A VERY long number of years ago I was teaching part-time in a secondary
school in New York State. At that time I was uncertified (still am, but
don't care)having started course work to be certified in teaching math.
I was actually hired that year to teach junior high science and the
powers that be told me I was going to teach 9th grade social studies.
It didn't matter that I had no clue about how to do it! State law allowed
one course out of your field. When parent nights rolled around you
could easily tell which parents were which - the science students' parents
were happy - their kids were happy and doing great. The social studies
parents were irked - apparently I worked their kids too hard.
Sometime during the year all of us filled out forms for what courses we
had taken in college. I found that I had more science courses - physics,
chemistry, and biology - than the other 3 science teachers combined! They,
of course, had lots of education hours, leaving no time for content
courses.
Nancy Douglas, Associate Professor, Physics
College of Agriculture & Technology
SUNY
Morrisville, NY 13408
douglan@snymorva.cs.snymorv.edu