SAHM (former lawyer) thinking of becoming a teacher. Any thoughts or guidance?

[Anonymous]

I am currently a SAHM and am considering going into grade school teaching. I practiced law, pretty intensely, for about 15 years, and have been home with our kids for about 2 years. I had considered teaching in high school, and again in college, so it's not a wholly new idea for me. I'm drawn to working with children, to being more hands-on and having more direct "client contact" so to speak, and to making a more tangible difference.

Do any teachers, particularly ones who started in the profession later after another career, have any thoughts or guidance? Is teaching what you thought it would be like? How was the transition? Are there non-obvious issues that you wish you had considered?

I appreciate your thoughts. TIA.

[Anonymous]

I have been both a middle school teacher and a high school teacher, so I can't speak directly to grade school teaching. A couple of thoughts:

1.) Jobs are really scarce right now, even if you get an additional special ed endorsement.

2.) Some states have alternative certification programs, but you may need to go back and get a Masters and will likely have to do a semester of student teaching. Make sure you can afford several months of daycare before you get a paycheck.

3.) Teaching is a very inflexible profession. You do get lots of time off, but its not time of your choosing. It is easier if you have a spouse who can do last minute doctor's appointments or wait for the dryer repair guy because you will not be able to do this. I think this is one of the things that is most difficult as a teacher with young kids and a spouse who works long hours. Everything has to be scheduled for Saturday or wait for a vacation.

4.) A lot of teaching is paperwork, administration, grading, and testing. Its not the majority of what you will do, but it will take a chunk of every day.
All that being said, it is an enjoyable profession with many, many perks. Its a job and all jobs have aggravactions, but it is never dull. If you end up at a well run school, you will probably enjoy yourself.

[Anonymous]

The first 5 to 7 years or teaching are very intense, can be emotinoally draining, and not particularly family friendly.

After that the teaching career becomes a little bit easier.

[Anonymous]

I have an M.A. in Art History, and worked in the non-profit arts field for about six years. I found that unfulfilling, and did not want to get my PhD in Art History, so through a fellowship program I went back to school and got my teacher certification (at age 36). I now teach Pre-K and pretty much love it. I've been teaching for five years now. It is exhausting, all-consuming work, but gratifying. The administration can be a PITA, some parents are pieces of work (and others are great), but the children are wonderful.

Now that you would, but word of advice: don't think this will be easy. Expectations are high and resources and planning time are low. You will take work home; you will spend your own money on supplies. Also, with my degrees I've always been underpaid for whatever work I did (and do), but you of course already know that you will not make what you did as a lawyer. Our work as teachers (and some will argue over this) is undervalued IMHO.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Please only do it if you are really a "natural" with school-aged kids. You may well be, but the middle-aged career-changers my kids have had have been some of the least-patient teachers we've encountered.

[Anonymous]

The career changer women we've experienced have been awesome. Curiously, the men have been a little bizzaro.

[Anonymous]

The jobs are pretty non-existent right now in ES teaching. It may be this way for years so keep that in mind. I've been under-employed as a teaching assistant for 3 years now and I'm not the only one in my school with their Master's degree working as an assistant. I would recommend that you shadow a teacher or two or three to make sure it is really what you want to do. Spend the entire day with them to get an idea of what it is really like.

[Anonymous]

The most difficult part I have encountered is going from a career in which i was at the top of my game to being at the bottom of pole -the verrrryyy lowwest low of the low bottom rung of the ladder. Starting all over again - you don't get a lot of "points" for having a successful first career, you really have to start all over again, like a 20-year-old recent college grad. This means under paid. long hours, in a bad school for years. You don't get into a great school right away - you have to work your way up. Hopefuly this is somewhat coherent- it's very late and i'm very tired. Good luck OP.

[Anonymous]

Teaching is a wonderful profession that I love dearly and consider my calling in life. However, as you know it is often difficult work. The stresses and difficulties I have encountered over my career are not ones I had anticipated before my first year.

Therefore, I would definitely recommend following a teacher or two for a few days if you can. I know many people (myself included) go into the profession thinking teaching will be very different than it actually is. I think this is a big reason that almost 50% of new teachers leave before their fifth year. If you can't observe teachers, perhaps you could speak with a number of different teachers. If you are open to it, I would also encourage you to consider working in a private school - the pay is usually less but you often have more flexibility and many times you don't need full certifications, etc.

I am not sure where you are located but here is a link to some information on the Career Switcher Programs in Virginia: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching/educator_preparation/career_switcher/index.shtml I have worked with some Career Switchers who are excellent teachers (FWIW, two of them were former lawyers) and I have worked with others who left the profession very quickly. I think the best thing you can do at this point is try to educate yourself on what the working conditions are actually like. In many ways though I think teaching is like having a child, you can't really know what it is like until you actually do it yourself. As the PP's have mentioned, it is also important to be realistic about job prospects. Good luck and I hope it works out.

[Anonymous]

Hey OP, I could've written your exact post this time last year. I went through the process of taking the entrance exams, getting letters of recommendation and applying to schools near the location my husband was set to take a new job. Well, in this economy, things changed. Husband's new job evaporated, so he took another one here. The career-switcher programs are very specific about what they're looking for: high school math, science, english. English major type english. I looked into programs in this area and found that, although I was an over-achiever as a student, I didn't over-achieve in the right courses. As a Psych and Government major, I didn't have enough math, science, ENGLISH, or geography to suit the programs I looked into. I was told (depite scoring in the 98/99th percentile on the entrance exams) that I would have to take 12 credits of additional undergraduate coursework to be considered for the Masters of Arts in Teaching program.

I sat down and considered it. However, I've received my B.A., M.A., and J.D. I really didn't want to take undergraduate calculus II (I only took pre-calc and calc as an undergrad but that only totaled 6 credits -- so I needed another class), chemistry (I had only taken biology courses in college and they wanted to see other forms of science too!), geography (Western Civ didn't count -- I don't even remember geography as an option in my undergrad years!), and ENGLISH 101 (I had A.P. tested out of English 101 but didn't have my proof -- only my CLEP'd Spanish classes were on my transcript, not the AP credits -- so English 101 they wanted). It was going to cost a lot of money and time just to start the program. Even after those classes, my acceptance wasn't guaranteed.

I've been told that there are many Elem.Ed. teaching programs that make it hard to switch careers mid-stream. I believe it now.
The final blow was that my friend, who is a teacher in Ohio, got laid off (one year out of her tenure!).
Needless to say, I started looking for an attorney position with the Feds.

[Anonymous]

I've seen one lawyer turned teacher last, and this is at the HS level where transferring skills is bit easier if you take the history route toward certification. I'm a career changer in my 17th year.

So the odds are slim, unless you're a natural.

Why not observe? And observe in low-performing schools where there's a better chance of an opening.

[Anonymous]

OP,

Jobs in this area are tight to nonexistent. My child's private gets 2,000 resumes a year. A YEAR!

[Anonymous]

Are teaching jobs this scarce everywhere or is this area particularly bad?

My husband has a PhD in Philosophy and has taught at the college level. We were tired of being subject to the whims of academia so he took a job with an academic nonprofit. It's been a few years and he really misses teaching. My job is pretty flexible, so ideally, we'd like to move to a lower COL city in the South or Midwest. He'd like to teach high school history or English. Do the requirements for secondary school teachers vary from state to state?

[Anonymous]

For the PP -- with all due respect, what is a Ph.D in philosophy going to teach in a small, midwestern high school? I could imagine if he were in an urban, magnet school that there might be classes in logic or, even, political theory but a normal midwestern high school in small town? Philosophy classes? I can't imagine budgets have room for that these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are teaching jobs this scarce everywhere or is this area particularly bad?

My husband has a PhD in Philosophy and has taught at the college level. We were tired of being subject to the whims of academia so he took a job with an academic nonprofit. It's been a few years and he really misses teaching. My job is pretty flexible, so ideally, we'd like to move to a lower COL city in the South or Midwest. He'd like to teach high school history or English. Do the requirements for secondary school teachers vary from state to state?

You will definitely have more luck if you are willing to move to where the job is. Since it doesn't sound like he is certified, he is probably looking for private school jobs. Your chances will be better if you are willing to work at a boarding school, which has its perks (free housing) and its downsides (you live at work and have to coach.) I would have him contact Carney Sandoe, which is one of the biggest placement firms for private school teachers and they will go over his resume and give him a realistic assessment of the market for someone with his qualifications. The service is free for applicants because the school doing the searches pay the fees. I have a Ph.D. and go two different jobs through Carney Sandoe, but I had to move for both and they were pre-recession.

OP, I'm not sure if Carney Sandoe places grade school teachers, but a private school won't require certification. You will probably have to do something (get a Masters, practice teach for a semester) in order to make yourself competitive though.