Anonymous wrote:RN here, I work 20 hours per week, hourly pay, days only, no paid leave & was off a few weeks last year for 45K. It is stressful work.
Anonymous wrote:I could make $60k + full benefits at my current job (programming) 20 hrs a week. For the first three months after mat leave I worked 30hrs/wk at 70k +. I was going to be a lawyer but decided to get a grad degree in usability instead to both avoid debt and more flexibility.
Anonymous wrote:Beautician.
I know a lady who works in a salon and also sees clients in her converted basement. Easily makes $500 a day - cash...at home. I don't think that she pays taxes either.
Or the woman who only does Brazilian wax in Georgetown. Makes around $1000 a day. Pays $8000 rent.
And these women do not have any crippling student debts!
Anonymous wrote:I have found being a programmer is family friendly, as long as I'm willing to do the tasks other people aren't interested in. In exchange for handling the mundane, I don't live my life for the code so for the most part I work regular hours and am rarely called in for an emergency.
Some people have difficulty handling the isolation. Some people also have difficulty dealing with the overwhelming maleness of the culture.

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher trainer after spending close to to 20 years as an English teacher.
To all of you who claim you can build on what you've done in the past, you've obviously not had the "luck" we've had with multiple versions of curriculum guides. Furthermore, if you can grade papers during your planning periods, you're not grading for both content AND language. In VA, you've stayed true to the SOLs; in Maryland, we are now using the CC Standards, which are much more rigorous in nature when compared to the CLGs of the past. Each standard can be broken down into multiple mastery objectives. So if you're not teaching at THAT level, you're not teaching, my friend. And if you're ignoring metacognition, you're not teaching.
And remember that not all "labels" are truthful. I've had honors classes that were drastically different, and sadly, many of my on level classes were so low that I had to scaffold in micro-steps. Differentiation is a must! And that takes up much of your planning time. But if it's ignored, you're showing that you believe in a "one size fits all" philosophy.
I've seen "experienced" teachers claim they know what they're doing. There's nothing outstanding about their instruction, and it shows in the level of students' engagement.
OP - If teaching is your thing, don't think it's family friendly. And my hat's off to those who teach pre-K and elementary. As a secondary-trained educator, I do think we have it MUCH easier.
Any intelligent person can be a mediocre teacher. But the truly gifted inspire kids AND get them to learn.
Anyone who says teaching is easy is lazy and unaware.
Anonymous wrote:
+1
Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher trainer after spending cl.ose to to 20 years as an English teacher.
To all of you who claim you can build on what you've done in the past, you've obviously not had the "luck" we've had with multiple versions of curriculum guides. Furthermore, if you can grade papers during your planning periods, you're not grading for both content AND language. In VA, you've stayed true to the SOLs; in Maryland, we are now using the CC Standards, which are much more rigorous in nature when compared to the CLGs of the past. Each standard can be broken down into multiple mastery objectives. So if you're not teaching at THAT level, you're not teaching, my friend. And if you're ignoring metacognition, you're not teaching.
And remember that not all "labels" are truthful. I've had honors classes that were drastically different, and sadly, many of my on level classes were so low that I had to scaffold in micro-steps. Differentiation is a must! And that takes up much of your planning time. But if it's ignored, you're showing that you believe in a "one size fits all" philosophy.
I've seen "experienced" teachers claim they know what they're doing. There's nothing outstanding about their instruction, and it shows in the level of students' engagement.
OP - If teaching is your thing, don't think it's family friendly. And my hat's off to those who teach pre-K and elementary. As a secondary-trained educator, I do think we have it MUCH easier.
Any intelligent person can be a mediocre teacher. But the truly gifted inspire kids AND get them to learn.
Anyone who says teaching is easy is lazy and unaware.
Anonymous wrote:
Pp here. Yes, I will think. I have been teaching in FCPS for 14 years and I have never heard of Danielson. We do collect data and it can be time consuming, but we also have people in the school who analyze it for us. Also, all high schools in FCPS are on block scheduling so we have 3 90 minutes classes per day. I also don't collect papers from every class every day to grade. There is absolutely no need to do that to accurately assess student progress. We have collaboration each week for an hour and may collaborate with other teachers occasionally, but it is not every day and it is not overwhelming. If there are special ed students in the class, there is usually a special ed teacher in the class or those classes are self-contained. Yes I have 3 preps, but I have also been teaching long enough that I can build on what I have done in the past. All that said, some people are not cut out for teaching - it can be overwhelming if you are disorganized and easily overwhelmed.
Anonymous wrote:I teach online college courses. The pay per course is not great, and it's hard to get full time positions (but they do exist), so you'd probably be looking at the bottom of your range.
HOWEVER, I can do it from home, the hours are completely flexible, it's portable if you have to move (I'm a military wife), and there are almost no costs beyond keeping your computer current. If you get a Master's in a hard-to-fill, core-course field (math, composition), you will have no trouble getting work. Depending what your prior career was, you may be able to teach in that field, too, with a Master's in another.
You need a PhD to reach the top of the pay scale, but the difference is minimal between MA/MS's and PhDs at UMUC (where I teach), and I imagine elsewhere.
Anonymous wrote:
Pp here. Yes, I will think. I have been teaching in FCPS for 14 years and I have never heard of Danielson. We do collect data and it can be time consuming, but we also have people in the school who analyze it for us. Also, all high schools in FCPS are on block scheduling so we have 3 90 minutes classes per day. I also don't collect papers from every class every day to grade. There is absolutely no need to do that to accurately assess student progress. We have collaboration each week for an hour and may collaborate with other teachers occasionally, but it is not every day and it is not overwhelming. If there are special ed students in the class, there is usually a special ed teacher in the class or those classes are self-contained. Yes I have 3 preps, but I have also been teaching long enough that I can build on what I have done in the past. All that said, some people are not cut out for teaching - it can be overwhelming if you are disorganized and easily overwhelmed.
Anonymous wrote:I agree with others about psychologist. I went back to school to get my PhD with three kids, and the many years I was in training were tough on my family. Now that I'm through that it's a great career and pretty good in terms of flexibility, hours and pay. Getting here was a slog, though.