Leaving the service, is teaching as bad as everyone makes it seem?

[Anonymous]

Yes. It is as bad as teachers say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching is rewarding and not as hard as certain teachers makes it out to be. Plus the schedule can't be beat.

- this is not a teacher

And yet completely accurate. DP

You’ve just hinted that neither of you are teachers, so let the actual teachers respond to this post. You are doing the OP a huge disservice by commenting when you know nothing at all about the profession.

Yes, it is a hard job, an extremely demanding job that will consume OP’s days in the first years. I came to teaching after time in another professional field. I didn’t properly research conditions before making the switch, so I wasn’t ready for what teaching requires.

Give OP respect and let OP hear from people who work the long hours, manage the students, deal with administrations, etc. We know.

[Anonymous]

My friends who work for private schools seem pretty happy. If you don’t need the money, that seems like the way to go.

[Anonymous]

You'll need to take a bunch of classes and pass whatever certification exams your state requires to get fully licensed if you go the public school route. The classes aren't particularly hard and neither is the exam, but it will be an additional thing on your plate when you start out. A lot of career switchers haven't had to balance jobs and classes for awhile. There's always a sharp learning curve at the beginning but it's manageable if you have a supportive team of coworkers and a good admin. Ask around before you take a job with any particular school, public or private. Your district may try to subtly pressure you to get a special ed certification because there's an extreme shortage of special ed teachers. Don't do it unless you really like working with that population and are okay with 60 hour workweeks for the rest of your career.

[Anonymous]

All of the teachers whom I know seem happy. Lots of friends & connected to the community. Couples who both teach can enjoy a nice lifestyle due to dual incomes on the same work schedule. Can do interesting things involving travel during the summer break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the job was what it was supposed to be on paper, yes, it would be a great choice if you're willing to learn. But so much more time and energy is spent on behaviors and dumb policies than actual teaching.

There seems to be no deadlines or attendance policies so it's like having a corporate job with over 100 clients from who make crazy demands and don't get back you, and the service you provide for each is wildly different, but you still need to just the job done even though they aren't holding up their part. And then you send them an invoice and they tell you you're a b****. You have a few really great clients too which makes it hard to walk away.

This is one of the best descriptions of what teaching is actually like. I would add that it is 12-15 hour days and your co-workers are cliquish.

Look, teachers work hard. But if you are working 15 hour days- so like, 7 hour bell schedule then 8 HOURS of additional work after the students leave- you have really poor executive function skills. Like really poor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't do it. Don't. You'll regret it.
If you do decide to return, when (when, not if) you have a student who physically assaults you, don't expect your admin to back you up. Expect 60+ hour work weeks. Expect a lot of blatant disrespect. Expect to have students who don't do work and yet you have to pass them anyways. Expect to spend any and all spare seconds you have in stupid meetings that do nothing to help you or students.

Again- if you are legitimately working 60 hour weeks as a teacher, you are doing something wrong. My best friend is a teacher, and a hard working one, and a bad week for her is 50 hours a week (lots of grading near the end of a quarter and needing to chase down kids and parents and document and also maybe a school concert thrown in). A normal week she does about an hour after the school day ends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't do it. Don't. You'll regret it.
If you do decide to return, when (when, not if) you have a student who physically assaults you, don't expect your admin to back you up. Expect 60+ hour work weeks. Expect a lot of blatant disrespect. Expect to have students who don't do work and yet you have to pass them anyways. Expect to spend any and all spare seconds you have in stupid meetings that do nothing to help you or students.

Again- if you are legitimately working 60 hour weeks as a teacher, you are doing something wrong. My best friend is a teacher, and a hard working one, and a bad week for her is 50 hours a week (lots of grading near the end of a quarter and needing to chase down kids and parents and document and also maybe a school concert thrown in). A normal week she does about an hour after the school day ends.

This can be true for experienced teachers, but it is intense starting out or when you change subjects or schools. My first year teaching, I had four different classes to teach, so I did work 55-60 hours per week. Now, I work closer to 45-50. It's good to know this going in so you're prepared. It's never easy, but it does typically get better.
For me, I get to school 60-90 minutes before the kids get there, leave 30 minutes after they do and typically do another hour or two of work at home three nights/week. But, I've been doing this for a few years now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't do it. Don't. You'll regret it.
If you do decide to return, when (when, not if) you have a student who physically assaults you, don't expect your admin to back you up. Expect 60+ hour work weeks. Expect a lot of blatant disrespect. Expect to have students who don't do work and yet you have to pass them anyways. Expect to spend any and all spare seconds you have in stupid meetings that do nothing to help you or students.

Again- if you are legitimately working 60 hour weeks as a teacher, you are doing something wrong. My best friend is a teacher, and a hard working one, and a bad week for her is 50 hours a week (lots of grading near the end of a quarter and needing to chase down kids and parents and document and also maybe a school concert thrown in). A normal week she does about an hour after the school day ends.

So you don’t teach. You know a teacher.

Teaching conditions vary WIDELY based on subject, district, and experience. I have 155 students. I get between 30-45 minutes “off” a day during which I can eat lunch, grade papers, and respond to emails. That’s it.

It takes over 20 hours of my own time a week to get everything done, and that’s a normal week. At the ends of quarters it can grow to 70 hour weeks.

I’m an experienced teacher with tremendous organizational skills. I just have too much dang work to do.

[Anonymous]

Person who keeps says it shouldn't be a 60-plus hpur job: it isn't just classtime abd preparing lessons. It is lunch monitor time, hall monitor time, department meetings, all school faculty meetings,club sponsor duties/sports coaching duties on top of calling parents/detention/tutoring plus teaching and prepping. It adds up. You have to be as organized as possible to make it work. If you make it through the first 3 years, it does get easier as long as your stay with same grade/preps.

[Anonymous]

If you are extroverted and can be on for several hours straight then you’ll do well. It’s not like public speaking where you get an adrenaline rush before and after but it is like performing. If you are introverted or low energy it will be uncomfortable for you.

The biggest drawback is the behavioral environment both of students and employees. The profession no longer attracts the best and brightest. If you are coming from a large company with a mix of highly capable and highly incapable people then you’ll be fine. If you are coming from an environment where everyone was brilliant or everyone was highly organized and disciplined then you will be shocked. Staff can be gossipy. Admin is filled with those who couldn’t teach well and have zero skills in managing. It seems to get worse the higher up you go. In public schools, you fail up not out. Why it is like this is beyond me.

Parents can be very difficult. I have some sympathy because I know many teachers really are not doing their job and the school does not care. The parents remind me of irate passengers who have been screwed all day by the airlines and finally snap. I am so tempted to post a sign that your future Ivy League student is being taught by a C student from a lower tier regional college who couldn’t pass the AP exam if her life depended on it, This is public education do not expect more. Get a tutor or teach your child to self study using their own materials. Also for your own protection, have your child keep a copy and proof of all assignments that they turn in, The amount of work being “lost” by some teachers is mind boggling.

Now for the kids, the behavior is a cry for help. Disruptive, late, skipping class, cheating, heads in phones is very common. Not much you can do.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't do it. Look at the vitriol here (dcum) for teachers. No thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't do it. Don't. You'll regret it.
If you do decide to return, when (when, not if) you have a student who physically assaults you, don't expect your admin to back you up. Expect 60+ hour work weeks. Expect a lot of blatant disrespect. Expect to have students who don't do work and yet you have to pass them anyways. Expect to spend any and all spare seconds you have in stupid meetings that do nothing to help you or students.

Again- if you are legitimately working 60 hour weeks as a teacher, you are doing something wrong. My best friend is a teacher, and a hard working one, and a bad week for her is 50 hours a week (lots of grading near the end of a quarter and needing to chase down kids and parents and document and also maybe a school concert thrown in). A normal week she does about an hour after the school day ends.

News flash: not all teaching jobs are the same. If you are a MS/HS English or History teacher, you will easily spend 60 hours a week at a public school reading and grading student writing.

[Anonymous]

Many private schools still have textbooks and most have smaller classes than in public schools. Pay is lower, but the hassle and the pain are much lower than described here in many private schools.

[Anonymous]

A lot of people forget that teachers are 10 month employees and not paid over break. You can use a sketchy bank program that has a history of not paying on time or budget yourself strictly.

Many teachers end up having to teach summer school so summer break doesnt happen for them. The only ones that can afford ro take off their spouse does something else higher paying.

Oh and unless you like situations where the inmates run the asylum you are in for a rough ride. The disrespect from students and their parents is unbelievable. Many believe their pittance of tax payments makes you their personal household employee. HA! as if