plan. Especially for an elective like art. Elective jobs are super hard to acquire and you will be competing with teachers who have years of experience, whether you can hear or not. If you feel teaching is a passion (and it MUST be your passion to TEACH, not just for art, to be willing to put up with the crap) then go to it! But because you are going for art (highly sought after) and have a hearing issue that the general public doesn't always understand, I would have a fall bAck plan.

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With this new job, I already got an evaluation and I got several poor marks for teaching. The principal doesn't know ASL and I use ASL with my students so I question her ability to evaluate me. It was an informal one but if I get poor marks again during the first formal one, I will appeal. My co-teacher who is hearing also teaches the other deaf ed class and she uses ASL too and she got perfect marks. This is her first year teaching deaf ed while it is my 12th year.

makes me go

Yeah, That's one of the major problems when principals observe you in very short time. It's very unfair. They always look for tiny mistakes and boom, you're gone. They decide you're either out or in. I heard many horrible stories about that.

About two years ago, a 22-year-old teacher who taught biology only lasted a semester because the principal bullied her constantly with her tiny mistakes that could be fixed easily. She had a breakdown and decided to quit, because she couldn't deal with the environment. Some guy replaced her was bullied constantly by the same principal. I heard from other teacher he lasted a year.

ladysolitary85 said:

I'm just trying to figure out what else I can do with art. I just don't want my time in college earning a degree go to waste you know?

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You only said about art. What do you want to be? Painter, graphic designer, commercial artist, production artist, animator, illustrator, Story board illustrator, Character designer, 3D artist?

We're in the digital era now and we focus on computer (Adobe programs, Corel programs, Maya) a lot over traditional hand skill. Many customers would like to see combination of computer and traditional hand skill together now.

If you're into 3D stuff, you can download open source program called Blender for free.

As for art interviews with the companies, they really don't care about your degree, they only want to see your abilities. I know several guys who are really good and are far better than me couldn't get a job. It's tough. Your abilities have to be witty and clever and that's what grab their interest.

You can go to concept art forum and they discuss everything, including jobs and media industries over there. Totally recommend it. It will give you some ideas how it works behind the scenes.
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/

shel90 said:

With this new job, I already got an evaluation and I got several poor marks for teaching. The principal doesn't know ASL and I use ASL with my students so I question her ability to evaluate me. It was an informal one but if I get poor marks again during the first formal one, I will appeal. My co-teacher who is hearing also teaches the other deaf ed class and she uses ASL too and she got perfect marks. This is her first year teaching deaf ed while it is my 12th year.



makes me go

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^^this!!!

It often gets "personal"... I feel like the teachers the principals personally like often have their mistakes overlooked. I am in a union battle right now with a principal who is being discriminatory against me because of ethnicity. I am one of only a few white teachers at a school run by People of Color, and it has been made very clear that I am not welcome. I know that sounds crazy, but reverse racism does exist and it is very hurtful--I feel for those who face this every day, as I know many Deaf people do.

Puck said:

^^this!!!

It often gets "personal"... I feel like the teachers the principals personally like often have their mistakes overlooked. I am in a union battle right now with a principal who is being discriminatory against me because of ethnicity. I am one of only a few white teachers at a school run by People of Color, and it has been made very clear that I am not welcome. I know that sounds crazy, but reverse racism does exist and it is very hurtful--I feel for those who face this every day, as I know many Deaf people do.

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I have experienced reverse racism too. I live in Baltimore City and I am white who is married to a black man. Ian sure you can imagine the stories and situations I have endured. Lol