Changing Career to Teaching (Baltimore: how much, home, school districts)

[sofullone]

I currently work in a college health center at a College in Baltimore county and I hate it. The expectations for you to perform and constantly hold programs for students is overwhelming for me. The environment is not supportive and people are not friednly. I am considering moving out of East Baltimore County and starting a new career in teaching. I wanted to know is it possible to get a teaching job before you become certified. Or do you have to enroll in a Masters program first? What are th ebenefits in working in high School compared to working in a Community College?

I am looking for a carrer that will give me flexibility in starting a family and be able to have a life outside of work.

Please help.

[TuborgP]

Originally Posted by sofullone

I currently work in a college health center at a College in Baltimore county and I hate it. The expectations for you to perform and constantly hold programs for students is overwhelming for me. The environment is not supportive and people are not friednly. I am considering moving out of East Baltimore County and starting a new career in teaching. I wanted to know is it possible to get a teaching job before you become certified. Or do you have to enroll in a Masters program first? What are th ebenefits in working in high School compared to working in a Community College?

I am looking for a carrer that will give me flexibility in starting a family and be able to have a life outside of work.

Please help.

Don't tell anyone in a school system Human Resources Office or a Principal about why you went into teaching!

[MamaToThree]

Have you ever thought about a career as a Montessori teacher? There is a GREAT program at Loyola that gives you a highly sought after AMI Montessori credential as well as a masters degree.

[trying2moveup]

Originally Posted by sofullone

I am looking for a carrer that will give me flexibility in starting a family and be able to have a life outside of work.

Please help.

I commend you for wanting to go into teaching. I am a teacher and will return to work this coming fall after a 4 year childcare "hiatus." I'm not relishing returning because in some ways it will be like going through my first year of teaching again, even though I taught for 10 years prior to going on leave. Particulary in my speciality in the county I work in much has changed and I'm going to have to get up to speed, and quick.

I tell you this because teaching is - like the job you currently have - extremely stressful. There are alot of demands and expectations and you are going to constantly have to "put on programs" day in and day out. People don't realize this but teaching (and I'm speaking strictly from the public school system; I have not taught at a private school and can't speak from experience in a private setting) is extremely political. There is a lot of pressure from the top (read MSDE and Grasmick, actually read Obama on downward) and the teachers get the brunt of it when the data does not look good overall for their school. Also, I'm sure you've heard that obama wants merit-based pay for teachers; while I don't necessarily think that's a bad idea, it will increase the pressure to perform (which is a good thing in terms of getting quality teachers in many ways).

NO matter what you hear from anyone who constantly focuses on the fact that teachers "have the summer off" and get paid for it (not true - I get paid for 10 months and the mandatory teacher training days I have to take during my "summer off"), teaching is FAR from a nine-to-five job, especially if you want to do it right. It IS good to coordinate with a child's schedule if you happen to work in the same district and even if your kid goes to a private school/school out of district, usually the holidays will sync up.

However, your student teaching is not going to be like your first real teaching job. When the safety net is completely gone, it's going to be a whole other ballgame. Depending on the environment at your school, you are going to either have a supportive team that will help you out as much as possible that first year (but you will still be doing tons and tons of work) or you're going to get a bitchy crew that thinks newbies should prove their worth and they won't help you much, if at all. The principal is either involved and supportive or involved and not supportive or not present much at all. The parents - well, they can be worse than the kids. And then the kids. . . depending on your school, you could have a rough bunch --- it IS possible to teach while pursuing certification (not sure if al school systems around here require a Master's to start yet or not - probably on that track since all must be "highly qualified" under No Child Left Behind) but that means teaching in a very high needs area (read = inner city, very improverished, high dropout rate (you mentioned high school but it really doesn't matter what level if you go this route) for a contracted length of time especially if you want to get your education paid for (i.e., any school debt forgiven).

Going to school while teaching it not an easy task. I did it, and luckily before we had kids. No way with them around in the early years. Please, if you try this career, do it before you have children because doing student teaching/first year teaching with a newborn is next to impossible.

I don't mean to be a buzzkill but you have to understand that teaching is not a walk in the park. Until I had kids, every single night I worked I brought home a bag of stuff that needed to be done or at least worked on, and I teach at the elementary level. I don't plan on repeating this much this time around as my priorities have shifted; I also plainly don't have the time I used to have at home. But I also have a decade of experience and i'm not starting right out of the gate. After 10 years I know how to work smarter, not harder. But it took me almost 5 of those 10 years to get there and feel like I really knew what I was doing. A very high percentage of teachers quit within the first 5 years.

I recommend substitute teaching as a way to get exposure and your feet wet and see if it's for you - it's not like being the 'real teacher" either but at least you will get a feel for thea cademic and social/emotional needs of kids nowadays.

What about other occupations that allow even more flexibility of schedule, such as something in the medical field (i.e., nursing?)?

[effulgent7]

I am also a teacher and echo everything trying2moveup said. I did change careers too and did it by getting my Master's and certification all at once- but it wasn't that big a switch for me because I was already in graduate school, I just changed my major. It did take a full year (although most programs I know of are now 1.5-2 yr programs), and for half the year I was student teaching full time and supporting myself working 30 hours a week on nights/weekends- not an easy transition if you are already supporting yourself.

I would seriously look at your reasons for wanting to teach- it's not an easy job by far and it doesn't always leave you much time for "a life outside of work", depending on how much time you put into it of course. I love it, but it's not for everyone!

[sofullone]

Thank you for your reply. I have been going back and forth on whether I want to teach in a High School ot at the Community College level. Your response has helped me a lot. I have a lot of teachers in my family and they make it seem as if it is an easy career. Your response has given me a lot of clarity.

[cool rob]

Just to echo what has already been said here, be prepared for:

Extreme pressure, intimidation and other tactics from administration, especially around "test" time

Low pay starting off, if you come in provisional, most school systems give you 3 years to get your certficiation or take the classes that are required, however the pay at provisional is low 40's, and that iss for most school districts in your general area (Baltimore city, Baltimore county, Anne Arundel COunty, etc)

It will take a number of years (18 plus) to reach your top grade @ around 75 K in most districts

Teachers take the brunt of everything! From the angry parents, from the school board, to Little Johnny who is cursing you out because his father did not pick him up over the weekend! Teaching requires very thick skin!

Teaching is not hard in the sense of brain surgery, but it is difficult in the sense of essentially raising someone else child for 6 hours, five days a week, and then reprograming that child on Monday to get back on task. You will find yourself spending a good portion of your day instructing young adults on proper manners, behavior, and other basic skills that should have been learned as a toddler

Being a new teacher, do not be surprised if you find yourself in 9th grade, teaching the worst kids in the school!

Choosing a school with a supportive principal is very important, schools that lack good leadership are very frustrating to deal with, and sometimes it takes a few schools before you get it right

And to touch on the community college level, as you may know tenure is now becoming a thing of the past, so unless you have a PHD, you have to really hustle for money at the collegiate level


Good luck, and do what feels right, I always joke w/ my wife who teaches in the District that teaching is a calling, just like the pulpit. So if you feel it, go with it.