Anonymous wrote:Check out something like Teach for America or similar programs. I know 2 people who have done this (albeit much younger) and it worked out well for them.
You will end up in the roughest schools. I say this as a "rough school" teacher for many years. (second career also)
my advice:
- If possible, find a teacher in a rough school and observe. You need permission from the administrators, however, and not all would agree. I was observed by a private school teacher who was thinking of making the switch to public. She decided to stick with private!
- If you're serious, go full force into certification. In MCPS at least, you'll be overshadowed by others who have typical certification. Once you're in, you can always go the Praxis route to become certified in other areas. One of my English colleagues (I'm secondary) is now certified in ESOL. She's exceptional. So it may not work for everyone! But it's the better option.
- Teaches are always at the bottom - despite the fact that many of us have advanced degrees. I work with three PhDs; most of my colleagues have either two undergrads or master's degrees. Furthermore, our young tech teachers are so well known in the tech community that many have been asked to speak at conferences. Sounds great for us - But overall, you'll read editorials and studies that show how incompetent we are, how low are SAT scores are (Where's our one-line poster who always harps on this?), how "easy" we have it, etc.
It's the most difficult job I've ever had. Right now, with two small kids, I'm PT. It's not family-friendly either. When I worked FT, I would come home and work for hours planning and grading. Sure, we have summers off, but we're not paid for those 2 1/2 months. So if you're on a tight budget, you have to plan accordingly.