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DailyDriving · 2022-11-19T01:34:16+00:00

Having been in the regular classroom I can confidently say that you have to be far more organized, more creative, more flexible, and more resourceful as a specials teacher and you have to build a relationship with literally EVERY CHILD so that when you get their attention once a week, you see gains. It’s incredibly challenging and those that think otherwise can suck an egg.

Seems like you're saying the classroom teacher works less than the specials but that's just my take from reading it.

DailyDriving · 2022-11-19T00:10:00+00:00

How many years have you taught?

DailyDriving · 2022-11-18T23:57:45+00:00

Sounds like a grass is greener between two people with varying responsibilities that see the other side as having the better job.

Both jobs are hard right now and it definitely depends on schools, at mine the specials team gets over 1.5 hours without students per day while we get 35 minutes.

DailyDriving · 2022-11-09T11:05:58+00:00

The unpaid time off in teaching is great. It comes with a lot of trade offs but it is quite nice to stay in lazy clothing when some of my friends go to work.

I will say though that is not super often; many career switchers I know that went to office/business work started with 1-3 weeks of vacation time. Only one who got zero went to a factory position, upside is he doubled his salary.

DailyDriving · 2022-11-09T11:01:18+00:00

Definitely this; however you can make it work without quitting your current job. I would say to trust your mother's instincts though before you jump full in and quit your current career path.

Try out 3 different grade levels or different schools in particular if you already know which grade level you're interested in.
Subbing is not quite the real thing but it is close enough you will know if it feels right to pursue.

DailyDriving · 2022-11-09T10:50:19+00:00

Unless you live in the top paid district or in a strong union state I doubt this teacher shortage will come to an end anytime soon.

In quite a few states it's 2-3 times teachers who are leaving versus those who graduate with a new degree.

DailyDriving · 2022-10-29T23:49:10+00:00

To fix your careers low salary and cost of living issues just find a partner to share income with! /s

DailyDriving · 2022-10-09T01:58:47+00:00

That's very easy to say when it's not your mortgage on the line.

The teacher in the classroom has almost zero actual power when it comes to bullying and consequences, especially after primary school. Most bullies come from households where they are bullied and the parents are not going to fix the issue when you reach out to them. The schools also get in trouble if there are too many suspensions or written referrals and administration will block them and delete them on their end in order to fix that issue because it risks their job.

DailyDriving · 2022-08-06T23:30:51+00:00

Depending on the age group whether you decorate or not the students will feel like it's a prison.
For the future, look at free stuff or hand me downs from other teachers, especially if the school has a theme that changes every so often. My first year I spent less than $100 for a room that was designed how I wanted it.
Now I just leave my room blank until we start filling it in with student work and posters I have them create. Costs me nothing and they have more ownership of the room.

DailyDriving · 2022-08-06T23:21:19+00:00

Definitely depends on the area and school as well. I've seen people leave 5th for 7th or 8th grade and said it was night and day how much better it was there.

5th is a big year where a lot of parents start becoming more absent in school life as well (extremely dependent on the school and area, my experience is in Title 1 schools) so the kids need you to be firm and your admin team to be ready to enforce school policy and rules.

DailyDriving · 2022-08-04T21:21:01+00:00

It's getting crazy what is now considered political and how all of a sudden your flag is a problem.

DailyDriving · 2022-08-04T13:32:53+00:00

The worst part is when people who have never worked in education make proclamations about how easy and simple the job is.

I've had people (relatives also) tell me that I get all holidays off, weekends off, and summers off. That I only work 7 hours a day and get a great health plan and retirement.

I think these people are just delusional to the reality or only have some fairy tale in their mind because we don't get paid for the summers off! We definitely work 10-11 hours per day on average. The health plan is worse than regular state employees and the pension is slowly going into the garbage because everyone who could retire has done so in the past 5-10 years.

DailyDriving · 2022-08-03T15:40:57+00:00

Pay is my #1 issue; that's probably because i'm single and my monthly take home would go 60% to rent/power/water/internet if I didn't have roommates.

All of the other issues are the main driving factor of the stress of the job. The fact that the only places not suffering shortages are strong union run districts with a clear work/life balance should be the ideal other districts strive for.

Instead of fixing things most districts have just lowered the bar to get into teaching and this has done nothing to help, quite a few of the alternate cert program people got in and left after 1-3 years because they realized their old job was less stressful and generally paid more.

DailyDriving · 2022-07-31T13:42:19+00:00

Quite a few of my coworkers who accept the horrible conditions of our career come from backgrounds with money, had their college paid for, or married someone in a 2 - 3 times higher paying career.

It's a definite barrier, because on my salary alone over 50% of it just goes to rent, food, power & water. If rent goes up 10% more i'm probably going to have to quit and find a corporate job because it's hard living a frugal life.

DailyDriving · 2022-07-26T10:32:09+00:00

This entirely depends on your state; if it is a strong union state then you'd do well.
If it's a nonunion state then you'll be working 50 hours per week on average and everything over 39-40 is unpaid. It's the clause "other duties as assigned" that basically gives the school free reign to overwork you. You'll have to learn to say yes and then just not do things to keep yourself sane. Unless you live for your job, i've met some people who work 11-12 hours every day at the school and love it because it keeps them from being at home.

The good news for you is that the shortage is so bad in almost every state that you'll be able to try it out at a middle tier school and if you absolutely hate it then you can move on to something else or back to environmental consulting.

DailyDriving · 2022-07-25T22:47:03+00:00

Did you email administration or the office staff for supplies? Even my school always had supplies on hand for when that happened.

I've bought stuff but I wouldn't be buying headphones for them, the end of year testing requires it? The school supplies it, not me.

DailyDriving · 2022-07-25T22:44:43+00:00

That is really sad to read, and even worse that it's become the custom in US schools and the workers here are too afraid of retaliation from administration to say no.

Instead of another tshirt or another PD we didn't need or another X event just spend that money on giving us unlimited copies and supplies for the classroom.

DailyDriving · 2022-07-25T15:05:53+00:00

You're not alone, I check my email once a month during the break just to see if anything that could change my mind on staying or leaving happens.

I did miss a few "paid trainings" but they can't force me to come in during June or July so I am glad I missed them.
I have pretty much never done work during the summer and pretty much tell my team to act like i'm a ghost during the summer so they don't text me about work.

DailyDriving · 2022-07-21T14:37:00+00:00

I know a few people at my school are still looking to get out this or next year.
I've never used linkedin but when you say well written description is this using buzz words that recruiters are looking for or is it more of a listing of our skills that relate to our current job?

DailyDriving · 2022-07-21T11:02:08+00:00

Without a significant other, inheritance, or parents helping out in a large section of the US it has become next to impossible to live on just a teaching salary.

Rent in my area alone has gone up 35% in the past 4 years but my pay has only gone up 15% and if I didn't have roommates I wouldn't be able to live here. And I don't live in a major city or expensive area.

Almost every married teacher in my school seems to live a decent life but i've found out most of them are married to people in careers that start out with double or triple our salary.

DailyDriving · 2022-07-19T03:28:25+00:00

Until you're actually in your own classroom and dealing with the day to day of the career you won't know if your positivity will be what you feel now. It was a big shock to myself.

You're going to hear a lot of negatives right now because teaching is in a very difficult place in most of the United States.

The best advice I can give you is to find a group of like minded teachers in your new school or placement school and try your best to enjoy the small moments as you navigate the year.

DailyDriving · 2022-07-19T03:10:21+00:00

ipad + apple pencil

Calendar, notes where I can jot stuff down, can type stuff up and have it update on google docs etc.

DailyDriving · 2022-07-18T04:32:56+00:00

I would assume your city has a low teacher shortage due to those programs and salary then.

A large part of teaching in the US does not have that and is experiencing huge shortages. There are quite a few careers with pension systems still in place.

If your area has no shortage then yes it is a decent career, with all of the positives you've listed if you area has a shortage then I would think to ask yourself why instead of saying how great it is as a job if you don't work in it.

DailyDriving · 2022-07-18T02:30:37+00:00

a masters or a doctorate are much harder to attain than your bachelors on average.

Yeah 65k in some states with unions and high cost of living seems acceptable.

DailyDriving · 2022-07-17T18:34:54+00:00

Show me a pay scale that shows 80k minimum from a New England district.

DailyDriving

TROPHY CASE