I've just completed my sixth year of teaching 8th grade U.S. history at a middle school. This is, as most of you will recall, my second career, after 30 years in journalism. I was just listening to the CBS Weekend Roundup Podcast (which I recommend). The author of the book "You Majored In What?" was repeating something I observed during my career transition: you go from being an expert in your work to being an amateur in your work, and that can be depressing. It was hard for me. In fact, readers of Tales of Teaching (see the link in the right-hand column) will know I came close to quitting in November of the year I student taught because of my frustration at what a poor teacher I was.

If you live in California, and you're thinking of making the switch to teaching, you can dip in your toe by signing up to take the CBEST test, a general knowledge test required of all teachers. Once you have passed that, you can sign up to be a substitute teacher and put some time in at the classroom level of your choice to see if you like it (you'll need classroom hours for your teaching certificate anyway).

If you do want to teach, you face the daunting task of earning your credential. You can do it slow and cheap at a Cal State campus, or fast and very expensive at any of a number of private colleges; I earned my credential at the Concord campus of Chapman University.

You'll have many chances to wash out–during student teaching, or during the three years it takes to earn tenure. And if you have an honorable bone in your body, you'll get out if you find you're not doing a good job. It isn't always easy to see, but I've vowed that if I was observed by the administration doing a bad job, I'd leave teaching. We have enough mediocre teachers; I only want to each if I'm a good teacher.

A few words about the school year just past. All six of the years I have taught consisted of 180 classroom days. The first one lasted 20 years. The most recent one lasted 20 weeks. It is breathtaking how fast it went by. During my first year, I woke in a flop sweat every day at 3:30 in the morning. I panicked in class. I panicked during planning. I panicked while correcting papers. Now, I am relaxed, and can finally begin enjoying the jobs.

The odds of this being read by any of my students or fellow teachers are somewhere near zero. Still, I will exercise discretion but will say a few things that must be obvious; I enjoyed some students more than others, but only found a small handful of my 87 pupils to be totally beyond the pale in behavior terms. That number has gone down every year. One possible reason is that students are getting better every year. Another possible reason is that I am getting better at what I do. I am lucky to enjoy the company of the small handful of fellow faculty with whom I interact on a regular basis (I don't get out much). And, my mother was right–the weather at your school is made by your principal. My first principal was a god, my second principal was a principal, and my current principal has achieved beatification, if not sainthood.

Alas, my district lost some teachers through layoffs, some good teachers through retirement, and at least one teacher who wasn't invited back after their first year. There's a teacher shortage coming, mark my words, even in this economy.

Now, it's eight weeks off to recharge the batteries before I slip into the harness again (to mix my metaphors…)