Update: After months of waiting it out and not acting as though I was even slightly interested in it, they've roped me into Student Council.
I'm not one to get chumped into things regularly, and at first it was just an offer of "what extracurriculars would you be interested in?" I am already signed up for something very minor involving after-school supervision of students wanting to attend sporadic after school sports events, so I thought I was in the clear. And I was. You know, it's not like "Ms. [Me] we are requiring you to take on the assload of responsibility that is Student Council." It's more like "Hey, how would you feel about a co-advisorship for student council? You could work with so-and-so and this would be a great opportunity to make a name for yourself in our community."
Alas, I am a first year teacher. And even though I'm also not by any stretch of the imagination an I-have-to-do-this-or-I'll-lose-my-job person (I'm marketable, I work hard, I turned down a great offer in April, before graduation, without even having any others), I didn't feel like I could say no when it turned from "are you interested?" to "would you do this?"
Not trying to sound like Debbie Downer. I actually like the idea of taking on such an integral advisorship. In fact, there are so many wonderful chances to build relationships with students and their families when you take on this role. BUT it also requires a ton of time and energy.
My first year will now be going way faster than it was 24 hours ago.
Oh, and, yeah, the stipend is a healthy amount of money. Enough to cover my mentorship fee which (COUGH location hint here COUGH) my state no longer reimburses, with some to spare (on shoes, I predict).
5 comments:
You'll be perfetc. energy idealism and smarts it'll be good for kids. One caveat though is expect more criticism than praise I got yearbooked my first year and caught holy hell from everyone !!! Peace
You sound like the perfect person to do this, somehow. Just interested enough to put in the proper amount of time/effort, but not so obsessed that it takes over your life. You'll have plenty of things to do aside from this, and maybe it'll give you some brownie points with the administration, on top of the opportunities to interact with the students and their families.
hey thanks guys. i appreciate the encouragement. i really do thing i can help the students move towards some authentic, community-building projects. and stewardship is such an important part of education--i'm hoping to involve them with local concerns and organizations, not just org.s like the march of dimes, which is a super organization. it's a balance, i think.
justice-i will definitely not be surprised is i get some crit. thanks for the heads up!
enc-EXACTLY. there is no way i'm going to be one of those teachers who dedicates every waking moment to student council, or teaching, or anything else for that matter. i will, however, work hard and devote the needed attention to make it successful and meaningful. thanks for the validation!
They make you PAY to be mentored!?
YES! $700! i mean, i wouldn't mind if i was being reimbursed, but with this and union dues, i need that student council stipend!
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