Blog Comments

  1. Flinn's Avatar
    Congrats indeed Chris, in anything it is surely well deserved
  2. pacifism's Avatar
    Dude... that's awesome. Congrats on passing and getting a job!
  3. Sir Adrian's Avatar
    You're only 25 mate, of course kids won't respect you instantly, happened to mew as well in my first year of teaching. Best thing to do is figure out who the class clown is and give him tasks that make him feel important, the rest will follow after him.
  4. Flinn's Avatar
    First of all, my condolences for your loss; I don't know what happened exactly, but if you wish to expand on this I believe it could help in understanding the reasons behind your actual mood (at least partially); life is full of events and each of them interfere with each other, thus is always useful to have a view of the facts as much clear as possible.

    However, I would not worry that much if I were you: it's just life, good times and bad times. And we are all humans, we cannot be at our best for all the time: we get tired, we become bored, external events affect the overall situation, we age (even at 25), we change.
    From outside I can say that you are crossing through a period of tiredness and boredom and that this is caused by the transition between youth and adulthood; not that you looked childish before (heck if anything I would say the contrary), none the less one thing is the image one gives of himself and another thing is what one actually is or feels... I know well what I'm speaking about, I've been considered a very solid guy for all my youth and later I had to face my weaknesses like anyone else, and for me it happened even later than you and with a much bigger impact on my mood and confidence. I'm convinced that the process of becoming adults lies on the acceptance of our limits (so to say that one steps down from that idea of "invincibility" that tipically goes along with youth) and our natural weaknesses (not least, the idea of death itself) and thus soon or later anyone has to cross a period of self-criticism, uncertainty and loss of confidence; the important is to keep clear on our minds what are our goals, and keep doing what we like at our best.
    Besides, it's important to keep everything at the right place: study, job, relations, etc are all part of the life and each of them is important but not fundamental, so when one of this is "going down" we ought to look for relief and support in the other ones... and in any case nothing is forever in life, so if at a certain point you'll realize that you don't want to be a teacher it won't be a tragedy: just treasure the experience you have done (both positive and negative) and move along. Life is damned beautiful, it's all about our attitude, nothing else.

    About the respect from kids: I've been a teacher myself for 4 years before stepping into export business and I could say that kids (especially boys) have a special sense for the confidence of adults, thus they are pretty fast at exploiting teachers' moment of weakness. It is difficult to do I know, but you should try to leave your problems out of the class: that of the teacher is a mission, a moral service to the community, so like the doctor or the judge when you step into the class you stop to be Chris and you become the teacher. It's achievable, it needs a bit of sacrifice of your character but it will work: kids percieve very easily the difference when you are doing something for them from when you are doing it for yourself and however the final goal is and should always be that of teaching them new things.

    My philosophy is that of taking it easy, always and in any case; I would also add: if things get dirty, do not look too far, because they will get muddy otherwise.

    Best of luck mate
    Updated November 18, 2015 at 09:58 AM by Flinn
  5. Shankbot de Bodemloze's Avatar
    Tale of Aron all the way. :viking:

    As writers (whether more prolific like yourself or just a dabbler in the art like myself :P) we have all experienced the lull of writing... we see enough posts about it in the Study. I think it is just a natural way things go, maybe because we expect ourselves to write to the extent it becomes almost like a chore, maybe because we don't enjoy what we are writing about? I'm pretty sure the answer differs from person to person, and of course external factors impact it like you mentioned.

    A common response in the Study is to try your hand at writing something completely different to what you have done before and forgot about your other stuff and not worry about it. By doing this you'll hopefully just find enjoyment in the actual writing (if that makes any sense :whistling), and come to feel creative and revitalised about the whole thing again. :)
  6. Shankbot de Bodemloze's Avatar
    Glad to hear there was that net in place in case things didn't work out, gladder still they did!
  7. TheDarkKnight's Avatar
    Shanky, my grad director said that if I disagreed with the outcome (failed) I could dispute it. It has happened before. A friend of mine was supposed to fail his exam and he and his professor spent an hour and a half discussing the exam, the topic of the class in general, etc, and at the end of it he passed him. So it isn't ALWAYS an end. But my teacher is in Costa Rica so that makes a face to face rather difficult.
  8. Shankbot de Bodemloze's Avatar
    Gratz. :thumbsup2

    Did they say anything in reply about the question? I imagine after passing you don't really care now, but it'd be interesting to see what they said. :P
  9. PikeStance's Avatar
    Congratulations!
    What level do you plan on teaching?
  10. Halie Satanus's Avatar
    Congrats.....
  11. Aikanár's Avatar
    Congratulations, friend Chris :)
  12. Quintus Hortensius Hortalus's Avatar
    Congrats:thumbsup2
  13. Mhaedros's Avatar
    Congratulations mate, you'll make a great teacher I'm sure
  14. TheDarkKnight's Avatar
    Thanks guys. I appreciate it.

    Squid, I actually walked last May because I figured I would be done in the Fall. A lot of my friends from the program were graduating then and I wanted to walk with them because they were great to be in the program with, and my teachers did not mind. After I had failed in the fall I felt foolish, but if I had failed again meaning no degree I would have been absolutely embarrassed. So I'm not walking again because it would be weird, and because I honestly do not want to do it again. I'll probably walk again for the credential program though since I'm pretty sure they do that.
  15. Squid's Avatar
    Congratulations!! I know how stressful completing a Master's degree can be, so make sure you enjoy this moment in the spotlight. Make sure you walk across the stage since you'll only be able to do it once!!
  16. Junaidi83 de Bodemloze's Avatar
    Glad to see another young and promissing teacher , keep the spirit alive :yes:
  17. Hitai de Bodemloze's Avatar
    Congratulations!!!
  18. TheDarkKnight's Avatar
    By general history I mean I never selected a concentration, though if I had it would probably be American or Roman.
  19. PikeStance's Avatar
    Hey, I am actually doing something in History; the teaching route.
    How you managed to get a MA in General History; I have never seen that offered?.... or maybe I never looked to do that and didn't noticed.
  20. TheDarkKnight's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Hitai de Bodemloze
    What's your MA area Chris? I always find it amusing how us historians actually end up doing completely different things to our real life specialities on TWC
    General history. My interests are honestly too broad.

    Quote Originally Posted by Shankbot de Bodemloze
    You also need to add you are the only person to win the Content Award twice, and back-to-back at that.
    I don't consider that very important. It is nice, to be sure, as the site recognizes my contributions, but I think I am more proud of the contributions themselves
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