1. Flexible Hours - Just because my hours aren’t set in stone doesn’t mean that I don’t have a mountain of work to accomplish. Some people seem to think that teaching online means that a check magically appears in my mailbox without me having to actually do anything. Ha!
2. No Work Clothes – While it is great that I can teach naked if I want to, there is something nice about getting up every morning, putting nice clothes on, and heading out the door. I miss having an excuse to look decent every now and again.
3. Breaks – Breaks are typically working breaks. They are just a different type of work. Taking a break to fold laundry isn’t exactly fun, but at least it gives my eyes a brief reprieve from the computer!
4. No In Person Contact – While yes, I do enjoy being on my own and being alone, sometimes it is nice to have a friend in the room next door that you can eat lunch with and gossip with about the day. Lunch with the lunch crew is definitely the number one aspect of real life teaching that I miss!
5. Money – The money is decent for the flexibility that the job allows. That said, there is no tenure. There is no retirement. There is no health care. Each class is a separate contract so the bottom can fall out at any time. Definitely a good reason to stay diversified and not to count on this income in our monthly budget plan as the amount does fluctuate wildly from month to month.
6. No Weekends – Online classes are seven days a week. I have to check-in every 24 hours to respond to questions, no matter what. And even just waiting 24 hours allows the questions and grading to really pile up, making more work for me in the future. Definitely the type of job where you need a minimum of 3-4 hours every day (including Saturday and Sunday) to devote solely to it. In some ways that is a major bummer.
7. No Respect – I feel this from several different angles. Some people seem to feel that I am no longer a “real” teacher. Others seem to think that I don’t really need time to work and I’m just sitting on my couch eating bon-bons. At the same time, I’ve received a few lovely emails from readers who seem to think that I shouldn’t work at all and should devote every waking minute to Bo. Apparently they haven’t met me, or read the blog for long…
8. No Office – Another aspect of my brick and mortar teaching job that I really miss is my office. More specifically, my desk. I loved the feeling of getting to work at 6 am and being able to sit at my desk for 2 hours and grade a large batch of papers or crank out a new lesson plan. Now that I’m working at home, I don’t have an office. I don’t have a desk (I’m using the kitchen counter or my lap). And those are definitely things that I will need if I am going to do this long-term.
9. Adult learners – It is one thing to attempt to teach apathetic teens. It’s another to attempt to teach apathetic adults. Enough said.
10. No Substitutes – There is no one else to do the work. No matter if I am sick, going away for the weekend, or hosting a birthday bash, the work is still there. And just like regular teaching, the workload is never ending. There is always more I could do, papers to grade, another post I could write to try to explain the subject matter to the students more. If I don’t do it, it doesn’t get done.
Click here to read my Top Five Things I Like About Teaching Online.
Fear not! I believe you are a real teacher, because I believe that I am a real student. I am in the final week of my first class. I have a list of things I don’t like about online degree programs…maybe I’ll post it someday.
I’ll leave you with a few quotations taken from some of my learning team members. Can you find the mistakes?
“I think by maintaining the required GPA, you are following threw on the commitment to your education”
“I think a portfolio would definitely help the teacher categorize what needs to be learnt in order to become an effective teacher.”
“Most medical, state and government run business’ all have standards that employees must follow.”