Cleavon Smith
English Composition Teacher
Berkeley City College
Berkeley City College
English Composition Teacher
I teach English Composition courses and write prose and plays.
There are no typical work days and that's what I love about my work. I typically teach between two and three classes a week with office hours each day I teach and about two hours of writing at the end of each day. But my schedule bounces around depending on the needs of students outside of class and other non-teaching duties.
Here's the first step for high school students
Read the books you love to read without disregarding the books you're required to read. Both will make a better writer of you!
"I should stay in the navy and take advantage of the opportunity I had as an officer. Then when I got out of the navy, people said I should stay in my corporate job because there was no guarantee that I could earn a living as a writer. Then when I began teaching in community colleges, people said I should get my PhD to be a professor at a university because I'd never get a full-time position at a community college. Whew! The things people said..."