I'm considering becoming a teacher - advice welcome

[RadicalTexan]

I am a 31 year old higher ed admin monkey, and I've been considering transitioning to teaching for seven years, off and on. I've been paying down debt for a few years and will be debt-free (except for student loans) within a year, so it's time for me to start seriously considering my options. I would like a career that allows me more daily autonomy, is more dynamic (no sitting behind a desk staring at a glowing screen 8 hours a day!), provides me with more time off, and is a net social good (I have serious problems about the institutionalization of kids in prison-like schools, but I think dedicated teachers are the saving grace, and schools aren't disappearing anytime soon, nor should they).

I have an MA in English and would likely be doing an alternative certification route in Texas (where, as I am sure you will agree, we need more progressive, well-educated teachers to counteract the influence of conservative religious zealots, especially those on the State Board of Education!).

I realize teaching is very challenging and presents many frustrations, but so do all jobs. However, for good teachers, it's more than "just a job," and that's what I'm looking for: a vocation.

Any input is appreciated.

[elfin]

1. Autonomy is shrinking rapidly

with more canned curriculum being required to meet tests.

My sis finally retired from teaching English at an suburban high school and caught a lot of flak for being progressive.

The school politics, always pesky, have become brutal, especially when tenure is taken off the table.

Otherwise -- a wonderful, challenging and rewarding in non-monetary ways.

I taught Senior High history in the midwest for many years and the changes I mention here are also being seen in this part of the country.

[Nikki Stone1]

2. Don't.

.

[B Calm]

3. Hopefully you don't have any republicans om the school board!

[patrice]

4. Depending upon which age-group you choose, you should be careful about the expectation that

the profession will provide you "with more time off".

Especially with secondary students, the time you put in during a school year pretty much makes up for what you "take off" during the Summer.

The most rewarding thing about teaching, to me, was the privilege of being allowed to facilitate the intellectual development of individual persons. That effort requires a level of personal one-to-one engagement that is almost all consuming. The payoff was not "a net social good", which I could barely perceive at all, but the occassions when an individual student would wake-up to the inspiration of Knowledge for Knowledge's sake in one of my content areas (secondary Language Arts and also Psychology). I taught Seniors mostly, so it's probably a facet of that experience, certain ones of them would suddenly begin to personally identify with the value of Knowledge for its own sake and the sheer delight of skills and understanding set them free and "on fire". It was possible, then, to share a passion for your content area, so it is essential to have that passion to begin with. It was the comparatively few such experiences such as these that motivated me and professionals like me over the years.

[Smarmie Doofus]

5. I'd think hard about it.

And it sounds like you're doing that.

"Autonomy": no. You're not going to have that. If by "autonomy" you mean " I can teach what I think my kids need to know, and how ( in my professional judgment) they are most likely to absorb it." You'll teach whatever the politicians ( and remember, you're in Texas) decide you OUGHT to teach and you'll teach it the way the politicians and the educational bureaucracy decide you OUGHT to teach it.

"No sitting behind a desk": I wish that were true. It simply is not; at least not for me. More than 70% of my time is spent doing clerical work ( i.e. in front of a pc) about a third of that time is spent doing legitimate , educational preparation; the rest is feeding data into the machine.

I teach special ed in NYC; so the culture may be different where you are. ( My impression is it's WORSE, but that's only my impression.) Remember: teachers are being scapegoated all over the country right now. You're contemplating coming into the profession at a time when tenure is being dismantled, public schools are being turned over to private corporations, seniority is being... ahem... phased out ( So you can probably get a gig, but is it a gig you're really going to want to stick with? Are the admins going to want to stick with YOU?). All of which is happening with the support of BOTH parties.

I don't see it getting better. I'm leaving soon so materially speaking none of these ... ahem ....."reforms" is likely to impact me in a material way.

Talk to other people. Good luck.

[WinkyDink]

6. I went from teaching h.s. English to 7 yrs of Guid. Counsel., & back to teaching.

The difference in paperwork and time-on-task is astronomical.

Be prepared to have no week-end or evening time and to be mentally exhausted each day.
You will be CONTINUALLY: grading papers; grading tests; composing tests; writing lesson plans; Xeroxing tests/articles/lessons/extra poems/"fun stuff"; reading literary criticism/analyses; planning ahead.

Did I mention this might be for 3 or more disparate grades and/or subjects and/or "tracks"? For 125+ students? THINK about facing those piles of tests and compositions. Invest in LOTS of different colored folders. And different colored pens; red is right out.
Don't forget the "Late/Absent" folders. There are always plenty of student IOU's to keep track of. But not to worry: As you're gathering your wits to begin the next class, returning absentees will all gather 'round your desk to ask, not quite in unison, "What'd I miss?" Daily. Hourly.

Try not to look crest-fallen when a student raises his hand only to ask, "Can I go to the lav?" And don't forget then to stop what you are doing to write out the lav pass, complete with date, time, his name, and your signature. Carry on. But watch that clock; the student can't be gone too long!

Also, be ready to race to and fro the bathroom and the faculty-room as the last to leave the classroom and the first to get back; to "volunteer" to be the advisor and/or coach of an activity. Hey, I had to coach basketball my first two years, then advise the newspaper, chaperone dances, etc. We all do.

Have I mentioned the paperwork and reading?

Homeroom tasks (announcements, attendance, Pledge, Intercom). Lunchroom duty. Study hall monitor. Be a good disciplinarian, or learn to fake it.

As for the actual teaching: I'd recommend observing a few different grades/tracks. I'll say no more, except for this: One of my principals liked to tell us that a teacher should be "A guide on the side, not a sage on the stage." NOT what this know-it-all ham wanted to hear!

And FTR: I started in 1971, fresh out of the 60's and hippie-dom. Idealistic. Creative. "Up the Down Staircase" and "To Sir, with Love". I had some great experiences and great students. I think my kids and I laughed a lot. Invited to more than a few homes, to movies, graduation parties. Travelled abroad with quite a few. Have a handful of treasured "Thank you" cards. Have real friendships to this day with some former students.

But a vocation can get ground down.

The system changed. I hated Block style (teaching 3 of 4 90-minute classes/day; begin anew second semester); hated taking time out for a week of Standardized Tests; hated the frequent principal-initiated New Idea (usually gleaned from an Ed magazine or a Best-seller list; e.g., Stephen Covey).

The money didn't get good until after I retired. But the summers off (except for a couple spent taking courses) were much appreciated.

My entire-years off are much more appreciated.

You might think I've included silly details. Let's just say that, while God might not be in them, it's the details that new teachers are NEVER prepared for.

:-)

[Catshrink]

20. That about sums it up...

add IEP meetings and other tasks assigned for "the good of the order." And constantly worrying about paycuts and whether you'll get riffed next year.

[MichiganVote]

7. Teaching will not provide you with more time "off". Autonomy in teaching is a thing of the past.

Better re-think your expectations. A good teacher is a 10 hour a day teacher. A new teacher is a work in the summer teacher. Benefits are being stripped, salaries are being cut. A challenging or frustrating day behind a screen is nothing compared to a frustrating and challenging day in front of 25-30 kids.

[Sparkly]

8. You have to love it.

Maybe there's a way you could visit some classrooms --?

You don't just have to love English, you have to love young people. (Knowing that they can sometimes be hard to love!) There are plenty of experts in various subject matter, but they can't all teach. It takes another level of fascination with people, and how minds and bodies work, and ways of learning.

English teachers are needed, as I understand it! So yes, you would be making a great contribution. And I, for one, learned more about life from my high school English Lit teachers than any others -- the themes and questions that arise can get students thinking on a whole different level than the rest of their school day (at least in my experience).

I encourage you to pursue it! Take some ed classes and see how you feel about it.

[Fire1]

9. Good luck. n/t

[Davis_X_Machina]

10. In ten years....

...there'll be one teacher, in a studio in Phoenix or Des Moines, and thirty thousand $9-an-hour ed-techs taking attendance and putting new batteries in the remotes.

"High school" and "teaching" as we know it are about to cease to exist. It's too expensive.

[WinkyDink]

11. Do they make $9/hr in India?

[Davis_X_Machina]

12. They make less than that....

...but flying the local miscreants over to Chennai to serve their detentions is cost-prohibitive. I'm pretty sure there's a way out of this bind involving tasers, however.

[Meldread]

13. There are other types of education aside from entering the Public School System bureaucracy!

You could become a private tutor, for example. Being a tutor would allow you more flexibility, the ability to work with a variety of children of all ages, and it'd allow you to do it more "one on one".

You could even seek out other niches if you're creative. There are many parents who want their children out of public schools (for any number of reasons). You could attempt to work out a deal with a home schooling company to teach students their curriculum. You'd then get parents to purchase the home schoolings product, and then pay to have you teach it to their children. You might also be able to work out an arrangement with the local library to have the kids meet there. This allows parents, especially single parents and families where both parents work, to have the option of taking their child out of the crappy Public Education system.

Also, don't ignore the fact that on the last option: The home schooling company does some of the crappy work for you, like grading papers and whatnot. All you'd be doing is babysitting the children and teaching it to them.

Don't allow yourself to be pigeon holed!

[Sparkly]

14. Big consideration: BENEFITS

If you're a private tutor, unless your spouse has healthcare benefits, you're sunk.

Also, you can only work afterschool and weekends, so it's a challenge to get 40 hours, and when you don't work, you aren't paid.

Just something to consider.

[Meldread]

15. Yes, all of that is true.

Bureaucracy is a bitch, so it's also important to know what you can and cannot do. Laws vary from state to state.

You're not going to be raking in the big dough as a teacher, private or not, but in my opinion at least now would be a bad time to join the public school system. States are cutting back, and in some places there is a last hired, first fired policy. The only real benefit IMO to becoming a public school teacher are the benefits, but they're in the process of cutting those, so...

[senseandsensibility]

16. Autonomy?

:rofl: I've taught for twenty five years. The word does not apply to public school teaching. If you think it does, you're in for a real shock.

[bobbolink]

17. Teach in Europe, where you will be respected and treated with the dignity the

profession deserves. :((((

[eppur_se_muova]

19. +1

[lib2DaBone]

18. Don't Do it. Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio are looking to dismantle the schools...

.. reduce teachers salary to minimum wage.. while they install themselves on the local school boards... as "keeper of the bank accounts".

[tonysam]

21. Don't bother--PLEASE

Stay the hell away from this occupation. You can't even imagine how bad public school teaching is--it is not like "all jobs." If you have a decent principal, you may survive to have a career, but most likely you will have a bad one, and he or she can destroy it with the stroke of a pen. And the trend nationwide is to have throwaway teachers with "careers" of no more than two or three years.

It really isn't about the kids--public education as it currently stands is about protecting administrators and their "right" to have their perks at your expense. You do NOT--repeat DO NOT--have "autonomy." Public school districts are top-down organizations, and you MUST do what you are told. You have little flexibility or control of your job, and it is getting even worse with RTTT and NCLB.

Don't do it--PLEASE. It's not worth taking on tens of thousands of dollars in debt to be thrown away like so much garbage.

Read Rosalyn Schnall's new book, When Teachers Talk, which has literally hundreds of stories from teachers primarily from the Chicago area (but the situations go on all over the country), and their horror stories about principals. There are NO supervisors in the private sector that are on the same plane of unethical, criminal, insane, vindictive, or just plain negligent behavior as public school principals. And none have the almost ironclad job security principals have, and none can destroy your career the way a public school principal can. Teachers do NOT have much in the way of job security, contrary to media propaganda.