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Hey Everyone. I am sure everyone is sick of these teaching threads so I am sorry in advance =) Here's my situation:
I have always wanted to teach but the want to be in the corporate world won me over in college and here I am... 25yrs old and hating my job. I keep coming back to teaching but after reading the threads on here I am even more confused. So I need some advice...
*What are the steps I need to take to start the process? Any programs that anyone recommends? (I have my bachelor's degree in Communications and live in the SouthPark area) Also, I can't afford to not work and just take classes so I need either a program where you teach and take classes or night programs or something where I'm still making some $$.
*If I get my license in NC can I still apply for a teaching job in York County if need be?
*With so many elementary education majors in this area will I be setting myself up for rejection or being placed in a horrible school system??
So all you teachers or "my spouse is a teacher"'s out there if you could shed any light on my situation I would really appreciate it. Thank you!!!
*What are the steps I need to take to start the process? Any programs that anyone recommends? (I have my bachelor's degree in Communications and live in the SouthPark area) Also, I can't afford to not work and just take classes so I need either a program where you teach and take classes or night programs or something where I'm still making some $$. My hubby goes to UNCC and is currently in their fast track program. You can work during this program, as all classes are in the evening. He is a teacher assistant right now. This program takes 1 year and you will have your teaching license. This is a program that you can do as long as you already have a bachelor's degree.
*If I get my license in NC can I still apply for a teaching job in York County if need be? From what I understand, you will be able to apply for the SC license by having your NC license so that shouldn't be a problem.
*With so many elementary education majors in this area will I be setting myself up for rejection or being placed in a horrible school system?? No, because most of the college students leave the state of NC and go elsewhere to teach. Most districts are always in need of teachers especially if they really want to be teaching.
Good Luck! Both my husband and best friend have done this in their late 20's in the last two years and though it doesn't pay well, the happiness is worth it!
you sound like me - but I never followed through with the teaching.. now I am 32 - I ould kick my self in the butt for not changing from communications, training career - now I stay at home with kids but once they go to school - I would love to be a teacher and be on the same schedule - do it you will be so glad you did!!! Queens college also has a program - you do not need your masters and they are begging for teachers here! Good luck! I may go back to school once my kids are in school - but if you can do it now do it!!
Thank you for the advice! I am looking into the UNCC program and the Queens as we speak. I can't wait to finally love what I do and make a difference in someone's life. =)
I have a friend that left her job in corporate America in order to teach and had a very bad experience. So I'll play devils advocate. Realize that they don't pay teachers much in this area, which is very sad IMO. Also, since she was new, she didn't get placed in a very "good" school and wound up at some inner city school where she was a glorified babysitter since the children were intereted in everything else, but learning. She was able to work into a "better" school but it wasn't the storybook tale of going in every day and making a difference in someones life.
Anyway, I have a great amount of respect for teachers and the job they do. I feel that they deserve the utmost respect and definitely a higher salary.
Thank you Jake Ryan for the reality check. But in my current corporate america job I am making very little so it won't be that much of a shock. I am hoping at some point there will be a change in the way that teacher's get paid. Maybe someone will pass a law that makes all the hollywood actors and athletes give up their money to teachers =) that would be nice!
I looked into this as well. CPCC, the community college, also has a program with UNCC so you can take most of the classes at the community college and save money on tuition. Not sure all the details as I decided not to do it, but it may be worth checking into!!! Also, depending where you are Wingate has a program and they have a campus in Matthews I believe and I think it is cheaper than UNCC. Good luck!
Thank you Jake Ryan for the reality check. But in my current corporate america job I am making very little so it won't be that much of a shock. I am hoping at some point there will be a change in the way that teacher's get paid. Maybe someone will pass a law that makes all the hollywood actors and athletes give up their money to teachers =) that would be nice!
At least if you get paid less in the corporate world you don't have all the other issues dealt with in teaching. It's very emotionally draining. Especially in the low income areas. The kids have messed up lives and other issues that come into the classroom and affect everything. They have an attitude about the themselves and the world. Poverty brings on a horrible mind set, understandably so, but it's a vicious cycle that a fleet of teacher can not change. Society needs to change. And in the nicer areas you have stuck up parents who want to tell you how to do your job, and hover over you and don't like this or that. So you don't get any respect in any grouping, and the money isn't worth it, you spend lots of extra time, and some kids are sweet but it's not enough some times. The teachers that I know who have been teaching for 20 plus years they are burnt out, they still verbally say the positive things about helping kids but they are really beat down. I have done it for two years and really don't think I can handle much more. I think the biggest thing for me is the attitude from students and parents that gets me down the most. Id rather work a 9 to 5 in a ****ty corporate office where they don't know me and don't respect me and leave at the end of the day done with my day and no other thought to it instead of constantly thinking about these kids and what else I can do to help and how to teach better and spending so much time trying to make things fun, buying supplies and then still not being respected and mostly shoved in a corner to just babysit and not rock the boat. I would say don't do it. Even though you may have good days the next one is bad and you go through an emotional roller coaster all the time. I feel beat down and am beyond exhausted at the end of the day. And I am a very professional teacher who does everything I am supposed to. I have good classroom control. None of my issues are way out there, it's just my ending state of being is too much. Find another corporate job, there are lots of easy going ok ones that would pay more then teaching and would not drain the life out of you.
This was interesting to read that NC grads head out of state, because grads from the north are heading south for the teaching jobs in NC. Why are they leaving NC?
You should do a job shadow before you put all your effort/money into this new career. I went back and got a degree in education and taught 6 months and that was enough for me. You have to realize, in my job there seemed to be very little teaching and more to do with dealing with situations that made me uncomfortable. Like, unruly students, students with non supportive parents, poor students who you find out their only meal is at school. Plus on top of it all, I had to live w/ my family b/c I wasn't making enough to support myself. It was too much for me to handle. So I went back out in the corp. world and did quite well.
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