Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If money is truly not an issue - I really enjoy being a teaching assistant. I meet with small groups - really get to know my kids but have not of the planning, grading or talking to parents. And the schedule is great when you are truly done at the end of the day.

Me too. But if I was OP's age with a young family, I'd think about getting certified as a reading specialist. You can make a lot of money tutoring dyslexic kids and kids who need reading support, either during the school day as an independent contractor or part time school employee, or tutor on your own.

Anonymous wrote:Can I ask a follow up question for th HS teachers? My kids often say they spent a class period working independently or in small groups. I had assumed teachers used that time for grading. Is that incorrect?

I am thinking about this for a late career switch. My brother did it in his 50s and is now retiring at 67; he really loved it. My own kids are mostly grown and I spend much of the day working with AHs currently so I feel lol my tolerance is probably high. Plus I am super familiar with the pointless bureaucracy that is our public school system.I have spent a lot of time volunteering with kids and teens in scouts and I really love spending time with them. They are such a hoot. I miss it now that my kids are aging out of all those activities. I also have kids with SN and spent a lot of the last two decades reading books and studies about different learning styles.

I think the early mornings and the loss of flexibility schedule would be really hard though.

Anonymous wrote:If money is truly not an issue - I really enjoy being a teaching assistant. I meet with small groups - really get to know my kids but have not of the planning, grading or talking to parents. And the schedule is great when you are truly done at the end of the day.

Anonymous wrote:If money is truly not an issue - I really enjoy being a teaching assistant. I meet with small groups - really get to know my kids but have not of the planning, grading or talking to parents. And the schedule is great when you are truly done at the end of the day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I ask a follow up question for th HS teachers? My kids often say they spent a class period working independently or in small groups. I had assumed teachers used that time for grading. Is that incorrect?

I am thinking about this for a late career switch. My brother did it in his 50s and is now retiring at 67; he really loved it. My own kids are mostly grown and I spend much of the day working with AHs currently so I feel lol my tolerance is probably high. Plus I am super familiar with the pointless bureaucracy that is our public school system.I have spent a lot of time volunteering with kids and teens in scouts and I really love spending time with them. They are such a hoot. I miss it now that my kids are aging out of all those activities. I also have kids with SN and spent a lot of the last two decades reading books and studies about different learning styles.

I think the early mornings and the loss of flexibility schedule would be really hard though.

Managing independent and small group work is a task that requires full attention. It isn’t time that gets spent on grading or other paperwork, except for maybe a situation where something needs to be done urgently. Examples of that might be taking the first few minutes of independent work to look at a one question quiz I gave mid period so I can know which kids need my help during the rest of the period, or writing an email about a behavior that happened during the passing period that the counselor needs to know about urgently. But that’s a couple minutes before I am back to circulating, coaching, and providing feedback.

Anonymous wrote:If money truly doesn’t matter, look into working as a kindergarten assistant or special education assistant. It’s very hard work but truly 8 to 4. Some districts pay better than others. I make a little over 50,000 a year in Arlington.

Anonymous wrote:Can I ask a follow up question for th HS teachers? My kids often say they spent a class period working independently or in small groups. I had assumed teachers used that time for grading. Is that incorrect?

I am thinking about this for a late career switch. My brother did it in his 50s and is now retiring at 67; he really loved it. My own kids are mostly grown and I spend much of the day working with AHs currently so I feel lol my tolerance is probably high. Plus I am super familiar with the pointless bureaucracy that is our public school system.I have spent a lot of time volunteering with kids and teens in scouts and I really love spending time with them. They are such a hoot. I miss it now that my kids are aging out of all those activities. I also have kids with SN and spent a lot of the last two decades reading books and studies about different learning styles.

I think the early mornings and the loss of flexibility schedule would be really hard though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I ask a follow up question for th HS teachers? My kids often say they spent a class period working independently or in small groups. I had assumed teachers used that time for grading. Is that incorrect?

I am thinking about this for a late career switch. My brother did it in his 50s and is now retiring at 67; he really loved it. My own kids are mostly grown and I spend much of the day working with AHs currently so I feel lol my tolerance is probably high. Plus I am super familiar with the pointless bureaucracy that is our public school system.I have spent a lot of time volunteering with kids and teens in scouts and I really love spending time with them. They are such a hoot. I miss it now that my kids are aging out of all those activities. I also have kids with SN and spent a lot of the last two decades reading books and studies about different learning styles.

I think the early mornings and the loss of flexibility schedule would be really hard though.

In my math classroom, it would be incorrect--I can't speak to all others.

If kids are working independently, I'm circulating, poking the sleeping ones, checking in with my normal strugglers, answering questions, verifying answers as kids work, or explaining the next task to my quick finishers. I'm sitting with the kid(s) who were absent last class to review that lesson, checking in with the ones who are failing to see where they are on their "academic come back" plan, writing a referral and contacting security for the phone Larlo has in his lap, and eventually pulling the kids I see completely off task to come sit in the back with me to do the assignment together on white boards, because their papers are turning into airplanes and snowballs and distracting other students. (Yes, even in high school. Yes, even in honors or AP.)

I get 0 grading done during a regular class, except on test days. Then I try to have tests on a clipboard as students turn them in that I can start to work through as I circulate the room to prevent cheating/find phones/make sure eyeballs stay on their own paper.

All grading is done after school lets out for the day.

Anonymous wrote:Can I ask a follow up question for th HS teachers? My kids often say they spent a class period working independently or in small groups. I had assumed teachers used that time for grading. Is that incorrect?

I am thinking about this for a late career switch. My brother did it in his 50s and is now retiring at 67; he really loved it. My own kids are mostly grown and I spend much of the day working with AHs currently so I feel lol my tolerance is probably high. Plus I am super familiar with the pointless bureaucracy that is our public school system.I have spent a lot of time volunteering with kids and teens in scouts and I really love spending time with them. They are such a hoot. I miss it now that my kids are aging out of all those activities. I also have kids with SN and spent a lot of the last two decades reading books and studies about different learning styles.

I think the early mornings and the loss of flexibility schedule would be really hard though.