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I was removed from student teaching...twice. The first time I had management issues but by the second go around I had improved significantly. The second time I was removed because I had put a student (who did NOT have an IEP) on the spot for not paying attention because he was "embarrassed." These kids are too coddled nowadays. I'm very young, my teachers in HS ALWAYS put us on the spot if we weren't paying attention.
Good things about teaching: Very fulfilling job, kids are (mostly) great, co-workers are (mostly) great, top-notch benefits, great sick/vacation time.
Bad things: Pay is pretty awful for what we do, parents can be despicable (though not as much as others seems to complain about IME), public doesn't respect you, and lots of time put in outside school hours getting stuff done that I'll never be compensated for.
I'm in my fifth year now (27 years old) and I think by 30 I'll have decided whether I want to leave for something else or really make this a 30+ year career. Money is a huge factor in this, especially considering I live in the very expensive Northeast Corridor where cost of living is going up far quicker then my yearly raises.
Good things about teaching: Very fulfilling job, kids are (mostly) great, co-workers are (mostly) great, top-notch benefits, great sick/vacation time.
Bad things: Pay is pretty awful for what we do, parents can be despicable (though not as much as others seems to complain about IME), public doesn't respect you, and lots of time put in outside school hours getting stuff done that I'll never be compensated for.
I'm in my fifth year now (27 years old) and I think by 30 I'll have decided whether I want to leave for something else or really make this a 30+ year career. Money is a huge factor in this, especially considering I live in the very expensive Northeast Corridor where cost of living is going up far quicker then my yearly raises.
That's actually a good plan. Around year 8-10 is when you get vested in the pension system and you have to decide whether leaving that is worth starting over (Maryland where I am doesn't vest until year 10 and our pension isn't anywhere near as good as PA)
Also keep in mind that while the general public thinks teaching is one of those transferable skills it really isn't. Moving to another school system many times means taking a significant pay cut if you stay in the classroom.
I got tired of the disrespect and left. I'm happy to say that after only 3 months in industry I got a raise that is bigger than the total of all the raises I got in 10 years of teaching. Imagine that. If you're good at what you do they actually pay you MORE.
Something interesting happened right after I left teaching. I had a doctor's appointment where the doctor asked my how my knee was doing. I said "Better since I have a job where I don't stand all day now". Then he asked what I was doing. I told him I was working as a technical writer. Then he did something he had never done in all the years I had been seeing him when I was teaching. He sat down and chatted with me about my job with genuine interest and respect for what I'm doing.
I wish I had been treated like a professional as a teacher but I wasn't. I'm glad I have that back.
I got out after teaching for only two years. I miss teaching and miss my students, but I don't miss dealing with parents or dealing with policies created by someone who has never stepped foot in a classroom.
Also, it's nice being able to go to lunch with coworkers, not having to take work home, and being treated like a professional.
I got out after teaching for only two years. I miss teaching and miss my students, but I don't miss dealing with parents or dealing with policies created by someone who has never stepped foot in a classroom.
Also, it's nice being able to go to lunch with coworkers, not having to take work home, and being treated like a professional.
Being honest, teaching can be a beat down. Most people can't handle it and suffer both mentally and physically. The amount of positive moments you face in a day pales to the amount of negative things, whether it's students or fellow teachers.
I wouldn't trade it in for any other job, but I can understand why many others do.
I am enjoying my early retirement from teaching after 24 years. The first 8 years were great. After NCLB it all became a testing game with eventually every assessment, quiz and unit test tied to a tested standard and used as a predictor of student performance on the big test. Teaching was my second career and one of the reasons I left my first one was that we were constantly playing quarterly numbers games to show growth. Teaching turned into the same thing and sadly many of the kids were turned off by the constant testing.
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Cling to that joy.
