Switching careers - lawyer to a teacher
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Anonymous
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Before you do it, check out those hours, you will have no life. I loved teaching but realized I can't do it anymore, I was literally surviving on so little sleep to be effective it was taking a toll on my health. To get to work before the endless photocopy queue I would get to work just before 7:00 a.m., leave at around 5:30 pm and take a nap then work til late or all night if I slept for more than 5 hours. So it depends on your age, if you have a partner, or children, if you are going to work in a title I school or a charter school or WTOP. It is the most exhausting thing I've ever done and sadly I just can't do it anymore.
Yeah..this is exactly me[b], so much so that I was actually wondering if I wrote this post and just forgot that I did.! 
I did not write it...but I so agree. It has taken a large toll on my health, my basic well being, and any social life. I would not encourage anyone to go into teaching today.Teaching has become a paradoxical/ catch 22 landmine of politics and misguided attempts to change societal ills that have evolved over time. They do that by blaming teachers and schools for all of it as if what society has contributed has no effect on what the teacher should be able to do. No teacher can do what is now being asked of him/her- one needs to be a psychologist, an behavioral specialist,a nurse, a cheerleader, whatever a teacher USED to be, and a lawyer to boot. Imagine confrontation and being on the defensive all day...all day, did I say ALL DAY? Imagine if the medical field functioned in the same way as educational reform proponents would like: [i]100% of the population will not ever have cancer. Of those that do for whatever reason, 90% will be cured with mild and timely best practice intervention in approximately 8 months. ALL patients can be cured of cancer, and we have to believe that all people are not susceptible to it to begin with. No preconceived notions, here. The doctors who do not succeed in this metric will be assigned a "zero" value added score and will be fired as well as lose their license. (Too bad for those patients with insidious disease who will find no one to care for them as they are too much of a risk to the medical professionals' career.) In this way, we will rid the profession of ineffective doctors who cannot fix the cancer problem. [/i This is not a field to pursue anymore, sadly. Umm, teaching, not medicine ....just to clarify. |
Anonymous
| I know a few who've done this. TOTALLY different skill set.Fewer hours, MUCH lower pay. |
Anonymous
Better pay and easier gig with diamond benefits - take it and run |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
I don't care. It's the damn truth. But until you ACTUALLY experience a full day in the classroom, you simply won't get it. The hours you put in, the negative effects it has on your family life (or social life if you're single - been on both sides), and the low pay aren't erased by one kid you've impacted. And you'll most likely be placed in a low-performing school where you'll be surrounded by behavioral issues most likely caused by years of abuse and neglect. In Mo Co alone - at the high school level - there are three schools with wellness centers, with another three more in the works for 2016, I believe. We NEED them; don't get me wrong. However our mindset hasn't shifted yet, as most administrators believe that we can address their problems through management - through engaging lessons and differentiation, which is simply not the case. the other PP whose student threatened to rape her? sadly, a fact But continue to believe that teaching is still the noble profession of the past. Spend a day "teaching" kids who are too damaged to process information for longer than 5 minutes, who are reading at a 3rd grade level (Map R is my friend.), who suffer from oppositional defiance and conduct disorder, etc. And then during your planning periods, be prepared to document behavior, to call home, to complete forms for kids with IEPs and 504s. planning period? lol I need a secretary during the day just to keep up. my nights? I'm paid an additional 30 mins to work at home - when it's really 30 minutes times 6. It's not worth it, folks. |
Anonymous
Do you have any suggestions about how best to find one of these positions? |
Anonymous
Try a headhunter. I have several friends who are using them now. Networking is the best, however, as trusted friends and colleagues can put in a good word for you. |
Anonymous
+1. I've been teaching for 10 years and a LOT has changed in those 10 years. My physical and mental health are suffering, as well as time with my family. Dealing with administrators who stick their head in the sand about the fact that 6 hours in school can't make up for poverty, lack of academic language in the first language, uninvolved parents (by choice or not) and the attitude that school is not important. I should magically be able to make these kids meet benchmark standards through my engaging lessons. That is the cure for why they're not meeting benchmark. Because they are just data points, not humans. Like lab rats. Gotta get the data to look good to impress those associate superintendents even though I could count on two fingers the number of days the principal has actually been in the building over the last 2 weeks. Of course one of those days was for the Halloween celebration. Gotta put in face time when the parents will be there! OP--don't do it. Education is a very different place than what you're imagining it to be. |
Anonymous
| Sadly, I agree with the PP. I'm a teacher and it is so sad how education has been boiled down to data. That is all admins talk about now. To them, the students are just endless sources of data. I teach in a Title One school and more than 90% of our students are on free lunches. Our principal is new and came from a high performing school and doesn't understand why our students have attendance issues, don't do their homework, don't have parents who come to parent/teacher conferences, etc. In fact, we had parent/teacher conferences on a Thursday and had very few parents attend. The next day was a fall festival where we had free pizza and soda and we ran out of pizza in 10 mins. The school was swarmed with parents. |
Anonymous
So you are both a teacher and a lawyer and would have reason to know what's best? Aren't you as clueless as you say as the earlier poster? |
Anonymous
I agree with this, OP, and I came to teaching late after a demanding job working 70+ hours a week. While the teaching hours are less than what I did before, and probably less than what you're used to, I take home a lot of work every night, and the emotional toll is much greater. A big difference is the way teachers are managed by administrators. In the private sector, it's understood that employees can leave at any time and find a new job, so managers make an effort to treat their employees well (most of the time). In teaching, a teacher signs a contract promising they'll stay the whole year, so the administrators take total advantage. They are bullies, and will blame you for every poor test score, every call from a parent, etc. Most of them have no managerial training whatsoever---you can't even believe the lack of professionalism sometimes. Don't do it. Find another position somewhere. One last thing: if something isn't done about the way teachers are being treated around here, there won't be any. The pay has always sucked, but now, the lack of respect, the bullying, the constant blame, the ridiculous data collection--no one will be left to do this job. Seriously. |
Anonymous
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OP, it's true that teaching isn't all sunshine and rainbows, but I am SO glad I made the switch. I do not for one moment regret leaving corporate America for the classroom. I work with low income students (title 1 school in FCPS), and we have lots of resources to work with these students, a strong support system from admin and support personnel, and the best teachers I have ever worked with. I have taught in wealthy schools before, and the teachers here are 100x better.
I do agree that you need to spend time in a classroom to see the realities of it. It is not the same as tutoring or mentoring. If you have a teacher friend, ask to observe one day. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
I agree and disagree. The school day is actually the easiest and least stressful part of my day. I enjoy teaching kids. That's why I'm there. It's what keeps me doing this. It's what happens in the hours after school that's tough. All of the extras that are mandated but we are not given enough planning time to complete. Planning time that is completely micromanaged and must be collaborative. All of the browbeating and blaming and being told that you're not giving enough of yourself when you're giving all you can possibly give of yourself. And being told all of this by people who haven't been in a classroom in years, if they've ever actually been in one at all. All administrators should be required to teach at least 1 year in every 5. It would bring them back to reality. While it's important for anyone contemplating a move to be a teacher to actually observe, they won't get the complete picture unless they shadow a teacher for longer than 1 day. |
Anonymous
I see something crawled up your ass and died, sweetie, eh? but enough about you . . . I have two friends who are lawyers. One left Big Law and entered teaching. She lasted a year and is now working for the Feds. She can't say I didn't warn her. Another left teaching, got a law degree and is an advocate. She said she'd never return to the classroom. As a teacher for over 20 years, I am indeed an expert in this area and can "guide" people in the right direction. Many just choose not to listen. Get off my back and crawl into your hole, idiot. |