What is the Fork?

Okay, enough of being obtuse.

Why all this angst about a road diverging?

I am contemplating a career change. Well,... maybe more than contemplating, but maybe more on that later.

I could continue in my present career (which I enjoy quite a bit, thank you), or I could become a school teacher.

If a school teacher, then I think I'd like to teach math and/or physics, in the 12+ age group. I am not yet sure which way I am leaning - middle school, or high school.

If middle school, I'd be quite happy to teach general science instead of just physics (which is what I love). But I do not want to teach math by itself. I definitely want to teach math alongside science.

Right now I am doing everything I can to understand what a career in teaching entails. And whether I have the temprament and sufficient motivation to make a success of it.

To that end I am am visiting classrooms and talking to teachers, counsellors and administrators.

I am asking them things like

• What advice would you give to a teacher starting out? Stuff you wish someone had told you early on.
• What do you wish they had taught in your M.Ed or M.I.T, that they did not?
• When you have seen a person for two or five minutes, what do you see that tells you this person is a fantastic teacher?
• What common baggage do some people bring that makes it impossible for them to succeed as teachers?
• What are the things that grind you down? The little things that all add up and suck away at your idealism.

As you read my (hopefully not infrequent) posts, if answers to these questions pop up, please do leave them in the comments.

About me.

This blog is an experiment in many ways.

1. I have never written a journal before, much less a blog. To me the act of verbalizing of my thoughts requires the visualization of a listener. That, in turn, makes me self-conscious of what I am saying. For example, even without meaning to, I rewrote the start of this paragraph three times until it sounded right (I then came back and edited it twice while proofing it). But once all that editing happens, it is not clear whether I captured the thought in its original form, or whether I modulated it to fit the perceived listener.

So my first experiment is to see if I can edit myself less.

2. I am verbose. It's just the way I am. (e.g. the last sentence.) I presently subscribe to only one blog - that of Paul Graham. I like what he says, and how he says it. But he calls his pieces essays, not a blog. When ever I have tried to write something I itend to post, it tends to come out like an essay - and takes me at least 8 hours to boot. Which means I wait months before I muster up the energy or time to write again.

My second experiment, therefore, is to just write what I mean to say. Quickly. And then get out before the mission expands to something broader. (The very act of writing involves pondering, which necessarily means one has something more to say before one finishes.)

3. I tend to want to get everything right the first time. This usually lends to analysis paralysis. For example, once I decided I was going to start journaling this journey, I researched free blog services for almost an hour, before I reminded myself Just do it. (Of course, I also wondered whether a blog itself was the right thing. So I also investigated twitter, Facebook, and MySpace. Sigh!)

Experiment three: Get it done, even if it is not how you wanted it. That's better than never getting around to it.

So, if you perceive a confused voice, it's because I am trying to become something that I am naturally not.

Note to self: To succeed as a teacher you definitely have to get #2 & #3. With regard to #1, you have to learn what is worth keeping (i.e. seeing it from the eye of the student) and then get rid of the rest.

About this blog

I am in my forties with two children (5 & 9).

Looking back at how I got here, I see many points where the road diverged, and I looked down one, but took the other.

So here I am again, and be one traveler, long I stand and look down one as far as I can, to where it bends in the undergrowth.

Somewhere up ahead on this path lie children, school rooms, physics, and math. How much further dare I venture? I guess that's what each post on this blog is about.