Best teaching specialty for work/life balance

[Anonymous]

Gym teacher/art, music.

[Anonymous]

I think you're looking for fewer hours, not less hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I teach elementary and am seriously burned out by the long hours. I want to pick up another endorsement for something less time consuming. It can be an elementary specialty such as reading specialist, esol, etc. or even teaching secondary as a general ed teacher (unlike most elementary teachers, I'm not scared of working with teens.). Which area of teaching would give me the greatest likelihood of working a 40 hour week.

lol@ secondary ed

Do you really think it's easier than ES? Teens aside, the pressure to pass the kids and make sure they meet state requirements is exhausting. 40-hour week

OP, how long have you been in the profession? The only career in ed that's 40 hours or less (and I mean less) is being a PE teacher. They can walk around in sweats all day long and planning is minimal. Plus, many earn extra bucks for coaching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is a secondary "general ed" teacher?

In any case, don't choose secondary English. It takes soooo long to read and comment on the many, many drafts of all the papers. Recently one of my students told me she wants to be an English teacher because she loves reading and writing. I told her that becoming an English teacher would mean she has very little time for reading and writing.

My secondary Math colleagues have the least grading time because Math tests and homework, even at high levels, just don't take as much time to grade as compositions.

Eventually, I started to hate reading for pleasure b/c 1) there wasn't time to do so and 2) even when I squeezed it in, I found myself analyzing the writing style.

I told my own children that I won't be paying for college if they entered this field. (And I seriously mean it.) my biggest success? counseling out a younger colleague who's much happier now in sales!

[Anonymous]

OP here. A lot of people put emphasis on how much time the teacher actually spends at school I think that means very little. I'm actually not in the building very much beyond my contract hours, but I bring a ton of work home with me. Some people just prefer to do their work in the building before going home. I'm looking for something that I can do in a 9 hour day and be done with.

Ha! Sounds like you need to change careers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It really depends on the school. Also, in what district do you teach? I teach elementary ESOL and work way more than 40 hours. But I know ESOL teachers who work in high SES schools that have Lots of support and resources at their fingertips which makes for less work. But that's also true of classroom teachers in high SES schools. In my experience, working at lower performing schools means way more hours no matter what you teach.

Me again. Another thing to consider about elementary ESOL if you're in MCPS is that central office continues to change the allocation formula. I did calculations using our current numbers the formulas from two years ago, last year, and the upcoming year and there has been a reduction of almost 2 full time teachers during that time. According to the formula for next year we should have 3.6 teachers for 203 students, including many Level 1 and 2 students. With the ELL Enhancements being added to Curriculum 2.0 in order to build capacity in classroom teachers, I really think they're slowly phasing out the role of ESOL teacher and eventually might have an ESOL specialist in each ES, kind of like the reading specialist or math focus teacher role. This is just my speculation but the writing is on the wall.

I think you're right. Didn't Dr. Jack wanted to "dilute" ESOL by hiring teachers dual certified in a content and language? teaching language learners in their native language?

can't say I'm impressed by this man at all

bottom line for him is cutting costs - And I'm not against efficiency at all. But if he cuts to the point of destroying instruction for gen ed kids, then I'm making the sacrifice and putting my kids in private. I'm tired of kids being used as guinea pigs at the whim of each new supt.

rigor, my ass

[Anonymous]

Speech or OT?

[Anonymous]

My mom was an ESOL teacher (she had a masters in ESOL though). She was a full-time teacher and worked the same hours as all of the other teachers until she retired. So, I'm not sure what you are looking for as far as an easier specialty... perhaps you are looking for a part-time teaching gig, which would vary by district.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Speech or OT?

That's 3-4 more years of grad school, full time. And a shit ton of planning and report writing.

[Anonymous]

Become an adminstrator or counselor. Not much take home. If you are an assistant principal or dean, you have busy times but nit much take home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Become an adminstrator or counselor. Not much take home. If you are an assistant principal or dean, you have busy times but nit much take home.

LOL, no. The job never ends in those roles. Forget summer vacation, and get used to being on call 24/7.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pretty much all the specialties except ESOL are going to be limited opportunities.

I'd pick Reading Specialist, since Title 1 actually means there are positions available.

You need a masters degree for the reading endorsement.

[Anonymous]

FCPS has many part time(50%) ESOL jobs and you don't need a masters in order to get the endorsement.

[Anonymous]

I am part time SpEd and love it. I am a case manager for 6 high-functioning students, and work in their classrooms as what is basically an assistant. I also work with a few teachers in an assistant role for hours that my own students don't need.
But, I don't make much because I'm at 50%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Speech or OT?

That's 3-4 more years of grad school, full time. And a shit ton of planning and report writing.

Yup. For someone with a non-SLP undergrad major (communication sciences/disorders, SLP, etc.) - it will take a year to get caught up on the prereqs and the master's program is 2 years. OT will take a a year to a year and a half to get the prereqs, and 2 years for the program. Also will need lots of volunteering, shadowing, etc. to be competitive for the program entry...