Since I was griping about the failings of other teachers yesterday, today it is only fair for me to confess one of the biggest mistakes I myself made as a teacher.
I did this over and over again and never even realized I was wrong until after I left teaching.
(I am truly embarrassed by this now. I wish I could go back and correct this failing.)
Are you curious?
Here it is:
I told my students time and again that I "knew" none of them would be going on to a career as a writer, but they should learn how to write anyway because it is a valuable skill in most professions.
The second part of that sentiment is true and I stand by it. But why did I assume that none of my students would ever go on to get a paycheck through writing professionally?
I wouldn't find it unusual for a math teacher to play up careers in math or a science teacher to encourage students to pursue careers in science.
But me? For some reason, I shot down the possibility of writing as a vocation.
I wasn't even aware of the possibilities. I knew nothing of copywriting, editing, ghostwriting, etc.
A few months ago I changed some of my LinkedIn settings so that I would get notifications for writing jobs. Now I get notifications on a daily basis for "30 new jobs in copywriting". Good paying jobs.
If I were teaching high school English these days, I would require them to research writing professions. And I would have my students checking out Upwork and Fiverr, two popular websites where freelance writers can get experience and start to build a portfolio. It would make a fantastic afterschool job for some of the better writers.
Maybe even the beginning of a career!
No comments:
Post a Comment