Considering going back to full-time teaching

[Anonymous]

What about tutoring? It doesn’t have the same retirement benefits but hourly rate is good, seems less stressful than whole classes, and you’d have omtrol over your sheduke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Public para. No grading; no planning; no meetings. Just the kids. It pays a lot less, but it’s by the clock- you show up, work with the kids, go home. The end.

Work at a mid-SES school. High SES and the parents are insane. Low SES and the kids are difficult bc they have already survived a lot and it can get depressing.

I'm going to do this when I retire - work with special needs kids as a teacher's assistant. But the pay is SO incredibly low. I can't make it work now while we're saving for college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Public para. No grading; no planning; no meetings. Just the kids. It pays a lot less, but it’s by the clock- you show up, work with the kids, go home. The end.

Work at a mid-SES school. High SES and the parents are insane. Low SES and the kids are difficult bc they have already survived a lot and it can get depressing.

I am considering this. I'm a little wary of it though - our IA's had to go to meetings and attend staff meetings and in-school trainings along with teachers. A couple of them even ended up having to take over teaching a class because the teacher left mid-year. And without teacher pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about tutoring? It doesn’t have the same retirement benefits but hourly rate is good, seems less stressful than whole classes, and you’d have omtrol over your sheduke.

OP here - I'm tempted to go back only for the high pay. At my level, I'd be making close to 100K in some counties, and that would really make a difference in our lives. I already work at a low-paying part time job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went back when my kids were older after a long stint in a different industry and then SAHM for awhile. So much has changed and not necessarily for the better. It’s been a sharp learning curve. I enjoy working with the kids but there is so much else piled on. 60 hour weeks are pretty common. My plan was to hang in there until my youngest was through college but I’m not sure that will happen.

This learning curve sounds really daunting - like being a first-year teacher all over again. This sounds like just what I am afraid of.

[Anonymous]

If you thought it was bad then….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you thought it was bad then….

This! Definitely spend some time in the school system before applying for a full-time position. It’s so different than when I started in 2004.

I don’t have time for my own family or my own needs. I’m either at work, grading/planning at home, or thinking about problems at work. No matter what I do, I can’t get any work/life balance. The exhaustion is driving me to quit.

[Anonymous]

I am about to quit. I can’t deal with it anymore. Honestly you are responsible for everything, I am a sped, so no planning time. It’s basically two jobs. The second one, case manager, you do at home. Admins know and they just say, that’s how it goes in education. They work more too…well they also get more money than me and have longer contract hours.

[Anonymous]

Could you teach for a year or two to get current then do something else in the education field? Like be a curriculum developer in the private sector or something?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a former elementary teacher who left teaching when DC was born. I've been working part-time, and occasionally even full-time since then, but at a very low-paying job (not teaching). That was ok when DC was young, but he's in high school now and I have a lot more freedom and time. Looking at the high salaries for teachers right now, and the high demand, I'm considering going back. Financially, I think it would really help with college expenses. Plus, I'm worried that I have no retirement savings or plan, since I only worked a few years before DC was born. My husband says we're OK and I don't need to work, but I worry about it.

The thing is, I really hated teaching. I loved the kids and the actual teaching part, but the stress and the disrespect from parents and administrators was horrible. It was really detrimental to my physical and emotional health, to the point of anxiety attacks and actually needing therapy. Plus, I worked so many hours - usually about 60 hours in a normal week, and sometimes more. So I'm torn between how much money I could be making and how much I don't want to go back to working so many hours and being so stressed out and unhappy all the time.

Of course, part of me wonders if I'm just being lazy or selfish. Has anyone faced this choice - going back to a well-paying but hated job after a few years off? I'm not sure if I should give it a try, maybe a different school will be better, or maybe high school instead of elementary, or a different district (I was in FCPS). Or maybe just try to get some other kind of job. I guess in a way I feel kind of stressed every time I even think about a "real" job, remembering how stressful it was before. Any thoughts from those who have gone back under similar circumstances?

OP, read over what you've written here. You hated the job. It negatively affected your mental health. Please find something else that suits you better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't do it. I worked at school when finishing my MA. It was a good fit for only a few teachers.
There a better things you could be doing with your time like babysit on a short notice, learn to flip furniture, or work lunch shifts at a restaurant.
I work at a restaurant and we make $35-$50 an hour right now. It has never been so busy and I have been working in service business since 1997. I'd like to retire, but we cannot find workers.
It only takes a week to train someone for server, 5 minutes for hostess. The hours are flexible, the parking is often free, the food is free, you get to exercise, you don't take your work home, and yes, you can give tables away when it's too much for you. It's ok to call in sick. Others will simply run faster.
I know waiting on tables in snot for everyone, but more people should give it a go specially now that the money is good.
I made my money in stock market and will not be teaching. Restaurant is lovely. I go there to socialize and help out.

DP
Do you have to work weekends and evenings or are they usually flexible enough to where one can work only weekdays? A lot of jobs I’ve looked into sale for at least some weekend work or “when needed”.

[Anonymous]

I’m 8 years in as a teacher. It offers good benefits and retirement, and good time off. At the beginning and end of year I work over time but have decided to only work contract hrs to keep my sanity. I love on those kids hard and do the best I can but had to put up boundaries. My district is paying for me to earn my reading endorsement so I’m working towards being a reading specialist- same pay and out of the classroom. Longer term I’d like to do curriculum planning. I bet you could do well as a tutor though. Just some options to think about…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a former elementary teacher who left teaching when DC was born. I've been working part-time, and occasionally even full-time since then, but at a very low-paying job (not teaching). That was ok when DC was young, but he's in high school now and I have a lot more freedom and time. Looking at the high salaries for teachers right now, and the high demand, I'm considering going back. Financially, I think it would really help with college expenses. Plus, I'm worried that I have no retirement savings or plan, since I only worked a few years before DC was born. My husband says we're OK and I don't need to work, but I worry about it.

The thing is, I really hated teaching. I loved the kids and the actual teaching part, but the stress and the disrespect from parents and administrators was horrible. It was really detrimental to my physical and emotional health, to the point of anxiety attacks and actually needing therapy. Plus, I worked so many hours - usually about 60 hours in a normal week, and sometimes more. So I'm torn between how much money I could be making and how much I don't want to go back to working so many hours and being so stressed out and unhappy all the time.

Of course, part of me wonders if I'm just being lazy or selfish. Has anyone faced this choice - going back to a well-paying but hated job after a few years off? I'm not sure if I should give it a try, maybe a different school will be better, or maybe high school instead of elementary, or a different district (I was in FCPS). Or maybe just try to get some other kind of job. I guess in a way I feel kind of stressed every time I even think about a "real" job, remembering how stressful it was before. Any thoughts from those who have gone back under similar circumstances?

I'm a former teacher as well and considering the same. I've pondered this decision and also all the angles surrounding teaching in general. I don't think you are unique in that you ended up hating teaching because of the workload and unique challenges. I hated a lot of it too and never went to therapy but experienced all sorts of anxiety symptoms. I think the problem for me is that I wanted to be a teacher but I wanted a balance of life. I simply cannot go back into teaching and basically not have it consume my entire life's existence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you thought it was bad then….

This! Definitely spend some time in the school system before applying for a full-time position. It’s so different than when I started in 2004.

I don’t have time for my own family or my own needs. I’m either at work, grading/planning at home, or thinking about problems at work. No matter what I do, I can’t get any work/life balance. The exhaustion is driving me to quit.

This scares me and then you have to actually go into school and be "on all day" .

[Anonymous]

I started teaching when my son was in 2nd grade. I was exhausted coming home from being "on" all day with little kids to having to do everything with him (I'm a single parent). It started getting better around year 5-7 or so but then I started getting tired again. I couldn't figure out what was different but it's because I'm getting older. My son is now in college and it's a good thing because I'm back to being really tired again after school. I don't have the money for outsourcing because I'm paying for college.