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.

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.

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 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.

Yes. It is as bad as teachers say.

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

D you work full-time as a licensed teacher? For how long?

Anonymous wrote:Why can’t a teacher just phone it in, using the curriculum and text books provided. My family was all teachers and this was definitely what they did, it was a great lifestyle job. What are they going to do, fire you because you gave the class 1 page essays rather than 5?

They don’t make textbooks with “teacher editions” like they used to. And while there may not be someone nitpicking about the length of the essays you assign, you can look forward to your students’ scores being put into spreadsheets and picked apart.

Secondary education is a drag. My ES teacher friends and I are not as miserable.

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.

Anonymous wrote:Some of the best teachers I know are people on their second career. I think part of it is that they’ve already figured out work life balance and working efficiently. And part of it is that they are doing it because they love it. And art of it is that admin knows they can’t get away with bullying them because they are older, have confidence, know what a job regularly entails. But it also seems to depend a lot on finding an admin that respects you. The ones I know are definitely not phoning it in, but seem able to adapt set curricula and convey passion for the material. If you are good at conveying the passion for the material, the kids really do respect that, and those teachers have many fewer disciplinary issues.

This is me. I switched from Health Care Insurance and real estate to this. Loved it but I am looking for my third career phase soon.

Anonymous wrote:It depends on the individual, you, because some people can do it and some can't, but it also depends on the grade level, the school, the district, the community, the administration, public or private, the kids, the parents, all those things are or can be different from one teaching job to another and all need to be considered.

It also depends on how often you switch grades/content areas and how often the district switches your curriculum. I've been teaching kindergarten for 10 years and I can finally leave school shortly after the students. I reuse my lessons from year to year although next year we are getting a new math curriculum so I'll have to write lesson plans from scratch.

It depends on the individual, you, because some people can do it and some can't, but it also depends on the grade level, the school, the district, the community, the administration, public or private, the kids, the parents, all those things are or can be different from one teaching job to another and all need to be considered.

Anonymous wrote:Why can’t a teacher just phone it in, using the curriculum and text books provided. My family was all teachers and this was definitely what they did, it was a great lifestyle job. What are they going to do, fire you because you gave the class 1 page essays rather than 5?

This doesn’t happen anymore. I genuinely don’t understand it. It seems like every teacher is expected to re-invent the wheel, and they end up buying material from Teachers Pay Teachers instead of being provided curriculum.

I’ve managed corporate training programs in the past, and I’d never have sent my trainers out without a fully fleshed-out training program including all materials. I have no idea why we expect K-12 teachers to start from scratch.

And you're expected to bend over backwards for students who sleep through class or won't remove their air pods to even listen. You can't fail them without jumping through 1000 hoops which involves documenting every step. Trying to get in touch with someone living off the grid in the Arctic is easier than getting in touch with their parents. So much time wasted on this crap.

Anonymous wrote:Why can’t a teacher just phone it in, using the curriculum and text books provided. My family was all teachers and this was definitely what they did, it was a great lifestyle job. What are they going to do, fire you because you gave the class 1 page essays rather than 5?

There are no longer text books provided. The kids are rowdy and interrupt all instruction and if you’re a decent person you care about the experience of the few who are trying to learn.