• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Advertising
  • Write for Us
  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Advertising
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Shirts

The Educators Room logo

  • Start Here
    • Impact Statements: Teacher Expertise
    • Newsletter
  • Browse Topics
    • Content Strategies
      • Literacy
      • Mathematics
      • Social Studies
      • Educational Technology
      • ELL & ESOL
      • Fine Arts
      • Special Education
      • Popular Topics
        • Teacher Self-Care
        • Instructional Coach Files
        • Common Core
        • The Traveling Teacher
        • The Unemployed Teacher
        • The New Teacher Chronicles
        • Book Review
        • Grade Levels
          • Elementary (K-5)
          • Middle (6-8)
          • Adult
          • New Teacher Bootcamp
          • Hot Button Topics
            • Menu Item
              • Principals' Corner
              • Charter Schools
              • Confessions of a Teacher
              • Interviews
              • The State of Education
              • Stellar Educator of the Week
            • Menu
              • How to Fix Education
              • Featured
              • Ask a Teacher
              • Teacher Branding
              • Current Events
  • Podcasts
  • Courses
    • Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout- An 8 Week Course
    • Becoming An Educational Consultant
    • Teacher Branding 101:Teachers are The Experts
    • The Learning Academy
    • Books
    • Shirts
  • Education in Atlanta
  • Teacher Self-Care
  • The Coach's Academy
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Advertising
  • Write for Us
  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Advertising
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Shirts
×

April 3, 2013 Ask a Teacher

Being a Waitress Was Real Teacher Training

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

About Colette Bennett

Colette Marie Bennett is the Curriculum Coordinator for English Language Arts, Social Studies, Library Media, and Testing for the West Haven Public School System in West Haven, Connecticut. Previous to this position, she served as the Chief Academic Officer (7-12) for Regional School System #6 in Litchfield, Connecticut. She has 23 years of teaching experience in English Language Arts from grades 6-12, including electives in journalism, drama, and film studies. A graduate of the Alternate Route to Certification, Bennett also has a Masters in English from Western Connecticut State University a 6th year in Advanced Teaching and an 092 Administrative Certificate from Sacred Heart University, and graduate credits from the GLSP in Social Studies at Wesleyan University. She holds a Literacy Certification (102) from Sacred Heart University for grades K-12. She has presented how technology is incorporated in classrooms at the Connecticut Computers in Education Conference (2010, 2012, 2014), the National Council of Teachers Annual Conference (2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015), and the Advanced Placement Annual Conference (2011) the Literacy for All Conference (2012), and the ICT for Language Learning in Florence, Italy (2014). She blogs about education at Used Books in Class: http://usedbookclassroom.wordpress.com/ She tweets at Teachcmb56@twitter.com
  • Weigh in on Cardona? Better to Weigh in on Connecticut - January 3, 2021
  • Still Learning from Kindergarten to Say "Yes" or "No" - October 4, 2019
  • Toni Morrison: Spilling over the Corners of Text - August 6, 2019
  • Marie Kando Your Classroom - July 24, 2019
  • MCAS Whitehead Test Prompt-What Were They Thinking? - May 28, 2019
  • If They Are Choosing the Family Car, They Are Going to Want Choice in the Classroom - February 27, 2019
  • Teachers Pay Teachers-The Fast Food of Education - February 22, 2019
  • Yes, Breaking Up (with a text) is Hard to Do - October 8, 2017
  • Copying the Nation’s Founding Documents by Hand - September 24, 2017
  • A Comic Book Helped to Inspire the Civil Rights Movement - August 7, 2017

One of my first jobs was as a waitress. The job was physically demanding. The variety of customers meant that no one day was like any other day. There were usually three "waves" during mealtimes. The hourly rate was a little below minimum wage, but there were tips.

My job now is to teach. The job is physically and mentally demanding. The variety of students means that no one day will be like any other. But there are four to six "waves" a day depending on a school's schedule, and I certainly make more now than the minimum wage an hour.

In a recent discussion about teacher training, I made the observation that being a waitress was great training for preparing a teacher for managing the classroom. My colleagues were surprised, so I made the following argument.

Picture this. In a restaurant, customers arrive and are seated at tables with every expectation of a great meal. Hopefully, the arrivals are staggered, but quite often there is a rush of customers who are presented with a menu to make selections. The waitress manages several tables at once.

In contrast, in the classroom, students arrive en masse with a variety of expectations. Click To Tweet
In contrast, in the classroom, students arrive en masse with a variety of expectations. They seat themselves at desks or tables and are given an opening set of instructions. The teacher engages every student in the activity at once.

Back at the restaurant, customers make their selections from the menu; their individual requests are recorded by the waitress. The clock is "running" once the order is taken.

Back in the classroom, the students' attendance is recorded, homework collected, and lesson materials distributed by the teacher. The length of class is fixed; once the bell rings, the clock is running.

At the restaurant, the waitress delivers the meals in the order the patrons arrived, the patrons eat accordingly at their own pace. Their progress in monitored by the attentive waitress. Once the patrons are done, the meals are cleared away....leisurely.

In the classroom, the lesson is delivered to an entire group of students, perhaps the students participate together or perhaps there is differentiated instruction. The attentive teacher monitors the students' progress while keeping all students on pace to complete the lesson. At the end of the lesson, the materials are put away....in haste!

In completing the meal, the customers pay their bills and leave, planning to return soon because of their great experience at the restaurant. Because of the waitress, they have been served good food and provided good service.

In contrast, at the bell, the students scramble to leave the classroom. They are required to return for another learning experience in the classroom. Hopefully, because of the teacher, student learning has been accomplished and good academic habits reinforced.

In retrospect, being a waitress was a great way to develop the skills of timing and monitoring, the skill of delivering materials, and the skill of closure that are needed in the management of a classroom. I did enjoy being a waitress. I liked the busy pace and interaction with people, but I love teaching as a profession much more. However, I  miss the tips.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Related posts:

4 Unusual Gift Ideas For Teacher Appreciation Week Making STEM Matter in Schools Taking the Anxiety Out of Student Placement in Special Education HellOpinion: The Signs That All Hell Has Broken Loose in Education
« Shakespeare and Americans: The Relationship Starts in the Classroom
Willing To Do Difficult Things »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

The Educator's Room was launched in 2012 to amplify the voice of educators. To date, we have over 45+ writers from around the world and boast over twelve million page views. Through articles, events, and social media we will advocate for honest dialogue with teachers about how to improve public education. This mission is especially important when reporting on education in our community; therefore, we commit our readers to integrity, accuracy, and independence in education reporting. To join our mailing list, click here.

What we do

At The Educator's Room, we focus on amplifying and honoring the voice of educators as experts in education. To date, we have over 40 staff writers/teachers from around the world.

Popular Posts

  • My Union Showed Up for Me, and I'll Never Forget It
  • Your Students Deserve a Diverse Classroom Library. Here's How to Set It Up.
  • You Don't Have to Watch the Tyre Nichols Video, But Be Ready to Talk About It
  • "Let's Make This Happen": Following Student Interests to Interest-Based Mentorships

Featured On

Buy Our Books/Courses

How to Leave Your Job in Education

Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout

Using Your Teacher Expertise to Become an Educational Consultant

Check out our books on teaching and learning!

The Learning Academy

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Accessibility Policy

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • Contact
  • Services
  • Media Kit
  • FAQ

 

Copyright © 2021 The Educator's Room.