Am I Making a Mistake?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you ever worked in a school? Student teaching? Substitute?
The people on DCUM are generally mean and hate FCPS so I wouldn’t give their comments and validity. However, teaching in general is hard and teaching middle school is only for a very special group of people. The people who love middle school absolutely love it and wouldn’t leave. But everyone else either goes higher or lower. It’s a unique age.

Yes, I performed a practicum at INTO Mason, working with older ELs. I taught Academic English to international students who mostly matriculate into GMU once they complete their program and pass the TOEFL. I enjoyed that a lot. There are not many positions working full-time with adult ESL students that I have found. I do not have a PhD, so that seems to be precluding me from teaching at the collegiate level.

So, I am sorry but that’s not teaching in a K-12 school which is very very different and probably why you aren’t getting hired. As a teacher with a degree in education I took classes that taught classroom management, assessment, child development, how to teach, and so on. I spent 3 semesters with one full day a week in a classroom and then one whole semester student teaching all day, every day. Teaching is hard and if you love it then it’s worth it, but you will just leave it it’s not something you are passionate about and that’s not fair to the students or your colleagues. If it’s not what you actually want to do, please don’t take the job.
If you think you might like to go back and take the appropriate courses then maybe take an IA job or substitute. See what it’s actually like to work in K-12 schools without being completely alone in the classroom. You would probably learn a lot about teaching and about if you’re really interested in it as a career.

Do you also have a degree in your subject matter? Just curious.

DP. Many teachers do not have Education degrees. For example, my degree is in English and I used a county program to gain my certification. I’ve been teaching for 20 years now. I work with a lot of people who came to teaching in similar ways; some had careers in other fields before transferring to teaching.

We didn’t get the benefit of undergraduate coursework in management, etc., but we have strong content knowledge. People who go through these programs often get mentors to help them through the first year. I suspect it’s a harder route, but I stand here as proof that it can be done.

[Anonymous]

Yes I have two degrees in education. I know lots of great teachers who came to teaching in many ways. I am just saying that if OP has never spent a day working in a K-12 classroom and she is talking about teaching because she can’t get a job in the field she really wants she might not jump into a full time classroom teaching position in a tough age and school. She also might not be getting many offers because of her lack of experience as well. An IA or sub position would give her that learning experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you ever worked in a school? Student teaching? Substitute?
The people on DCUM are generally mean and hate FCPS so I wouldn’t give their comments and validity. However, teaching in general is hard and teaching middle school is only for a very special group of people. The people who love middle school absolutely love it and wouldn’t leave. But everyone else either goes higher or lower. It’s a unique age.

Yes, I performed a practicum at INTO Mason, working with older ELs. I taught Academic English to international students who mostly matriculate into GMU once they complete their program and pass the TOEFL. I enjoyed that a lot. There are not many positions working full-time with adult ESL students that I have found. I do not have a PhD, so that seems to be precluding me from teaching at the collegiate level.

So, I am sorry but that’s not teaching in a K-12 school which is very very different and probably why you aren’t getting hired. As a teacher with a degree in education I took classes that taught classroom management, assessment, child development, how to teach, and so on. I spent 3 semesters with one full day a week in a classroom and then one whole semester student teaching all day, every day. Teaching is hard and if you love it then it’s worth it, but you will just leave it it’s not something you are passionate about and that’s not fair to the students or your colleagues. If it’s not what you actually want to do, please don’t take the job.
If you think you might like to go back and take the appropriate courses then maybe take an IA job or substitute. See what it’s actually like to work in K-12 schools without being completely alone in the classroom. You would probably learn a lot about teaching and about if you’re really interested in it as a career.

Do you also have a degree in your subject matter? Just curious.

DP. Many teachers do not have Education degrees. For example, my degree is in English and I used a county program to gain my certification. I’ve been teaching for 20 years now. I work with a lot of people who came to teaching in similar ways; some had careers in other fields before transferring to teaching.

We didn’t get the benefit of undergraduate coursework in management, etc., but we have strong content knowledge. People who go through these programs often get mentors to help them through the first year. I suspect it’s a harder route, but I stand here as proof that it can be done.

TY. There is something to be said about being an expert in whatever you intend to teach. Both of my degrees are also in English, with a concentration in linguistics. This means that not only have I studied composition, literature, writing about literature, creative writing, non-fiction writing, theory and inquiry, etc., I have also taken semester-long classes in first language acquisition, affect in language acquisition, grammar and pedagogy, syntax, semantics, pronunciation and pedagogy, etc. For my cornerstone project, I conducted a study on the effects of the lockdown on the sentence complexity of children. My practicum experience is in teaching academic English. There is something to be said about being an expert in something, if that is the something you intend to teach. Also, in what I lack in talent, I make up for with the ability to learn quickly, as well as determination and hard work.

After considering all of the input you all were kind enough to offer me here, I believe I am capable of teaching English at a MS level.

[Anonymous]

If you accept the job please don’t leave during the year. That puts a huge burden on your colleagues and crushes the students. I have students who still talked about teachers who left two years ago. A lot of kids take it very personally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes I have two degrees in education. I know lots of great teachers who came to teaching in many ways. I am just saying that if OP has never spent a day working in a K-12 classroom and she is talking about teaching because she can’t get a job in the field she really wants she might not jump into a full time classroom teaching position in a tough age and school. She also might not be getting many offers because of her lack of experience as well. An IA or sub position would give her that learning experience.

I meant subject as in, English, math, science, social studies, etc. Your input is well-taken, TY.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you accept the job please don’t leave during the year. That puts a huge burden on your colleagues and crushes the students. I have students who still talked about teachers who left two years ago. A lot of kids take it very personally.

I have carefully considered that and I am ready to make a commitment.

[Anonymous]

I suggest looking at private schools while working on your license and gaining experience. I do not think a tough school for middle school is a good starting point. If you said you wanted to be a preschool or Kindergarten teacher I would tell you to go for it, but middle school is just very very tough environment especially in a rough school.

[Anonymous]

OP, you said that you had over 20 interviews, but only this one offer. Did you receive any feedback from those interviews or did anyone give you advice as to why you did not receive other job offers?

My main concern is that you are coming into teaching as a "fall back" job and that you may not have the passion and desire to really teach. Did you think you would be a teacher as you went through college?

It takes a lot of determination and hard work to teach at any level. Yes, it can be a very fulfilling career if you really dedicate yourself to it. However, there is much, much more to teaching than the content. Especially these days. Teaching will make you think about human behavior and motivation a LOT. You will come to analyze yourself in ways that you have not had to do before. You will reflect a lot on your own strengths and weaknesses as a human being. Are you ready to be completely honest with yourself and your students? Kids can see through adults in a nanosecond. They will try you. They want to know if you truly care about them, not the content so much. It's a lot of responsibility. Are you good at gaining trust, especially with children who are going through some hard times themselves?

Teaching will test your inner strength and confidence to a degree that it has not been tested before. You have plenty of content readiness as many people do who come into teaching. What you may not have is the emotional/psychological readiness. This is why student teaching and the classes in management, methods, and child psychology are important (those pieces of the licensure). I would highly recommend that you take the licensure classes and student teach this year if possible.

I was almost 30 years old when I started teaching (in a middle school). I had worked at another career for 5 years after college. It was a huge change for me and I'm not sure I would have had the maturity to really do it if I had started straight out of college (but some people do). I went through all the classes and student teaching before I was employed. I'm glad I did. I enjoyed my career, learned a heck of a lot along the way, and met really great people. Good luck OP.

Signed,

been teaching for 32 years

[Anonymous]

I’ve been teaching for 15 years. The last 10 have been in 6th grade at a large and diverse public middle school in Northern Virginia. I don’t think having a degree in education is a necessity (my ed courses were pretty useless), but you do need thick skin, clear boundaries, excellent communication, good organization, strong work ethic, and perseverance. It’s a tough job, particularly the first couple years. And even tougher for teachers in tested subjects like language arts; lots of pressure to get good SOL scores. Expect to work most evenings and weekends those first couple years. But if you stick it out, it eventually gets easier and it can be rewarding. Plus, you get the summers.

Seek out mentors. Borrow or purchase lessons and materials from others that first year; you can reinvent the wheel later. Enforce rules consistently. Contact home for both bad and good events. Figure out what admin actually cares about and focus on that thing. Post everything online; it’s a huge pain but keeps students and parents happy and keeps admin off your back. Try to plan and teach with your co-teacher, but accept that you will probably do more work than them; it’s rarely an equal relationship. And save every positive note and email that you get; they are good to read on tough days.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
OP, you said that you had over 20 interviews, but only this one offer. Did you receive any feedback from those interviews or did anyone give you advice as to why you did not receive other job offers?

My main concern is that you are coming into teaching as a "fall back" job and that you may not have the passion and desire to really teach. Did you think you would be a teacher as you went through college?

It takes a lot of determination and hard work to teach at any level. Yes, it can be a very fulfilling career if you really dedicate yourself to it. However, there is much, much more to teaching than the content. Especially these days. Teaching will make you think about human behavior and motivation a LOT. You will come to analyze yourself in ways that you have not had to do before. You will reflect a lot on your own strengths and weaknesses as a human being. Are you ready to be completely honest with yourself and your students? Kids can see through adults in a nanosecond. They will try you. They want to know if you truly care about them, not the content so much. It's a lot of responsibility. Are you good at gaining trust, especially with children who are going through some hard times themselves?

Teaching will test your inner strength and confidence to a degree that it has not been tested before. You have plenty of content readiness as many people do who come into teaching. What you may not have is the emotional/psychological readiness. This is why student teaching and the classes in management, methods, and child psychology are important (those pieces of the licensure). I would highly recommend that you take the licensure classes and student teach this year if possible.

I was almost 30 years old when I started teaching (in a middle school). I had worked at another career for 5 years after college. It was a huge change for me and I'm not sure I would have had the maturity to really do it if I had started straight out of college (but some people do). I went through all the classes and student teaching before I was employed. I'm glad I did. I enjoyed my career, learned a heck of a lot along the way, and met really great people. Good luck OP.

Signed,

been teaching for 32 years

Thank you for taking the time to write this from the heart and for proffering me your perspective as a teacher with considerable experience. No, I have not received any feedback nor other offers, as of yet; however, I have only been interviewing for about two weeks. I want to be an educator. I just had a different vision of how exactly that would manifest, but I trust that the universe is guiding me where to go. I believe my empathy for others and authenticity will be an asset here. I agree that I may not have the emotional/psychological readiness, and that is terrifying to me, but I won’t know that until I try my best. Rest assured, I will not be alone; I will have a co-teacher and mentors with more experience. No one ever asked, but I’m actually 46. I am still seriously considering in enrolling in the licensure program at GMU. It is another 36 hours of comprehensive coursework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you ever worked in a school? Student teaching? Substitute?
The people on DCUM are generally mean and hate FCPS so I wouldn’t give their comments and validity. However, teaching in general is hard and teaching middle school is only for a very special group of people. The people who love middle school absolutely love it and wouldn’t leave. But everyone else either goes higher or lower. It’s a unique age.

Yes, I performed a practicum at INTO Mason, working with older ELs. I taught Academic English to international students who mostly matriculate into GMU once they complete their program and pass the TOEFL. I enjoyed that a lot. There are not many positions working full-time with adult ESL students that I have found. I do not have a PhD, so that seems to be precluding me from teaching at the collegiate level.

So, I am sorry but that’s not teaching in a K-12 school which is very very different and probably why you aren’t getting hired. As a teacher with a degree in education I took classes that taught classroom management, assessment, child development, how to teach, and so on. I spent 3 semesters with one full day a week in a classroom and then one whole semester student teaching all day, every day. Teaching is hard and if you love it then it’s worth it, but you will just leave it it’s not something you are passionate about and that’s not fair to the students or your colleagues. If it’s not what you actually want to do, please don’t take the job.
If you think you might like to go back and take the appropriate courses then maybe take an IA job or substitute. See what it’s actually like to work in K-12 schools without being completely alone in the classroom. You would probably learn a lot about teaching and about if you’re really interested in it as a career.

Do you also have a degree in your subject matter? Just curious.

DP. Many teachers do not have Education degrees. For example, my degree is in English and I used a county program to gain my certification. I’ve been teaching for 20 years now. I work with a lot of people who came to teaching in similar ways; some had careers in other fields before transferring to teaching.

We didn’t get the benefit of undergraduate coursework in management, etc., but we have strong content knowledge. People who go through these programs often get mentors to help them through the first year. I suspect it’s a harder route, but I stand here as proof that it can be done.

TY. There is something to be said about being an expert in whatever you intend to teach. Both of my degrees are also in English, with a concentration in linguistics. This means that not only have I studied composition, literature, writing about literature, creative writing, non-fiction writing, theory and inquiry, etc., I have also taken semester-long classes in first language acquisition, affect in language acquisition, grammar and pedagogy, syntax, semantics, pronunciation and pedagogy, etc. For my cornerstone project, I conducted a study on the effects of the lockdown on the sentence complexity of children. My practicum experience is in teaching academic English. There is something to be said about being an expert in something, if that is the something you intend to teach. Also, in what I lack in talent, I make up for with the ability to learn quickly, as well as determination and hard work.

After considering all of the input you all were kind enough to offer me here, I believe I am capable of teaching English at a MS level.

Try it - why not? You certainly seem to THINK you can do it with no practical experience. What’s the worst that happens - you crash and burn? There is a reason that a notoriously difficult school is the only one to offer you anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
OP, you said that you had over 20 interviews, but only this one offer. Did you receive any feedback from those interviews or did anyone give you advice as to why you did not receive other job offers?

My main concern is that you are coming into teaching as a "fall back" job and that you may not have the passion and desire to really teach. Did you think you would be a teacher as you went through college?

It takes a lot of determination and hard work to teach at any level. Yes, it can be a very fulfilling career if you really dedicate yourself to it. However, there is much, much more to teaching than the content. Especially these days. Teaching will make you think about human behavior and motivation a LOT. You will come to analyze yourself in ways that you have not had to do before. You will reflect a lot on your own strengths and weaknesses as a human being. Are you ready to be completely honest with yourself and your students? Kids can see through adults in a nanosecond. They will try you. They want to know if you truly care about them, not the content so much. It's a lot of responsibility. Are you good at gaining trust, especially with children who are going through some hard times themselves?

Teaching will test your inner strength and confidence to a degree that it has not been tested before. You have plenty of content readiness as many people do who come into teaching. What you may not have is the emotional/psychological readiness. This is why student teaching and the classes in management, methods, and child psychology are important (those pieces of the licensure). I would highly recommend that you take the licensure classes and student teach this year if possible.

I was almost 30 years old when I started teaching (in a middle school). I had worked at another career for 5 years after college. It was a huge change for me and I'm not sure I would have had the maturity to really do it if I had started straight out of college (but some people do). I went through all the classes and student teaching before I was employed. I'm glad I did. I enjoyed my career, learned a heck of a lot along the way, and met really great people. Good luck OP.

Signed,

been teaching for 32 years

Thank you for taking the time to write this from the heart and for proffering me your perspective as a teacher with considerable experience. No, I have not received any feedback nor other offers, as of yet; however, I have only been interviewing for about two weeks. I want to be an educator. I just had a different vision of how exactly that would manifest, but I trust that the universe is guiding me where to go. I believe my empathy for others and authenticity will be an asset here. I agree that I may not have the emotional/psychological readiness, and that is terrifying to me, but I won’t know that until I try my best. Rest assured, I will not be alone; I will have a co-teacher and mentors with more experience. No one ever asked, but I’m actually 46. I am still seriously considering in enrolling in the licensure program at GMU. It is another 36 hours of comprehensive coursework.

Do you have something else as a back up for retirement when the time comes? Because you will be well into your 70s before you qualify for VRS and ERFC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you ever worked in a school? Student teaching? Substitute?
The people on DCUM are generally mean and hate FCPS so I wouldn’t give their comments and validity. However, teaching in general is hard and teaching middle school is only for a very special group of people. The people who love middle school absolutely love it and wouldn’t leave. But everyone else either goes higher or lower. It’s a unique age.

Yes, I performed a practicum at INTO Mason, working with older ELs. I taught Academic English to international students who mostly matriculate into GMU once they complete their program and pass the TOEFL. I enjoyed that a lot. There are not many positions working full-time with adult ESL students that I have found. I do not have a PhD, so that seems to be precluding me from teaching at the collegiate level.

So, I am sorry but that’s not teaching in a K-12 school which is very very different and probably why you aren’t getting hired. As a teacher with a degree in education I took classes that taught classroom management, assessment, child development, how to teach, and so on. I spent 3 semesters with one full day a week in a classroom and then one whole semester student teaching all day, every day. Teaching is hard and if you love it then it’s worth it, but you will just leave it it’s not something you are passionate about and that’s not fair to the students or your colleagues. If it’s not what you actually want to do, please don’t take the job.
If you think you might like to go back and take the appropriate courses then maybe take an IA job or substitute. See what it’s actually like to work in K-12 schools without being completely alone in the classroom. You would probably learn a lot about teaching and about if you’re really interested in it as a career.

Do you also have a degree in your subject matter? Just curious.

DP. Many teachers do not have Education degrees. For example, my degree is in English and I used a county program to gain my certification. I’ve been teaching for 20 years now. I work with a lot of people who came to teaching in similar ways; some had careers in other fields before transferring to teaching.

We didn’t get the benefit of undergraduate coursework in management, etc., but we have strong content knowledge. People who go through these programs often get mentors to help them through the first year. I suspect it’s a harder route, but I stand here as proof that it can be done.

TY. There is something to be said about being an expert in whatever you intend to teach. Both of my degrees are also in English, with a concentration in linguistics. This means that not only have I studied composition, literature, writing about literature, creative writing, non-fiction writing, theory and inquiry, etc., I have also taken semester-long classes in first language acquisition, affect in language acquisition, grammar and pedagogy, syntax, semantics, pronunciation and pedagogy, etc. For my cornerstone project, I conducted a study on the effects of the lockdown on the sentence complexity of children. My practicum experience is in teaching academic English. There is something to be said about being an expert in something, if that is the something you intend to teach. Also, in what I lack in talent, I make up for with the ability to learn quickly, as well as determination and hard work.

After considering all of the input you all were kind enough to offer me here, I believe I am capable of teaching English at a MS level.

Try it - why not? You certainly seem to THINK you can do it with no practical experience. What’s the worst that happens - you crash and burn? There is a reason that a notoriously difficult school is the only one to offer you anything.

Perhaps you should take my place, then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
OP, you said that you had over 20 interviews, but only this one offer. Did you receive any feedback from those interviews or did anyone give you advice as to why you did not receive other job offers?

My main concern is that you are coming into teaching as a "fall back" job and that you may not have the passion and desire to really teach. Did you think you would be a teacher as you went through college?

It takes a lot of determination and hard work to teach at any level. Yes, it can be a very fulfilling career if you really dedicate yourself to it. However, there is much, much more to teaching than the content. Especially these days. Teaching will make you think about human behavior and motivation a LOT. You will come to analyze yourself in ways that you have not had to do before. You will reflect a lot on your own strengths and weaknesses as a human being. Are you ready to be completely honest with yourself and your students? Kids can see through adults in a nanosecond. They will try you. They want to know if you truly care about them, not the content so much. It's a lot of responsibility. Are you good at gaining trust, especially with children who are going through some hard times themselves?

Teaching will test your inner strength and confidence to a degree that it has not been tested before. You have plenty of content readiness as many people do who come into teaching. What you may not have is the emotional/psychological readiness. This is why student teaching and the classes in management, methods, and child psychology are important (those pieces of the licensure). I would highly recommend that you take the licensure classes and student teach this year if possible.

I was almost 30 years old when I started teaching (in a middle school). I had worked at another career for 5 years after college. It was a huge change for me and I'm not sure I would have had the maturity to really do it if I had started straight out of college (but some people do). I went through all the classes and student teaching before I was employed. I'm glad I did. I enjoyed my career, learned a heck of a lot along the way, and met really great people. Good luck OP.

Signed,

been teaching for 32 years

Thank you for taking the time to write this from the heart and for proffering me your perspective as a teacher with considerable experience. No, I have not received any feedback nor other offers, as of yet; however, I have only been interviewing for about two weeks. I want to be an educator. I just had a different vision of how exactly that would manifest, but I trust that the universe is guiding me where to go. I believe my empathy for others and authenticity will be an asset here. I agree that I may not have the emotional/psychological readiness, and that is terrifying to me, but I won’t know that until I try my best. Rest assured, I will not be alone; I will have a co-teacher and mentors with more experience. No one ever asked, but I’m actually 46. I am still seriously considering in enrolling in the licensure program at GMU. It is another 36 hours of comprehensive coursework.

Do you have something else as a back up for retirement when the time comes? Because you will be well into your 70s before you qualify for VRS and ERFC.

I have two healthy retirement accounts and various other investments. I am not counting on a pension nor social security.

[Anonymous]

Commonwealth Academy has a posting for a 5th grade humanities teacher.