I agree with all the PPs who say that your primary motivation should be a desire to teach, not to have the summers off.

If this is something you want to do, you should also realize that age group/subject matter will require different levels/kinds of energy.

My mother had been a college instructor, then took time off for kids and went back to be a high school teacher when I was in middle school. She was a double major in Math & English in college, and had a Masters in English. She needed to go back to school for Education classes, and she could have chosen to teach English or Math (would not have made any difference for requirements). She chose English because of her passion for the subject but she recognizes that has meant literally hundreds of thousands of extra hours of work - grading English tests, essays, etc is just not the same as math. "Freshening" the course each year is just not the same task (think: in English you have different books/texts all the time, but algebra is algebra is algebra.)

She is an excellent teacher and the world is a better place for her being in the classroom teaching her passion. But I would say she averages a 60 hour week during the school year. She NEEDS the summer to recuperate.

Anonymous wrote:It's sad that people only consider teaching to "get summers off" or as a fallback after getting laid off. Teaching is a profession, not an after-thought job with a very desirable perk.

EXACTLY! I'm pp 14:20 and that belief drives me insane. To those who think that way, consider this: 50% of teachers leave the profession in the first five years. It's that difficult.

It's sad that people only consider teaching to "get summers off" or as a fallback after getting laid off. Teaching is a profession, not an after-thought job with a very desirable perk.

PP: I don't know how you do it.... Good luck!!!!

First year teacher here and I am exhausted! I count down the days until our next day off or the weekend. I teach 5 different grade levels which means 5 different lesson plans per day. I don't have a planning period everyday either so I come in 45 mins before we are expected to arrive and stay until 5pm or so. I also do some work on the weekends for my grad class (even though I already have a grad degree, I still need to accumulate so many credits for my district to approve my pay raise). It might be a bit easier if I didn't have kids and were fresh out of college but I am old (according to my kids). Yes, I do get the summer off but I really should work in the summer b/c as a single mom, I may not be able to make ends meet w/o a paycheck for 10 weeks. It is inflexible during the school year. I saw that my kid's school called yesterday and I started to panic b/c I didn't know what I would do if I had to pick him up. I would have to find a sub and wait for them to show up and write down some quick plans. Luckily my DD was fine but being in school is like stepping into another universe. The outside world doesn't exist while you are there. It is a lot of work to get here (it took my years to find a FT teaching job) and the pay just isn't enough in the DC area.

I agree 100% - please don't even think about going into teaching if you're not passionate about it. I worked in business for ten years before deciding it was boring and meaningless. I got a teaching degree and became a high school teacher. Besides all of the work, inflexible schedule, and long hours everyone else mentioned, the thing about teaching is that it is emotionally draining as well. In business, everyhing is, well, business. You can certainly have conflicts with coworkers or bosses, but it's not the same. In teaching, you are dealing with kids' lives. You become emotionally involved, even if you try not to. You take a lot personally when the kids don't behave or you have conflicts with them. My first three years of teaching, there were days where the bell would ring at the end of the day and after the last kid left I would close my door and burst into tears! You see nice kids dealing with horrible family situations, drugs, etc. Watching a kid go from good grades to almost dropping out of school because of family problems breaks your heart. Dealing with (or lack of involvement of) parents is another story. It does get better but the first three years are so hard - I was single then so I can't even imagine doing it as a mother.

Also, I really believe that in order to be a good teacher, you need to keep revising and changing your lesson plans. Even if you're teaching the same thing year after year, you need to stay on top of pedogogical methods as well as material in your area of expertise. So while the work load does get a little better, you still need to be working hard on your lessons. Teaching at the high school level, you can have up to 120 kids each semester and teach several different subjects. One year I had five different subjects (preps as we call them) that I taught! I was constantly planning lessons.

Summers are great - I won't deny that. But my first couple of years as a teacher I spent them attending professional development or classes to add additional endorsements to my teaching license to make myself more employable. Many teachers I have worked with couldn't afford to stay home all summer and either taught summer school or worked other jobs in the summer. Once I got married, I was able to take summers off and yes, it's wonderful. But you do work like mad the rest of the year.

And your spouse or signficant other needs to be very understanding a patent during the years you are pursuing your Masters and the first few years of teaching. He will be doing alot more cooking, cleaning, day to day chores, kids stuff and then have a wife who is exhausted physically and mentally. It does get better with time and I believe with the new MCPS curriculum (2.0), it will be easier on the teachers once they get into the groove....

*pursue

Sorry.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I left teaching for some of these reasons: lack of flexibility and control over my days, and boredom (another year, mostly the same curriculum).

I was so excited to be able to get a coffee when I wanted, or even use the restroom when I wanted!!

I agree that you should really go into it only if it is a 'calling'. It is not really an easy job when you have your own kids. I work more hours now (in an office job), but I don't feel anywhere near as tired as I did as a teacher (you're basically 'performing' all day).

I totally agree. Dealing with your own children after a day of dealing with other people's children can be a chore. I also totally agree about the physically exhausting nature of the work. And don't forget that a lot of us have to take courses and training during the summer.

OP, please don't go into education unless you have a passion for it. Spend some time subbing before you decide to persue your teaching degree.