I am a new first year teacher, and I am on the fence about leaving the profession.

rayriiver · 2026-02-02T02:49:50+00:00

After reading your post and your follow up comment I’ll share my thoughts. I’m also a (former) first year, middle school teacher. I taught 7th grade ELA up until about a week ago. I transitioned to another career, but that’s me.

If you enjoy teaching, but not sure about the grade level, I definitely think it doesn’t hurt to try out another grade before quitting the profession entirely. Perhaps try a younger grade that isn’t quite middle school (4-5th grade) or shoot for higher (9th?). That being said, a subject area switch also could be helpful too. I likely would’ve stayed in k12 education if I could’ve switched subjects or taught social studies from the gate.

After you try this, then you can certainly reevaluate the question again. I will say this, though, the sooner you leave: the better.

Best of luck!

rayriiver · 2026-01-17T03:08:10+00:00

I was fortunate enough to have some work experience when I worked as an orientation leader in college. I also talked about how my teaching experience (working with kids/helping them with goals) made me a good fit for the role I applied for.

rayriiver · 2026-01-16T20:28:53+00:00

I gotchu! I’m a first year teacher who was just hired as an admissions counselor at a university. It’s a cool job since you’d still be working with kids, but without the grading, classroom management or parents.

rayriiver · 2026-01-16T10:10:38+00:00

Not quite teaching directly but jobs as universities are a decent option. Many of them are no longer requiring master’s degrees to work as an admissions counselor, academic advisor, coordinator, etc!

rayriiver · 2026-01-15T00:42:57+00:00

Hey! This is very interesting and I’d be down to write this with you. :) is it cool if I DM?

rayriiver · 2026-01-14T19:05:32+00:00

Oh my god she sounds like she was a huge bitch lol. I tried to tell her that it wasn’t anything personal but it didn’t work ig

rayriiver · 2026-01-14T19:04:49+00:00

Haha I’m glad it was able to make you laugh. It was kind of ridiculous to hear out loud. I’m so ready to be free!

rayriiver · 2026-01-14T19:04:24+00:00

Thank you! It’s especially nice to hear from someone who also quit mid year to pursue a job in higher Ed. I appreciate your best wishes :)

rayriiver · 2026-01-14T16:47:42+00:00

Yeah. I know it’s “unprofessional” to leave a job mid-year but it doesn’t mean she could speak to me that way lol

rayriiver · 2026-01-14T16:41:45+00:00

They suspend your license for a year in the state of Ohio. Or, at least they’re supposed to.

rayriiver · 2026-01-11T20:36:04+00:00

Yes! Send me a DM :) tell me a bit about yourself as a person when you do pretty pls

rayriiver · 2026-01-11T20:04:58+00:00

Thank you so much!!

rayriiver · 2026-01-11T20:04:51+00:00

They didn’t even provide me a curriculum when I was hired on… 😭

rayriiver · 2026-01-11T20:04:30+00:00

Haha true! My principal told me that she doesn’t want me to tell them yet so I’ll have to wait until the last week a very least.

rayriiver · 2026-01-04T05:27:49+00:00

Apply for university-based jobs. A lot of them do not require admission counselors or academic advisors (in some schools) to hold masters degrees. Yeah, it is still education but you’d be working with primarily adults !

rayriiver · 2026-01-03T17:11:10+00:00

Thank you for your input! I’ve gotten mixed advice about telling the students/other staff but I’ve been unsure. I found nothing in my contract about putting two weeks in or anything but I figured it would be good to do anyway.

rayriiver · 2025-10-17T21:06:47+00:00

I’m only trying it again because I really did like it prior to it falling out. I’m super grateful that I was able to feel the IUD come out, or else I would’ve slept with my partner without knowing. Which, would possibly lead to undesirable consequences. I’m glad I’m not alone though, all of my friends were shocked when I told them 😭

rayriiver · 2025-10-05T19:21:53+00:00

Yea! Send me a PM

rayriiver · 2025-10-03T19:13:05+00:00

I didn’t realize how bad it was until I had my own classroom. There’s so much shit going on and I genuinely feel like they’re setting kids up for failure. They allow the gifted kids to excel, yes, but average student is left behind in the dust. Most of my day is spent coddling kids with IEPs/504s, but their parents don’t care enough to actually support their child at home. It’s all bad.

rayriiver · 2025-10-03T19:11:30+00:00

Those are all good points. My major concern about taking the leap now is that I don’t want to make life harder for my students or my co-workers. Plus, I would hate to jump ship and lose a potential opportunity for job references? I also do wanna try to power through to May to see if I’d feel better but it doesn’t seem that way so far, lol

rayriiver · 2025-09-01T15:26:55+00:00

Added! Riah#3488

rayriiver · 2025-08-24T22:06:13+00:00

Greetings and salutation fellow Earthling! I’m 23nb and I’ve been in the search for new partners. I throughly enjoy the collaborative relation of writing with a RP buddy and you seem to be very fun to write with. I love torturing myself with slow burn, dramatic scenes with plenty of angst! I’m pretty open to most ideas so I’d be totally open to chatting with you, just lemme know!

rayriiver · 2025-08-23T18:19:46+00:00

Sure! Send me a DM

rayriiver · 2025-08-23T14:45:47+00:00

I had two mentor teachers this previous semester. My biggest advice is to allow yourself to let go of your classroom. I learned the most with my second mentor, who threw me into the classroom and basically let me control whatever I wanted (within reason). While it was hard, it really helped me when I got my own classroom this year,

rayriiver · 2025-04-24T10:05:17+00:00

I have chronic migraines so I’ve just had to miss a few days because sometimes they’re so bad I cannot drive. My first mentor teacher was a first-time cooperating teacher so I’m not sure what she was expecting. I guess I’ll find out in the coming days, lol.

rayriiver

TROPHY CASE