Time spent walking in another person's shoes

MOSES LAKE - I have been walking in another person's shoes for a few weeks.

I have been teaching a course at Big Bend Community College.

I agreed to help at the request of Big Bend's President Bill Bonaudi. Little did I suspect he was offering me an opportunity to see what it is like to be a teacher.

My first thought of teaching about mass media for an hour a day, four days a week, was that it should be easy. It didn't seem like it would take much time.

I was naive.

I find myself spending about 12-15 hours a week working for the single class. This is in addition to my full time job with the Columbia Basin Herald.

I read the text book when it was chosen before the quarter started. And each night I read it again to make sure I am familiar with the subject and am prepared to discuss it the next day and note my talking points. I also find myself spending extra time researching portions of the book that are either unclear or need a little bit more information to better explain the concepts.

I spend time creating tests. I spend time grading the tests.

I assign thesis papers for 32 students and then have to read all 32 thesis papers carefully to grade them.

I haven't found a way to create tests, read the book and grade thesis papers while discussing the topic in class in my four allotted hours. This means I have to do it after school and on the weekends.

It's tough. I don't think I have the fortitude to teach several classes every day like in high school. I am too slow. I am not sure where I would find enough time.

The pay for instructors would be great if the job was just the four hours in class. Divide the pay by all of the hours worked, just to be in class for four hours a week, and it isn't much.

The real pay is the students. Talking with them, seeing them understand lessons and learning getting to learn new perspectives from them, is rewarding. I like them. I don't want to let them down. It's why I spend so much time outside of class preparing.

I am enjoying the tiring learning experience of what it takes to teach. In my opinion, a good teacher can't be praised enough nor paid appropriately for the hours spent preparing for class or grading tests and homework. Only the students can return a proper compensation.

In my nearly 20 years of working for newspapers and radio, I have written a lot of stories about teachers and school districts. I have my share of experiences with people angry about opinions, both for and against educators.

I understand how stinging criticism can be when you feel you have given up a great deal of time for free to be a better teacher, when you feel you bent over backwards to help and are treated harshly for it.

It's not easy to take.

This year I saw an opportunity to learn more about our education system. I took the offer to teach and I am still learning how rough a road it is to walk in another person's shoes.

Bill Stevenson is the Columbia Basin Herald managing editor. He is currently teaching Introduction to Mass Media at Big Bend Community College.