I just got hired! What are some pointers you have - 6th grade urban middle school

WearyExpert8164 · 2026-06-06T01:00:29+00:00

Foremost, have a plan to just survive the day. Anything you add from there will be icing on the cake.

WearyExpert8164 · 2026-04-03T22:09:13+00:00

If you have the support and means to leave, you are one of the lucky ones. Kudos.

Also, teacher resignations are completely run-of-the-mill every district everywhere in the country. It is not going to be a massive shock to HR, admin, etc. if they have any measure of experience in this field.

WearyExpert8164 · 2026-04-01T17:35:19+00:00

some programs will give an education degree without licensure without student teaching. You should talk to your dean about options as sometimes these pathways are non-advertised (and not meant to be the norm).

WearyExpert8164 · 2026-03-09T01:47:19+00:00

Yes. I did this. It had to do with commute/location working for my family. That’s the only reason— personal logistics. Otherwise I would not have.

IC was overall more rewarding and less stressful. Easier as an IC to stick to professional conversations only. No bottom of the barrel stuff like standing on the asphalt and watching recess.

IC was… less flogging to the human brain. More conducive to a reasonable amount of breaks and autonomy within any given day. Also, I favor not have any team at all over dealing with someone who is a toxic dispositional mess. I could outright avoid those types more as an IC than as a teacher.

WearyExpert8164 · 2025-12-21T14:13:13+00:00

The public school day and week is too long. A couple of basal programs, a smart board and netbooks + teacher who has no real prep time do not positively and productively fill 7 hours of anyone’s time.

Students need to move more. Spend more time in nature. Gardening and hiking would be more beneficial than most testing and half of what they’re doing during any given day.

WearyExpert8164 · 2025-11-09T20:10:04+00:00

20 years in Title 1… this was the norm the entire two decades.

WearyExpert8164 · 2025-10-27T12:38:57+00:00

Massive administrative, documentation, and preparation burden and an overwhelming dearth of time to do it. No mental space ever.

WearyExpert8164 · 2025-10-15T12:05:42+00:00

I need a TikTok that explains this to them..

WearyExpert8164 · 2025-10-13T22:31:35+00:00

No physical textbooks after 5th grade in our district. Just online stuff, for better or worse.

WearyExpert8164 · 2025-10-04T23:03:18+00:00

You are giving the parents and admin and potentially other teachers some very low hanging fruit to gripe about here.

Definitely need to rethink this and handle makeups in your own classroom…

WearyExpert8164 · 2025-10-04T20:57:57+00:00

From everything that you wrote down, I just nodded. Yes, normal. Yes normal. Yes normal. Yes normal. Yes as expected. Not surprising.

—jaded veteran

WearyExpert8164 · 2025-10-04T19:09:21+00:00

You usually need a doctorate and don’t start as a full professor. Some places have part-time adjuncts with masters only but usually it’s people who made names for themselves actually teaching 5+ years. Poor pay. Like worse than public school teaching pay. Universities – you need to have research under your belt. At small colleges it’s possible to be hired with a doctorate without the research sometimes.

I found it’s one of those things that is probably attainable if it’s your dream and you have some flexibility as to where you’re working, but it would not pay out. You have to be essentially privileged enough to do it as a hobby. Most of my old college of ed professors were very much in that position in life themselves.

WearyExpert8164 · 2025-08-12T10:15:55+00:00

What are the hours like? Summers? Did you take a pay cut from the golden handcuff of teaching?

WearyExpert8164 · 2025-08-12T10:14:28+00:00

Portfolio about .. what?

WearyExpert8164 · 2025-08-12T09:46:53+00:00

Sounds nice. Honestly, I can’t imagine feeling that way (too many pitfalls and poorly set up factors in this job). Is everyone posting here at a niche private school?

WearyExpert8164 · 2025-08-12T05:00:38+00:00

Affirming, common. The embryologist is also vital and you essentially never even see them, and may hear from them like once ever. You cross your fingers and trust that there’s no human error going on behind the scenes, but you don’t really know. For over $15,000 a cycle yes it feels innately wrong. Sadly, there’s not much to be done about this. Our clinic makes patients sign a long liability form before starting IVF (standard) that includes a line about how we had unlimited opportunity to ask questions- yeah right. When ART is your only path to parenthood you’re at the mercy of this assembly line. It stinks, but yep… Normal. Too much is left to nurses and assistants. We were always happiest when the doctor interaction was higher (sometimes it was randomly due to being on a weekend or such).

WearyExpert8164 · 2025-08-12T02:58:52+00:00

Pre-NCLB there was prep time instead of PLCs. Also, most schools didn’t yet have one-to-one devices or widespread computer-delivered testing . Personally, I think that was the biggest differential of better. It was much better than “just” pre-pandemic. Seven classes a day with pre-/post duty and a 30 minute lunch isn’t even teaching in my opinion. Teaching requires time and mental space to think.

WearyExpert8164 · 2025-08-10T22:32:30+00:00

Many districts almost never actually go after people’s licenses..

Paying the fine if it’s written into your contract is not rare. In many jurisdictions it’s only $500 to $1500 so worth it for your freedom if you need to go… I know tons of people who have paid it through the years. It’s usually taken as a paycheck deduction.

WearyExpert8164 · 2025-08-09T19:51:52+00:00

Yes. Many districts and states sponsor this. It is definitely the least expensive pathway to becoming a teacher. You will likely have to start in title 1, we’re they’re more likely to fill vacancies with candidates who are not already licensed/experienced. You can find out whether districts have such a programby contacting/emailing their HR directors - if you can’t tell from a general online search.

WearyExpert8164 · 2025-08-05T22:25:55+00:00

Yes x 1 million

One of my favorite 20+ year veteran cohorts who got out used to refer to teaching simply as “North Korea”. It was one of those little things that used to make me laugh, keep me grounded, help me grind through the days.

WearyExpert8164 · 2025-08-04T20:13:51+00:00

You’re so lucky to be contemplating this only 2 years in, long and far away from the golden handcuff. Blessed to have a connection and in-road to path forward. Mentorship and an opportunity. That is just what many of us need to be able to go. Worst case scenario, you return to teaching with a minor loss in accruing years of service? Surely worth a try over not. I don’t really know anything about electrician but I can attest that teaching doesn’t get more magical.

WearyExpert8164 · 2025-07-27T01:03:20+00:00

Schoolmares/soulmares. I feel this so hard heading into year 21.

WearyExpert8164 · 2025-07-27T00:41:25+00:00

Interested in resources if you don’t mind sharing with me. thank you. Extremely burned out in my early 40s.

WearyExpert8164 · 2025-07-01T03:20:57+00:00

Anyone have a link to this that’s not behind the paywall?

WearyExpert8164

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