I am looking at a single sheet of paper on my desk. A registration form for on-line classes...(ironically you cannot register on-line for these on-line courses...it must be printed out and mailed in.)
These classes are no big deal. Every 5 years I must earn 6 graduate level courses to maintain my teaching credential in Ohio. My certification expires at the end of 2012...so it's time to get on the ball and get this done. (Certificate? Credential? I can't even remember which one I technically have. I know it isn't a license...that changed a year after I graduated or something. Lordy...do I deserve one of these if I can't even remember what I have?)
But still the paper sits.
On one hand, it makes a ton of sense. It is costly and time consuming to earn a teaching degree...and I already have one. It is simple to renew and keep current. I have no idea what job opportunities will be available when I go back to work...perhaps having this certificate will give me an edge over someone else. Jeff is getting hotter and more muscular every week AND he's approaching 40...aka mid life crisis age. There's like a 75% chance he's leaving his tubby housewife for some hotty soon. I'll need a good paying job when that happens, and teaching would be that.
On the other hand, it seems ridiculous. In every scenario I have in my head of going back to work, teaching is no where to be seen. I am way too lazy to be a teacher, much less a teacher AND a mother. Even if I wanted to teach, who in the world would hire me? I taught for one year way back in 2000, I have no computer skills to speak of, and all the jargon and what-not has changed. I might as well have a degree in zoology for all the good my degree would do me in a classroom now. I am not qualified to have this certificate/credential/license anymore...is it a farce to even have it? False advertising?
Perhaps my most pressing concern is the fact that I am going to take on-line course on the computer that is so slow and annoying I can't even blog more than once a week. Frustration is sure to be at a high.
-sigh- I'll do it. Don't worry. It is just too easy to keep it current not to. I just have to mail this stinkin' sheet of paper.
4 comments:
I have this exact same debate - every OTHER year when my licensure comes due. I have to pay for and take 20 hours (20 literal hours, not credit hours) to keep my license current. And I just really don't see myself working as an OT again in the future, for various reasons. But if I ever needed to be the main breadwinner, it pays triple any other job that I could get. (And you can let your OT license go into inactice status for cheaper, but if you go more than 5 years without practicing, which I already have, you have to take the certification exam again - yikes!). So I keep it up, mostly as insurance. But I feel the same way, it's a farse for me to even have it. Lately I pick the online courses that apply to myself and my family more than any clinical need. It's a tough debate, isn't it?
I say do it because it is still a credential & while you might never go back into teaching, you never know when/how having that credential will serve you well.
ALSO- invest in an inexpensive laptop so you don't have to fight with the computer. Maybe Jeff's company offers deals? If not, keep an eye on the ads! We are currently on the lookout for a deal b/c next school year will mean online work at home for both boys sooo another laptop will make life easier- but we don't want to spend a ton of money. Good luck with the courses!!
PS- I will let you know if I see any deals :)
DO IT! I keep mine current. Having it could get you a non-classroom position in a school (librarian?) or as a tutor or in some other educationally-related field. It is an insurance policy.
Of course, if Jeff leaves you, you will leave him penniless, right?
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