To moms who are teachers- does working (day to day hours) fit well with your kids schedule (at K+)?

[Anonymous]

Please, let's not make this discussion a working mom vs. stay-at-home mom debate. As a later poster said, flexibility benefits all of us. And as a SAHM re-entering the workforce after years spent at home, I certainly would not expect lots of money, interesting work and family-friendly hours. I'll settle for interesting work and family-friendly hours, and I won't give up and assume that I can't find it in education. Maybe it will take many of us demanding a change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please, let's not make this discussion a working mom vs. stay-at-home mom debate. As a later poster said, flexibility benefits all of us. And as a SAHM re-entering the workforce after years spent at home, I certainly would not expect lots of money, interesting work and family-friendly hours. I'll settle for interesting work and family-friendly hours, and I won't give up and assume that I can't find it in education. Maybe it will take many of us demanding a change.

That's a positive attitude, but wishful thinking and "demanding change" only go so far if the jobs don't materialize. Even if they happen to materialize an hour away, which is a realistic scenario in this decentralized area, the commute defeats the purpose of the part-time schedule. I also don't think schools are interested in changing the expectation that teachers will work full time. From a principal's point of view, the teachers who are available for meetings and collateral duties are more valuable.

How many years are you prepared to wait? What if you need an income next fall and don't feel comfortable sending your kids to afterschool care? I tried for 4 years without finding a good part time situation, settled for a bad situation, and was pretty unhappy before I just gave up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

New poster here -- I think the comment above is unnecessarily combative. I am currently a SAHM, former lawyer, Ivy league grad, currently getting my graduate degree in education. I am looking for a job in education because staying at home has allowed me to teach as a substitute, at Sunday School, and in several part-time positions, and I've realized that I love it.

I don't see why educators can't do more job-sharing. It's a fact that many of those people who love to teach also love to be at home with their children. I am willing to work very hard at being a teacher, but I will not sacrifice being at home when my kids are at home.

There is an enormous pool of motivated, well-educated stay-at-home parents who would love to use our skills to improve schools and teach and motivate kids, if we could work when our own kids are in school. It is ridiculous that our current educational system cannot come up with a way to tap this talent.

Keep in mind that you will have to work just as hard when your kids are in school. In addition to planning and grading, you will have to help your own children with homework, and you'll most likely have to drive them to and from after school activities, which cuts into your family time. So sacrifice you must if you wish to be successful in education.

It's great that you've gotten a taste of education as a Sunday school teacher and substitute, but once you - and you alone - are in charge of either one elementary level class or several upper level content courses, the work load triples. And trust me when I say that your ivy league degree will never fully prepare you for a group of squirmy kids. Only years of experience will turn you into a master teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

New poster here -- I think the comment above is unnecessarily combative. I am currently a SAHM, former lawyer, Ivy league grad, currently getting my graduate degree in education. I am looking for a job in education because staying at home has allowed me to teach as a substitute, at Sunday School, and in several part-time positions, and I've realized that I love it.

I don't see why educators can't do more job-sharing. It's a fact that many of those people who love to teach also love to be at home with their children. I am willing to work very hard at being a teacher, but I will not sacrifice being at home when my kids are at home.

There is an enormous pool of motivated, well-educated stay-at-home parents who would love to use our skills to improve schools and teach and motivate kids, if we could work when our own kids are in school. It is ridiculous that our current educational system cannot come up with a way to tap this talent.

Please just stick to being a Sub. Kids need lots of help after school. Work as a teacher is not confined to the classroom.

Where do people get their rose colored glasses of what is involved with being an educator?

[Anonymous]

I'm already almost finished with my master's in education and have already taught one semester (full-time) in a Fairfax County 1st grade classroom. I'm getting my degree in special education, which I hope will open up more part-time options. And my kids are already 10 and 14, so I know what it's like to drive them to after-school activities,etc. I have had more than Sunday School teaching and substituting; but the Sunday School teaching and substituting opened my eyes to wanting to become a teacher. I know it's no bed of roses; the one semester was extremely difficult and I am glad my kids are older, so I have a bit more flexibility in leaving them alone.

However, I KNOW that the current education system is broken. I KNOW that there are thousands of kids in our schools who would benefit from having more --rather than fewer -- teachers in their crowded classrooms. And I KNOW that thousands of well-educated men and women would be fabulous teachers if they could work more flexible hours.

I BELIEVE in hope, and in change. I also believe that naysayers don't get very far. I will make it work; I am currently working for a non-profit organization tutoring kids during school hours, which allows me pretty much exactly what I want. However, I still want to find creative ways to make classroom teaching work for those of us who want to be at home when our kids come home from school. Perhaps I do have rose-colored glasses on, but I bet lots of people said that to Obama when he first told them he was running for president!

[Anonymous]

I am a former teacher and I know many educators with children who are fantastic teachers and parents. I believe you can do both well.

I taught at a private school in MD and over half of the faculty had children at the school. Currently, my daughter attends a private school in NW DC and there are tons of faculty there who are also parents to children who attend the school.

There are teachers who I've worked in the past with whose kids do not go to the same school where they teach. Extended day would fill the gap time for those teachers until they could pick up their kids.

Don't listen to those who say you can't do it. Yes it will be challenging, but it's not impossible.

I have never taught at a public school but I have friends who do. There seems to be SO much more paperwork that just sucks up your time. There isn't nearly as much of that at the privates.

At the private school where I taught I had a long break each day when the kids would go to gym and then art or music or library, etc. and I was able to do a lot of my prep work then.

While the privates don't pay as well as the publics, there are certain perks that might make it worthwhile into looking into.

Good luck!!

[Anonymous]

Please help me understand this.

As a child who struggled with math and was constantly after school, needing extra help, always along with a handful of other children, how does a teacher who leaves with the kids help kids who need an extra hand? My classroom or subject matter teacher was ALWAYS the one who helped me with what I was struggling with.

Should those children just have their parents pay for a private tutor?

There are 2 kids at my daycare who have teachers for moms. I always cross paths with these teachers around 5PM. They are also always dropping their toddlers off well before I arrive at 8am. All I see is an exhausting schedule with apparantly some sort of inner reward because I don't know why anyone would do it otherwise. One of the mom's works in a "rogher" school and has been threatened a few times by the parents. So bad that she will not have a private conferencewith a parent without the principal present.

[Anonymous]

I don't think teachers nowadays do a lot of volunteer staying after school to help kids who are behind. If kids stay after school for extra help, it is in some kind of a program; often paid for by the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think teachers nowadays do a lot of volunteer staying after school to help kids who are behind. If kids stay after school for extra help, it is in some kind of a program; often paid for by the school.

Well, teachers still try to do it when they can since they're really in a better position to be effective than the homework helpers afterschool programs hire. A lot of schools will also expect teachers to make themselves available to lead an afterschool club once a week for at least a few months or to serve on some kind of committee that meets frequently, in addition to maybe monthly general faculty meetings and formal weekly grade level team meetings. They also need to coordinate informally with other grade level teachers pretty regularly.

[Anonymous]

not when I was teaching elementary school a few years ago. If you stayed after to do a club, you got paid. Do others who are teachers have a different experience? I'm curious to hear -- maybe it is different for middle/high school than elementary school, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think teachers nowadays do a lot of volunteer staying after school to help kids who are behind. If kids stay after school for extra help, it is in some kind of a program; often paid for by the school.

Speaking as a teacher, I'm helping kids afterschool when I don't have mandatory staff meetings and such. A lot of my colleagues who are good teachers do the same. As a child's teacher I know exactly what the student is struggling with and am much better equipped to help them work through whatever issue they are having with the material. I do this because I want to see my students succeed.

[Anonymous]

"I am willing to work very hard at being a teacher, but I will not sacrifice being at home when my kids are at home. "

Oh, brother! Another martyr looking for a medal, a brass band, and a parade! Does the kids' father "sacrifice" being at home when the kids are a home?

You don't know the meaning of "hard work" and "sacrifice". Get over yourself.

[Anonymous]

What a bitter person! Do you think that last comment is helpful? Must you lash out at others to make yourself feel better? One word -- prozac.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a former teacher and I know many educators with children who are fantastic teachers and parents. I believe you can do both well.

I taught at a private school in MD and over half of the faculty had children at the school. Currently, my daughter attends a private school in NW DC and there are tons of faculty there who are also parents to children who attend the school.

There are teachers who I've worked in the past with whose kids do not go to the same school where they teach. Extended day would fill the gap time for those teachers until they could pick up their kids.

Don't listen to those who say you can't do it. Yes it will be challenging, but it's not impossible.

I have never taught at a public school but I have friends who do. There seems to be SO much more paperwork that just sucks up your time. There isn't nearly as much of that at the privates.

At the private school where I taught I had a long break each day when the kids would go to gym and then art or music or library, etc. and I was able to do a lot of my prep work then.

While the privates don't pay as well as the publics, there are certain perks that might make it worthwhile into looking into.

Good luck!!

As an educator, while I appreciate your perspective, your experience is probably rare. Realistically, there are more jobs in the public sector - even in this terrible economy. Furthermore, your work load (as in planning and grading) is directly related to what you teach. So if you teach PE, you may have to plan, but you're not grading papers. (And I'm not bashing PE teachers! I have quite a few friends who teach physical education. But it's a fact that they're not bringing home compositions to grade.)

Furthermore, to the PP who is in interested in changing the system - You won't be able to do that on a 9-2 schedule. As you continue to take classes to keep up your certification (your advanced professional certificate) and summer training courses required by the county, you'll also have to join reform committees which may meet as often as once a month. And don't forget to factor in staff meetings, grade level meetings, and parent-teacher conferences, which will cut into your family time, too. So after care may be necessary.

It's just not that easy.

[Anonymous]

What about becoming a instructional aid? The paid might not be as good but you could get benefits and go home when the students do.