Teaching job, neck on chopping block

Mythos said:
I might just look into it @sixpack577 . If a truck driver is appreciated more than an art teacher, I'd go for it right now. Money talks, BS walks.
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These days being a trucker would probably pay sign on bonuses. The importance of trucking has really been brought into focus in the past several months.

And I'm not trying to throw cold water on thinking this through for you. You don't make $$ unless you're rolling. And they expect you to roll!
 
Art is really under-appreciated these days, always has been really. So is shop. Schools don't really know how to handle creativity, IQ tests and college entrance exams don't even measure it. My high school art teacher, Wilbur Chadwick, was a very talented artist. His specialty was hand-drawn figures. I remember he tried hard to turn me into an artist, haha. I was always drawing things, engines, cars, houses, etc. Once we were supposed to draw a still life. The other kids drew fruit, food, and bottles of wine. I drew a workbench with an engine being rebuilt. I can still remember Mr. Chadwick shaking his head and saying "well, I guess all people who can draw aren't artists." He was the first person who suggested architecture or engineering to me.

Unfortunately, for most, art is a break from real studies. For that special creative person art class is a lifeline in a world of equations and Beowolf that makes no sense. So, art just isn't appreciated by the mainstream. Most art teachers I know use their teaching to support their efforts as an artist - sort of a solution to the starving artist scenario.

The good news is the business world craves creativity and artistic expression. Sounds like you are ready for a change. You won't be happy unless you find a place where you can be what you are, an artist.
 
TallTom said:
These days being a trucker would probably pay sign on bonuses. The importance of trucking has really been brought into focus in the past several months.

And I'm not trying to throw cold water on thinking this through for you. You don't make $$ unless you're rolling. And they expect you to roll!
Click to expand...
Again it depends.
TMC will pay you more and you'll usually drive half as far.
They have high standards, and charge Alot for their services, big accounts like John Deere, factory to dealer deliveries.
There are alot of great companies out there as well, like the small one my friend drives for.
Others, will use you like a borrowed mule, and pay you as little as possible.
You just have to shop around like any other job.
TMC is one of few companies that will allow new drivers to make as much as the guys with years of experience, put you in a nice truck, and get you a schedule that works for you.
They also hire alot of military.
 
sixpack577 said:
Again it depends.
TMC will pay you more and you'll usually drive half as far.
They have high standards, and charge Alot for their services, big accounts like John Deere, factory to dealer deliveries.
There are alot of great companies out there as well, like the small one my friend drives for.
Others, will use you like a borrowed mule, and pay you as little as possible.
You just have to shop around like any other job.
TMC is one of few companies that will allow new drivers to make as much as the guys with years of experience, put you in a nice truck, and get you a schedule that works for you.
They also hire alot of military.
Click to expand...
Hi. Trucking is a rough job. Do you like living out of duffel bag? I drove with my girl friend she also drove and she backed up better then most men. Some times we would get home only twice a year. We had a 144 inch sleeper. This was over 21 years ago. We made $93.00 am hr sometimes. he was killed where a car came off of an over pass and went through our cab. That was when I fractured my back and put me on disability for the rest of my life. We did love it and I miss it very much. If you love driving do it but know what you are getting yourself in for. Now with the E logs I will never do it again. We would have 4 log books all were lose leaf and we never keep fuel and toll receipts on the truck we mailed them in.
 
fallenarch said:
Art is really under-appreciated these days, always has been really. So is shop. Schools don't really know how to handle creativity, IQ tests and college entrance exams don't even measure it. My high school art teacher, Wilbur Chadwick, was a very talented artist. His specialty was hand-drawn figures. I remember he tried hard to turn me into an artist, haha. I was always drawing things, engines, cars, houses, etc. Once we were supposed to draw a still life. The other kids drew fruit, food, and bottles of wine. I drew a workbench with an engine being rebuilt. I can still remember Mr. Chadwick shaking his head and saying "well, I guess all people who can draw aren't artists." He was the first person who suggested architecture or engineering to me.

Unfortunately, for most, art is a break from real studies. For that special creative person art class is a lifeline in a world of equations and Beowolf that makes no sense. So, art just isn't appreciated by the mainstream. Most art teachers I know use their teaching to support their efforts as an artist - sort of a solution to the starving artist scenario.

The good news is the business world craves creativity and artistic expression. Sounds like you are ready for a change. You won't be happy unless you find a place where you can be what you are, an artist.
Click to expand...
Art and specifically drawing kind of runs in my family (somehow). Pretty much all of us can draw. My sister became a graphic artist and branched out on her own business making greeting cards, coloring books and prints....

I can look at something and then reproduce it on paper...don't know how.
 
Mythos said:
I might just look into it @sixpack577 . If a truck driver is appreciated more than an art teacher, I'd go for it right now. Money talks, BS walks.
Click to expand...
After my experiences, life and happiness go hand in hand...if you aren't happy with what you are currently doing, and you think you would be happier doing something else, this is the time to go do it.....
 
michael parris heuberger said:
Hi. Trucking is a rough job. Do you like living out of duffel bag? I drove with my girl friend she also drove and she backed up better then most men. Some times we would get home only twice a year. We had a 144 inch sleeper. This was over 21 years ago. We made $93.00 am hr sometimes. he was killed where a car came off of an over pass and went through our cab. That was when I fractured my back and put me on disability for the rest of my life. We did love it and I miss it very much. If you love driving do it but know what you are getting yourself in for. Now with the E logs I will never do it again. We would have 4 log books all were lose leaf and we never keep fuel and toll receipts on the truck we mailed them in.
Click to expand...
Again, it all depends on the company, equipment, and schedule.
I drove for a couple companies and Hated it, junk trucks, little support, bad schedules, and if that's someone's first impression...they will probably hate it.
To the contrary, if you're in a nice truck, and the company appreciates you, because they know You make their money, then it can be very enjoyable.
Especially for someone who enjoys driving and travel.
There is opportunity to do some sight seeing during your time off, and alot of times you can get routed where ever you want for home time or vacation.
If you have kids and like being at home, there Are good day driving jobs out there too, just depends where you live.
Trucking is no different than any other employer or job, there are good and bad, and it's all in what you make it.
 
fallenarch said:
So, art just isn't appreciated by the mainstream. Most art teachers I know use their teaching to support their efforts as an artist - sort of a solution to the starving artist scenario.
Click to expand...
I believe we appreciate art but generally speaking, we don't value it. I'm not sure why exactly. On a broad scale, it's not essential for survival. When great civilizations fell, there was very little permanent art to be found by archeologists. Art's a frill of society...a very much craved for frill but still a frill, nonetheless. Then again, we had people risking their lives going deep into caves, no doubt carrying fire for light which probably created a real asphyxiation hazard. That goes to show how deep the need to share art is for humans. I think today one artist satisfies this need for thousands of times more people that would have been the case in a primal culture. Art is cheap and easy today and most people expect that. The idea that it is fun and therefore should not be very costly also exists.

Yes, I think many art teachers intend to do their personal art outside of school. Sometimes it happens. So far, I haven't had time or energy to do it. I could over the summer or the breaks if I had the space to work in. Doing the art would become a chore not unlike wrenching on bikes. My college teachers were expected to create their own artwork and they did. I remember one complaining that there was no time to do that though! There's long breaks in college. During your breaks, I guess you tell your family, sorry, I gotta work! :laugh: There's a huge amount of people out there wanting to teach art at the college level though. I can imagine why. I'd sure do it.

Bumblebee said:
After my experiences, life and happiness go hand in hand...if you aren't happy with what you are currently doing, and you think you would be happier doing something else, this is the time to go do it.....
Click to expand...
We'll see...there's a lot of things I like about teaching. This teaching job might not be the one. To tell you the truth, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to stay here after living here a short time. A better teaching job is my first choice but I could end up being an artist again.
 
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I hear you can make a six figure salary teaching in Alaska but I bet living there is astronomically expensive and astronomically miserable and I bet a non-native can't own property if it's a reservation. :laugh: No offense to Alaskans but if living here is to desolate for me, the Alaskan bush would be ten times more so.
 
Just emailed my letter of resignation to the principal and superintendent. I will hand deliver in the morning and send by certified mail after school. This should be interesting no matter which way it goes. I'm expecting they will just say sayonara. If they survived this year without special ed teachers, I think they'll survive without an art teacher next year if it comes to that.
 
Mythos said:
Just emailed my letter of resignation to the principal and superintendent. I will hand deliver in the morning and send by certified mail after school. This should be interesting no matter which way it goes. I'm expecting they will just say sayonara. If they survived this year without special ed teachers, I think they'll survive without an art teacher next year if it comes to that.
Click to expand...
'tis a brave thing to do and with any luck it will rattle them enough to negotiate...if not, a new adventure awaits.
 
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