Chris was one of the nontraditional students in the teacher education program at GVSU. His route to his History degree with teaching certification was different than some of the other nontraditional students in this study.  Chris was making a good living in construction before he decided to go back to college and pursue a career in education.  He is also one of the people in my research who left formal education, but still considered himself a teacher, just like all of the participants who have exchanged one “classroom” for another teaching and learning space.

Chris’s teacher-assisting placement was in Holland, Michigan at a charter school sponsored by Grand Valley State called Black River Academy^[1]. Chris did an excellent job with the sixth-grade students under his guidance and he also had a great role model for his classroom teacher, Brent Rowe.  Chris was patient and supportive, offering praise for his students’ efforts when needed, while also maintaining classroom rules. His teaching style was upbeat and energetic and Brent complimented Chris during his semester at Black River.

In his last semester at GVSU Chris came to speak to me in my office with a concern. His construction job was that of a concrete cutter, an occupation which still pays much more money per hour than most classroom teachers make.  Granted that the work is noisy, dusty, dirty and, sometimes with highway traffic whizzing by, dangerous.  Chris’s concern was teacher salaries.  He knew he would not be paid the same as his construction job and he was worried that he would not be able to support his family on what he would make in the classroom.

Chris and his wife were fortunate in that regard.  They were both hired by the Summerville School District just outside of Charleston, South Carolina.  Summerville is a diverse community ranging from million-dollar homes to some sections of poverty.  His wife was hired to teach English/Language Arts at Summerville High School, while Chris was hired as an 8th grade U.S. History teacher at Alston Middle School.  Chris told me that more than 50% of his students were on free and reduced lunch. That is where I visited him in October of 2008.  Chris had an interactive white board in his classroom which he put to good use in his lessons.  He also used an old school device, a tennis ball tossed around to students as he and they chose members of the class to answer questions.  The students were engaged in discussing the poem, Song of Marion’s Men by William Cullen Bryant, about Frances Marion, a Low Country Revolutionary War hero and legend.  Chris’s questions were across many levels of Bloom’s taxonomy, with some of the questions being quite challenging for 8th graders, both in the content and the vocabulary that Chris employed.  He peppered the discussion with frequent references to prior lessons and content, activating the students’ prior knowledge, strengthening the students’ memory and creating strong connections to the concepts Chris endeavored to deeply seat within his students’ minds.  He employed a fishbone graphic organizer in the lesson which helped students with the connections to the material while also providing a summary box at the bottom of the organizer so that the students might draw conclusions.

Next, Chris divided the class into groups.  Their job was creating a poster or an ad as a form of propaganda using material from readings Chris handed out.  The readings contained information why people joined different groups during the Revolution, both Loyalist and Patriot. While the students were reading the selections, Chris utilized the time in checking the students’ homework.  He also helped two students who were absent the previous day catch up with their work.  As the groups brainstormed their posters Chris walked around the classroom asking questions and using humor in order to keep his students engaged in their work.  When Chris noticed that some groups or students were starting to disengage, he immediately set about the task of rekindling interest in the task at hand.  Even though the class period was shortened by ten minutes due to the office announcements at the beginning of the hour, Chris managed to steer his students through 4 different activities, an excellent example of good planning and classroom management.

Chris’s next class was a half hour in length.  The class was created to help students who had not performed well on the PACT or Pre-ACT test.  There were only 7 students in the classroom and Chris’s objective was helping the students with test taking skills, which involved de-cyphering meaning through the use of contextual clues and the process of elimination when discerning correct answers.  The Charleston County school district was using the PACT as an evaluation tool for the students and presumably the teachers.

The Third period class was similar to First period.  I was impressed by the vocabulary development Chris used with the students.  Some of the words were certainly on a high school reading level, if not higher.  Chris challenged his students to rise above regular grade level expectations.  Throughout the period he asked the students questions on various levels, some simply recall and others involving analysis and deduction, and in the process, he seated the objectives for the lesson on this day.  In the times where his students’ answers proved to be somewhat vague Chris continued to tease out more information and critical thinking in order that the students’ thoughts were clarified.  At one point in the class when it became apparent that some of the students were somewhat confused about the poster activity Chris re-stated the directions in order that all students would be able to create the correct finished product.

During a lunchtime chat Chris talked about his preparation at GVSU.  Like many people in this study, Chris had a changed attitude about the Content Literacy class required by the College of Education.  Many of my students in their time at the university decried the usefulness of this class.  They just could not see how this class informed or helped their teaching.  Chris’s attitude saw a huge change.  Now he used information and tools from the class every day in his 8th grade classes.  His only suggestion was splitting the class into elementary and secondary sections.  His comment, like many other students, was that some instructors’ approaches in teaching the class was too elementary and would not necessarily work in a middle or high school.  The other predominant comment by Chris and others was the types of books that the instructors used.  Admittedly I used Dr. Suess’s Butter Battle Book in my high school classes and some people might consider that an elementary text book, but what Chris and others wanted were examples of young adult and adult literature that they might use at their grade levels.  I neglected to ask if my former students asked their school librarians for selections.  I do know that some of the districts had eliminated school librarian positions in favor of a library aide who would not have the same training or background as a fully credentialed school librarian. Some of those examples are provided in the Secondary Social Studies methods, teacher-assisting, student teaching seminars and the Social Studies Capstone course, but more would be better, just to improve future teachers’ toolboxes. (Chris, f.n., p.5, 2008)  Chris also suggested that the history survey courses might provide more broad content knowledge and not focus on some professors’ research areas.  Since my first visit with Chris some work has been accomplished by the History Department at GVSU in more closely aligning History course syllabi with the Michigan State teaching standards. (Chris, f.n., p. 5, 2008)

It became evident during the day that even though the school said there was a diverse group of students academically as the day went by Chris’s student population was somewhat more challenged to grasp the concepts he was attempting to communicate.  He hoped that the school might do a better job distributing gifted students throughout his classes.  In my experience non-academic programs sometimes create students’ schedules, with instrumental or vocal music classes providing an attractive option for some students but not others.  Chris commented that there was more obvious tracking in his school than in his two placements at Black River or Grand Haven.  He thought that there was less student motivation in the classes with less gifted students.  His last hour class was indicative of his comments about the less motivated students being in the afternoon classes, although he said his last period class, despite being a little difficult to control, also channeled some of their energy into creative and productive endeavors. One of the impacts on Chris was the partial changes in his lesson plans throughout the day accommodating the differences in his students’ abilities (Chris, f.n., p.9, 2008).

Throughout the day Chris made good use of the students’ life experiences and local knowledge in teaching about the American Revolution.  At one point while teaching about the British taxes leading up to the conflict Chris mentioned the Exchange Building^[2], an integral part of the story of the Revolution.  The students recognized the reference and added that to their physical relationship of the history of the United States.

Video Interview, 2008

Defining Success, 2008

Chris’s definition of success had two separate meanings as that word applied to his teaching.  He thought that GVSU did a good job in preparing him for success in the classroom with content knowledge and many methods and strategies for imparting that knowledge. What he thought needed improvement was the knowledge and skill in working with colleagues.  To him school was a business like any other business in terms of teamwork and that there should be an actual class in promoting a good working atmosphere.  Adding to that admonition was a desire for some type of educational business ethics.  Chris said he did receive some of that knowledge and those skills but more from college activities outside of the classroom (Chris, v.t., p.1, 2008).

Chris’s focus was on some sort of college experience that would prepare future teachers how they might speak with parents and administrators. I know that most of my students participate in parent teacher conferences but as far as I am aware there is no preparation within the college coursework on how those interactions should happen, especially if that parent-conversation becomes difficult due to grade and/or behavioral problems.  I think sharing good news with parents of successful students is easy. Finding positive comments to share with parents when there are other problems with their children is a more nuanced conversation.  As for relationships and conversations with administrators, relationships that might mean the difference between continuing employment or a pink slip, GVSU’s College of Education does employ school administrators, especially as seminar leaders and classroom observers, but I am uncertain if any of those contacts for our students include discussions on relating to a person who controls the evaluation process and the longevity of a teaching position.  In my 28 years in the public schools of New York and Kansas I worked with many administrators.  Some administrators operated under the old saying, “my way or the highway” and some administrators helped develop a shared management professional teaching atmosphere.  Based on my interactions with teachers in the classrooms around the state of Michigan and those graduates within this study who teach outside of the state, there is still a wide latitude of skills and behaviors amongst the administrators that teachers encounter.  Chris’s view concerning parent teacher interactions was flavored by the fact that he did not participate in parent-teacher conferences during his teacher-assisting seminar because the College of Education would not release him from an in-service program.  In Chris’s words, “I would have taken so much more from that extra day of parent-teacher conferences than I ever could have from someone telling me what to expect…someone telling me what to expect and actually experiencing and making my vision of what to expect is leaps and bounds of differences…(Chris, v.t., p.3, 2008).

Content, 2008

Next, we moved to Chris’s content preparation.  Ten people in this study were teaching outside of the state of Michigan in 2008.  At that time 35 states had some sort of agreement that accepted Michigan teachers’ certification for teaching in their states.  Chris was teaching South Carolina history. Admittedly Chris’s survey U.S. history courses provided a background on colonial, Revolutionary and Civil War history so he had the basics upon which to build his South Carolina history class.  Chris returned to a complaint he made earlier in the day, that sometimes a professor would emphasize her or his research background, in this case, Puritan political history, rather than a broader approach that more closely followed what a broadly titled early U.S. History course might imply (Chris, v.t., p.4, 2008).  Chris related that within the course he took at GVSU, while discussing colonial history, he did not remember any mention of Charleston, one of the largest colonial port cities.  Much of the slave trade operated through the port of Charleston and that fact was not mentioned either.  Chris thought that if GVSU and the state of Michigan was going to reciprocate with 35 other states then perhaps more content should be provided about all the states’ history.  In other words, a history of the United States, with a more specific, even if abbreviated, focus on each state or region.  Chris had no argument with a specific focus in upper level history courses which carried specific titles, such as “the History of the Civil War”.

He went on to discuss why he thought a general course on all the states might help not just future teachers, but everyone who lives and tries to understand this country.  He focused on the Civil War and the Confederate flag and how the different areas and cultures see that flag in different ways, how the South sees it as part of their history and the North sees it as a racist statement and how neither side understands the other’s perception (Chris, v.t., p.10, 2008).  Of course, much has happened with politics and race relations since Chris made these comments in 2008, but the need for the different cultures and regions of the country in creating a better understanding of the life and culture of these areas still remains and is stronger than ever if we are to solve some divides that currently exist in the United States. Many states require a state history course or state history within the standards, but only a broad overview of other states’ history. It would be impossible to require fifty separate state history courses within any state’s curriculum, but with a mobile population there is still a need for better grounding in each state’s history and culture than students receive in their K-12 years.

Sending a teacher out with all the knowledge necessary to teach all subjects that might be taught based on the teaching standards for each state is impossible.  The discussion turns to what is possible.  Several of the people involved in this study stated quite clearly that while their college degrees did not provide all the specific content they needed for the positions they accepted, they did have the tools in order to learn what they needed so that they might meet those standards.  This is not to dismiss the idea that some basic, and in some cases, specific information, is necessary in providing a life preserver for new teachers and in many cases teacher certification tests provide evaluations for that content knowledge, but without creating human encyclopedias there is no possible way every teacher candidate masters all the knowledge for all topics and grade levels.  Paraphrasing Ben Terpsma, because he had a college diploma and a liberal arts basis for that diploma, employers expected that he would learn the information necessary for the job.  Of course, creating the impetus for teachers to pursue advanced degrees or other forms of professional development in their content area as a necessary part of their continuing certification is a good idea. New York required that I had the equivalent of a Master’s degree within five years of my undergraduate degree. That requirement was later increased for the goal to be attained in three years. When I started teaching in Kansas in 1977, I had to take a few other content courses in order to maintain my teaching certificate but after those courses the requirements where much less stringent with a longer time period than New York in order to attain those credit hours.  Some states even lower requirements in order to maintain teacher certification.

Methods and Strategies, 2008

What about teaching methods?  Did Chris think he was provided a sufficient amount of preparation in how to teach what content he knew?  Here Chris thought he was provided ample instruction.  In fact, in his first year of teaching he had more tools than he was able to employ in his classes; obviously a good problem to have for a new teacher (Chris, v.t., p.5, 2008).  Here Chris reinforced information provided by other graduates who left Michigan.  In talking and working with their new colleagues in other states the GVSU grads found that the preparation in Michigan exceeded the preparation that teachers received in other states, sometimes to the point that first year GVSU teachers provided in-service in their new states (North Carolina, Julie Caddy) (Chris, v.t., p.6, 2008). One of the assignments that Chris thought the most helpful was the “Best Lesson” assignment in ED 331, the Social Studies Teacher-Assisting Seminar.  Each student presented the best lesson they taught in that particular semester so not only was the content shared but how the lesson was taught, what strategies and methods were used and how the lesson succeeded or failed and what might be done to improve the lesson.  While Chris admitted that he might not be able to use all the lesson ideas which were presented in the seminar, the amount of information and ideas gave him many ideas and resources for the future (Chris, v.t., p.6, 2008).  He reinforced the idea that small content-based seminar groups were much more helpful to him than large, K-12, multiple content seminars.  He was quick to point out that having contact with teachers who taught other content areas helped in promoting interdisciplinary teaching but it would be better if the teacher preparation programs focused on having connections between similar grade levels.  In other words, secondary classrooms do not operate the same as elementary classrooms and vice versa (Chris, v.t., p.6-7, 2008).

Chris took some time at this point explaining the usefulness of his two different settings for teacher-assisting and student teaching.  Admittedly, he was in West Michigan and he recognized that compared to other areas of the state and the United States this area of the state had its own culture.  Even though there was some racial diversity in his placement at Black River Academy there was not much economic diversity, at least, not like there was at his school in Summerville, South Carolina.  Chris really saw no way to fully prepare future teachers for all the different and diverse classrooms and cultures they might encounter, other than saying that GVSU’s policy of placing students in two different settings was much better than one semester in the field in one school, like other teacher preparation schools do.

Chris also made a pitch for the college experience outside of classes.  He practiced many skills while involved in fraternity and other student life activities that were applicable to the teaching profession: how to plan, how to make public presentations, how to establish positive relationships with people beyond those students encountered within a program of study.  GVSU does a good job of promoting student life, as do most universities, and how those opportunities result in paybacks in future professions and life in general. (Chris, v.t., p.12-13, 2008)

Pearls of Wisdom, 2008

Chris first reinforced that everything he learned in his classes from the College of Education, even if he did not see the application or sense of those courses at the time he was taking them, applied to his teaching.  He also said it was important to find the right materials and right sources that worked for the students in your classes.  Find books and other reading materials that interest the students.  Do not worry about creating the “perfect lesson plan” each time because it is not what you think is perfect but whether the students are interested and want to learn.  He reinforced the idea that teachers should read everything they put in front of their students with the eye toward how the students engage in the reading of that resource.  Next, make sure that teachers have an immediate answer to the oft-asked questions, “Why are we reading this?” and “Why are we learning this?” (Chris, v.t., p.13, 2008)  Chris’s answer was that learning history and social studies might help people learn from past mistakes and not repeat them in the future. Make sure that your answer is not just, “Because it is on the test”.  He insisted that people entering the teaching profession realize that it is a job and in order to stay fresh and not burn out life should have balance.  Life should not just be all about the job.  He liked going home from work, jumping on his bike for a ride at least a few times a week and making sure that people leave time for themselves, not just focused on their work.  At that point in the interview Chris changed his view a little and said that he really did not think of teaching as a job.  He said that teaching was what he really wanted to do and not just a job to earn money to support his family (Chris, v.t., p.14, 2008).

Chris said teachers do not have to reinvent everything they do.  If someone suggests a great book or video, then use it, but not before reading or watching it yourself.  You have to make sure that the suggested resource really works for you and your students. You may not use the entire book or the entire video but those sections you do choose might work for the students you have.  Chris also cautioned against selling college textbooks back to the bookstore.  A teacher might never know what they might use or need in the future, especially textbooks which relate to the subject they are teaching.  He also said that sometimes it is necessary to fall back on traditional methods of instruction, like note-taking, even if that is not the most engaging activity for students, but because note-taking skills are important later in life. Sometimes the discipline of learning needs to be taught as well as the fun that learning should be.

Chris finished the interview by reinforcing the importance of continually looking for ways to improve lessons, based on the objectives and goals that need to be met, but without constantly worrying about whether or not the lesson is perfect.  If a teacher views his or her teaching as a work in progress that attitude will net more success than trying to be a perfectionist every day (Chris, v.t., p.16, 2008).

Interview, 2015

When I next met with Chris, he was no longer teaching at Alston Middle School.  In his words, “Life happened…” (Chris, v.t., p.1, 2015)  He taught for three years at Alston Middle School and then he and his wife had a child.  With the daycare expenses, and the other costs associated with a young family, Chris could no longer afford being a teacher in South Carolina.  His initial plan on leaving the classroom was to return in a few years once he got his family’s finances back in order.  Then life happened again…and again.  Now with three children the cost of daycare was similar to what his wife was making as a high school English teacher and the family’s expenses increased so returning to the classroom was not an option Chris was able to afford.  Chris had been cutting concrete for five years when I conducted the interview.  His wife was now a stay at home mom.

Defining Success, 2015

Had Chris’ definition of success changed now that he had returned to the profession he left when he went to college to become a teacher?  The first part of his definition had to do with happiness.  “You can make all the money in the world but if you don’t enjoy what you do, you’re not being successful” (Chris, v.t., p.2, 2015).  The other part of his definition was “does it pay the bills?”  He admitted that teaching brought him joy but it did not pay the bills so when an offer came up to return to concrete cutting, he took it.  At that point I added that he must be good at what he does.  Chris’s humor went on display as he gave me a wistful smile and said, “Ssshhh…keep that quiet.  Don’t tell anyone. They will make me do it again” (Chris, v.t., p.2, 2015).  I asked Chris whether or not his degree helped him in his current work.  His reply was, “absolutely” (Chris, v.t., p.2, 2015).  Grand Valley provided him with the leadership and decision-making skills for success in life, no matter where the journey took him. He explained that in the skilled trades the traditional method of learning the job was the apprenticeship system.  For whatever reason that system had morphed into on the job training and in Chris’s estimation the new system for learning the job was disorganized.  Chris said he had used his training and the skills he learned teaching and applied it to train new people on the job.  His goal was setting up a business that helped companies train new employees. “…a well-trained employee feels cared for and learns the trade better.  You get a better worker.  You make more money.  You make a better profit, and you get a happier person.  There is this divide between college/corporate America and blue collar America and it is the business owners and the corporations.  The ones that do not require a college degree, and there are so many jobs that do not require college degrees, they (the employers) do not see the necessity of a good training program” Chris, v.t., p.3., 2015). When he first started cutting concrete he was basically told “this is the job, now go do it” but Chris maintained that was not the best way to learn how to do any job.  Chris said he used his degree in how he approached training people.

He went on to explain that he really had three degrees: a degree in History, a minor in Geography and his Education minor (GVSU’s changed after Chris graduated and now Education is a second major).  Chris said that looking at the totality of what he learned he found multiple ways to use the knowledge and skills in his present line of work. As for application of History degree he saw that examining historical situations and breaking down the causes and effects was a great skill for problem-solving no matter what profession was involved. (Chris, v.t., p.4, 2015)  The Education portion of his degree helped him with applying what he learned in the process of solving those problems. He admitted that he could have stayed with the company he was with in Michigan and avoided the cost of a college education but he would not be the person or the employee that he was at that point in his life in 2015.  He knew how to communicate more clearly with management and the people he trained. He managed his time and skills more effectively than he did before he went to college.  At that point I congratulated Chris on the successful transition in his life and he “ssshed” me once again and said, “Don’t tell anyone”. (Chris, v.t., p.5, 2015)

I went back and questioned Chris about the reasoning for leaving his teaching position.  When I visited him in 2008 Chris’s principal approached me and said, “If you have any more students like Chris, please send them down to us.”  He was highly laudatory of Chris’s skills and his attitude.  Chris admitted he still that he loved teaching. He missed his teaching colleagues, but he needed to pay the bills as the only wage-earner in his family. Chris’s principal was disappointed when Chris informed him of the decision.  His principal said the district thought Chris would become a principal some day and if the district knew what Chris was planning then Chris might have stayed in education.  Chris’s plan, at first, was to take a few years away, save some money and then, perhaps, return to teaching.  Those plans have changed. (Chris, v.t., p.6, 2015).

Advising and Counseling, 2015

The GVSU History Department has grown increasingly concerned about the graduates from the program, both for History and Social Studies majors.  Part of that concern is lodged in the fact that nation-wide there are fewer and fewer students declaring for a History major or going into teaching.  The next question I posed to Chris was how might the department help current students make career decisions.  What are the options for students if they choose to follow a career path not directly linked to their majors?  His first reaction in terms of preparing students for the future was the specific problem of content preparation.  He proved he could take a job in South Carolina but the challenge was having the knowledge to teach the required content; in Chris’s case, South Carolina History.  The upside was that he learned, on the job, about his new state and that helped him better appreciate the history and culture of his new home.  Now that he had returned to construction, he had the unique opportunity to work on renovating Drayton Hall, one of the historic plantations in the Charleston area.  Chris literally had his hands on history.  Chris also shared that history majors should be aware that the decision-making and problem-solving skills he developed in his major are of great use to businesses.  In that vein, businesses need to be made aware of the skill set that history majors develop and how those skills might benefit those businesses, no matter what the focus of that business might be, including construction trades (Chris, v.t., p.7, 2015).

Chris freely admitted that he might have been more diligent in pursuing advising help from his departmental advisor.  Like many majors he was fulfilling his course requirements and he felt like he might be intruding upon the professor’s time.  Now he wished that there was a more active approach by the department in some way requiring students to meet with their advisor from time to time.  In Chris’s words,

“Really, as a university, if you were looking to form an individual into a product, essentially, I mean you are forming them into a graduate of your university.  They are carrying your mark out into the career field and out into life. I understand you can only tax professors so much with advising but there might be some way to make it less of an informal situation and more of a formal, “every so often we are going to sit down and talk” and you would have to have just one advisor. You could have a couple that you rotate through, just to get a path and then use the information from there in the career counseling part.  Like you were speaking before, not everyone sticks with teaching and there are a lot of options out there but I think a lot of people are unaware of the options they have.  And even if they are not, it’s so hard to find a way to capitalize on the opportunity (that a history major might provide) (Chris, v.t., p.7-8, 2015).

Evaluation, 2015

Next, we turned to how Chris was evaluated while he was still in the classroom.  Chris was fortunate compared to some of the other teachers in this study.  He had multiple administrators observe his teaching and he received both formal and informal feedback.  Sometimes the feedback came through a checklist but other times there were post-evaluation de-briefings, much like Chris had during his time at GVSU, where there was a conversation about what was observed and how Chris might improve on his teaching. Chris was fortunate in that he was teaching gifted and talented students part of the day and that assignment included observations conducted by one of the gifted and talented program coordinators.  As it worked out Chris was observed by several principals, the gifted and talented coordinator and his department chair.  In some instances, Chris thought there was perhaps too much observation going on because as a new teacher he was being observed, at least informally, once a month.  In Chris’s mind he wanted every opportunity in which to improve himself and having a person watch with his class and then say, “Great job!” with no other constructive criticism was a waste of Chris’s time.

  If you really want to make the best teachers you have to tell them what they need to work on, not that they are doing great.  And that’s what I noticed even in my career that, very fast, “Oh, man, you are doing a great job!” but when it came down to the ‘get down and dirty’ “this is what you need to work on” because I wasn’t perfect.  They all said I was doing great but I knew there was stuff they wanted me to work on.  Tell me what it is so I can get better.  I even go to my boss now and say, “Hey, what do I need to work on?”  “Nothin.’”  If you don’t tell me something, I am not going to get any better than I am today, and that’s the truth of it (Chris, v.t., p.12, 2015).

Chris went on to say that professors need to be honest with teacher-candidates, and in that honesty, to be frank and offer constructive criticism.  If someone needs to improve what she or he is doing then they need to be told what it is he or she needs to improve and how to reach that level of improvement.  Chris also said that teachers need to continually create high expectations for their students because young people of all ages will soon figure out that if you do not challenge them, they will set their sights on what makes you happy and then coast once they meet that level.  By continually improving their teaching and raising the bar in terms of what students might achieve, teachers will help to prevent “coasting” and also improve themselves.  Chris was careful suggesting that unreal expectations not be set just for the sake of setting high standards. (Chris, v.t., p.13, 2015)

Pearls of Wisdom, 2015

In his first pearl Chris returned to the idea of joy.  Teachers should experience joy in their job.  They should enjoy going to school every day.  They might not enjoy grading at night and on the weekends but the thought that all the mundane jobs they have to do helps them be better teachers and their students better learners should bring teachers joy and happiness.  Chris admitted that coming out of college teachers might not know if their career will bring them that kind of happiness and it might take some time to reach that point in their profession.  On the other hand, if after trying, teachers do not find them at that place then they should think about a backup plan.  Chris thought a teacher’s resume includes so many experiences and skills that fit with other careers that just because someone leaves teaching does not mean they might not find joy in another job.  He did a backup plan before he started teaching, which put him in a better position for changing careers than many people who decide teaching is not for them. (Chris, v.t., p.15, 2015)

In that vein, Chris related to his gifted and talented students that college might not be the right fit for everyone.  He made a pitch for the skilled trades in terms of a good return on time and money invested and in finding happiness in a career.  His students were shocked and in some cases they said they would tell their parents that Chris told them about not aiming for a college education.  He did not say whether or not any parents confronted him about arguing for a career in the skilled trades.  His point was that even though the gifted students received good grades maybe they were not happy sitting in a classroom all day. Maybe they were happiest when doing things with their hands and not tied to a desk. I have to admit my bias here. For twelve years I was a member of the Board of Education for Ottawa Area Intermediate School District.  A part of what this educational organization does is career technical education.  I see gifted students all the time. They are learning to be heavy equipment mechanics, some of whom have risen to managerial positions later in their careers.  They are culinary students who might own their own business in the future.  They are marketing students who earn scholarships from colleges and become members of successful businesses.  It might be counter-intuitive for college professors to promote backup plans to teacher-candidates but it is certainly acceptable and professional to suggest that those candidates need to find joy in what they do and if that joy is not found in the classroom, they should not consider themselves failures.

Chris finished by his pearls by relating part of his story.  After he graduated from GVSU teaching jobs were tight in West Michigan.  He and his wife did not want to move away from their families and the place they knew.  Chris went back to cutting concrete because there were few teaching openings and his wife could not find a teaching job.  The economy was bad so Chris was down to just a few hours a week of work.  At that point his wife said that they needed to look elsewhere. Even though Chris was not keen on the idea they did some research and applied for teaching positions in South Carolina.  They immediately had enough offers that they were able to make a good choice.  Even though Chris and his wife enjoyed their teaching careers, the financial realities of raising a family dictated change. Chris was back in construction work.  He saw an opportunity and he took it.  His parting advice was that people need to be willing to understand when they have good opportunities and then take advantage of them (Chris, v.t., p.20, 2015).