u/Temporary-Item8768

I will be single for the rest of my life.

I have no social media.

I am completely work/career-oriented.

I have no hobbies.

I like reading and sending emails.

I like touching paper and doing maths.

I feel safe in a school-based environment.

Happy to take work home with me.

Happy to spend a coin here and there to provide student resources for the 'I don't have a book and pen'.

Ready to document every email and have evidence ready to convince teachers/parents/admin that I am doing the best I can for students.

Things I am unsure of yet:

Can I manage classroom behaviour?

Will I get along with other teachers and admin?

How dependent would I be on the HoD?

How well will students understand what I teach?

How well can I handle parents' disapproval and complaints?

Would I be replaced by AI?

What should my minor be given that I choose maths?

Problem: I don't like driving.

Read the news about teacher challenges and shortages and stopped wanting to become a teacher. Going to become school lab tech instead since I still enjoy school-based environments without the teaching and behaviour management and until teachers stop being demonised by parents and etc. How permanent is a school lab tech position? How possible is it that your contract could get terminated and you constantly have to be hunting another school lab tech position? In general, is it a career you can do long-term work in and solely live off? Once again, I believe this is dependent on the school and teachers, but for something like this I can roll my dice without worrying too much.

Since I was in Year 7 I knew that teaching in the future would crumble because of poor student behaviour and poor leadership and management. Fast forward to me in Year 12 and a few years onward I see my prediction was indeed correct and being a teacher has come with more than responsibilities than just teaching, marking, reporting and lesson planning.

Unfortunately the job I am doing as an industry lab tech repetitively doing the same thing over again for half the day with erratic staff rostering isn't something that suits me and I'm feeling driven back to do something education-related as most of my casual and part-time work was also education related, tutoring, some also being with the DoE. The idea of looking at a school maths curriculum and term plan for what students are going to be learning soothes my mind but if I multiply that by 5 classes I would easily lose track and have to constantly go back and forward based on what my teaching timetable were to look like.

I would be applying for a Graduate Diploma of Teaching as I can afford the one year of full-time study and to see how I would do in my prac, but I am concerned of all the problems that come with the teaching profession. Taking home unpaid work and marking is something I can go along with but then come the meetings and all the other impossible teacher crap that I never pictured my teachers doing until I researched.

Students' and parents' unruly behaviour is one thing that I have feared, but now after doing research, it also appears there are also problems between other teachers themselves and admin as well as leadership. I naturally have a very pessimistic mindset and I'm very organised, so the thought of all these issues would be enough to make me never take a minute to breathe and to be wary of teacher coworkers or leadership who could be out to get me in the future should it happen.

All I know is that I am not going to be a science teacher as the memories of my Year 7 and 8 science teacher not being able to get a second of our class' attention for the whole hour while having to guide them through an experiment are still very fresh in my head even after 10 years.

There is a teacher shortage and I would happily become one but fall terribly if I didn't know about all these issues. Now that I am aware of these other admin and between staff members issues, I feel slightly more prepared if I were to ever enter a workplace like that. My alternative was to become a school lab tech but the contracts and job security along with pay push me away a bit. Honestly speaking, however, I enjoy any work involving pen and papers (maths) than with chemicals and glassware, which prompted me to think about a career as a maths teacher.

What, in case there was anything I missed, do I need to look out for or be wary of if I ever do become a teacher? Is it ok to commute by public transport as a teacher. What is the worst part of teaching?

Living in WA:

Was considering a sudden switch in career to do a Graduate Diploma of Teaching next year. I already have a BoS but I am 23. I am intending on teaching secondary maths, but haven't done any of the maths specific core units for BoEd apart from Calculus 1. Would still being up to date with the Australian curriculum and retaining my own secondary maths knowledge be enough along with a grad dip for me to be able to become a secondary maths teacher? What should I watch out for if I choose the Grad Dip path? It is one year of placements from what I heard, but I am unsure whether you get the choice of subject you teach or not.

Would this diploma allow me to not only teach secondary but also primary?

Was working in industry with a BoS in Chemistry. Didn't exactly enjoy doing 10 hours of repetitive tasks and troubleshooting spectroscopy instruments. Was considering school lab tech positions that I found on DoE. I've previously worked for the DoE in the past for a month or two but I'm more worried about job security. A school environment looks safe and secure to me but I heard that lab techs there are usually fixed-term. I am good in maths up to Applications ATAR mathematics and still retain all my Year 11 and 12 Chemistry ATAR knowledge (and textbooks), so I think I would be a good fit and would enjoy preparing, planning experiments and reporting safety to support teachers in the background rather than daily repeated tasks. I have added experience from demonstrating labs in the past but if I recall, I don't necessarily need to have a Bachelor of Education for this role, correct? What else should I be aware of if I do become a lab tech at a school? Slightly lower pay and not being paid on the holidays is something I can go along with.

Looking for someone who is experienced in Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy to save me in troubleshooting.

Here is what I know so far.

CCV fail

-burner alignment, dirty burner (should rinse the block and wash burner in sonicator for 5 minutes to have a good flame)

-standards old, refresh standards

-get new CCV, shake CCV

-replace autosampler pump tubing (if dirty and/or very squished)

CCB fail

-contamination of blank (get new blanks)

-uneven standards (refresh standards)

-rinse block

-change probe line

-citronox rinse

Negative CCB and absorbance

- restart calibration (sometimes a fail makes it work again)

- change block

- backflush probe

HRSD calibration

- sample introduction issues (inspect block)

- flow rate (check)

- probe line (check for kinks)

- backflush probe

Someone please let me know if there is more to the AAS troubleshooting than what I know so far as I really need to know this.

How do you report domestic violence in a non-urgent situation? How do you build a case of domestic violence? Would you need to go to the police station or do you simply call the non-urgent police phone number?

Would domestic violence in the form of coercive control still something you can report? Is it possible to explain to the police about the situation so they can keep a case but not press charges until the situation escalates, as in for them to keep a record of what is going on in case something were to happen to me in the future? I would let them know what is going on but if it exposes me to said people and they found out I could be retaliated against for notifying police about it, if it isn't confidential. And what would happen with the information I give them? Would events that occurred more than 5 years ago still be valid information?

I have been working at a company I enjoy for the past few months and I like my job (at least when things are working and running). My boss is great, approachable and understanding, which to me is a major culture-shock since good leadership is something I've never seen before.

My boss kind of resembles a friend I used to know 10+ years ago when I was a kid, and I want to ask him for a hug because I never had one before in my life and I want to try one (he is kind of the closest person I have in real life). Problem is, I think it would be very awkward for me to ask for something like this. I heard things about appropriate work etiquette and stuff and the last thing I'll want is to make myself look weird by asking that out of the blue... And then it could escalate to HR and all the other upper chain things which I wouldn't want. If I were the boss I would feel a bit weird if a stranger who just started working here asked for that... Would also get other coworkers curious why I asked for that.

Should I just ask one day if I pass by his office? I want to know the risks of asking for something personal like this, and if it could end up in getting me fired or escalated to HR etc.