Teaching is killing me! Letsrun help with my career transition!

Bentberunner wrote:

Problem is when you have 14 years, a masters, and close to a doctoral. No one wants to hire you.

I'm sure I just don't wanna teach anymore. It has been 14 years and was a great experience. But at this point I just want out.

The district I am with is not bad really. Good kids , a few goofy ones, and my class sizes are tiny. Most teachers would say I have it easy.

I just get tired of it. I do t care for my boss either.

You are tired of your job and have some issues with your boss? Really? I've never heard of someone being in that situation. Very unusual.

(Sorry for being a smart ass.)

seriously man out of respect, you have no clue.

teachers are contracted to work for 181 days that is what the contract is. essentially we chose to get paid in 12 installments..but we should be paid for all our salary by the end of the school year.

a teacher signs a contract and gets off time and everyone throws a fit

a pro athlete signs a contract and only has to play for 5 months nfl..AND no one blinks and eye.

also, I worked in the summers my first 10 years. as do many teachers. I taught summer school to supplement my income (only made 28k first year).

many teachers at my school work in stores or as waiters over the summer.

so be careful what you say

Fool, stop bitching and accrue vesting time toward that pension. You are one of the few lucky people in this shiiit country that can count on a pension and you're going to give that up midstream, to take on something else that you have no idea about? I want to bitch slap you right now.

STFU and keep with the job. Work is called work because it is work. It just is. Again, SHUT UP, adjust your expectations, keep your idiotic head down, do your job and retire when able.

It really is that simple. Change for the sake of change accomplishes nothing, and in this society having that pension could mean the difference between a roof over your head in old age and begging.

Material needs and concrete plans ALWAYS ahead of dreams. ALWAYS.

lol, yeah yeah yeah

I have heard that before

not sure in IL that pension will even be there

and cant anyone start their own 401k or 403b???

just saying

Have thought a great deal about this - Answers below if it helps you guys analyze me:- money, how important?, what is enough?, goals, etc. I would say lower importance than most of my peers. I would be happy with 35-50k for the first 3-5 years with a top out around 70k. Although wouldn't say no to more ;-)- locationNot a biggie either. Would be happy with a small town but I do like the ocean...- lifestyleFor the first 5-10 years I would say 60-70 hours max. I don't need to enjoy every evening/weekend but wouldn't mind a few weeks off a year to travel. Ongoing (let's say from 40 - 65) I would ideally like 35-45 hours a week and spend heaps of time with family. - travel tolerance / preferencedon't mind work travel at all. no preference here. - work employee or run your own thingIf I could leverage a profession into my own consulting biz eventually that would be ideal. I really value autonomy - more so than $. - small company enviro or large corpsmall company 100% - risk toleranceUsed to be high but I would say now a lot lower. I am thinking family in the next 5-10. - what are your financial responsibilities (kids, wife?)None yet but marriage in 2-3 and kid in 5-7 years are goals. - working at a desk vs. outsideI like being outside but cannot think of 1 job that is engaging, good autonomy, flexible to travel, skillset to consult etc. etc. that is primarily outside. - working with people all the time (sales?) vs. working mostly on your ownCombo. I hate sales and feel marketing is vein. - work schedule pain threshold60-70 hours a week for the first few years then 35-45 after 40yo.

john utah wrote:

You gotta analyze this thing and do it on paper.

So many questions that you need to answer for yourself...in addition to the choice of field

- money, how important?, what is enough?, goals, etc.

- location

- lifestyle

- travel tolerance / preference

- work employee or run your own thing

- small company enviro or large corp

- risk tolerance

- what are your financial responsibilities (kids, wife?)

- work environment

- working at a desk vs. outside

- working with people all the time (sales?) vs. working mostly on your own

- work schedule pain threshold, i.e. - working long hours and weekends or do you want to be home early in the evening most nights?

Also to those couple posters calling me a whiner and saying teaching is a great gig with summer off, pension, stability etc. why don't you become a teacher? Why isn't everyone a teacher?

Trust me - it's not hard to become a teacher.

Why are you still here? STFU you whiny little bitch and get back to work. You hate your job. So what? Would you like to be able to retire some day? That pension will be gold, dopus. I hate you and I don't even know you, but I seriously hate you.

not a betting man wrote:

Also to those couple posters calling me a whiner and saying teaching is a great gig with summer off, pension, stability etc. why don't you become a teacher? Why isn't everyone a teacher?

Trust me - it's not hard to become a teacher.

Mooiiiisssttt wrote:

Why are you still here? STFU you whiny little bitch and get back to work. You hate your job. So what? Would you like to be able to retire some day? That pension will be gold, dopus.

I hate you and I don't even know you, but I seriously hate you.

not a betting man wrote:

Also to those couple posters calling me a whiner and saying teaching is a great gig with summer off, pension, stability etc. why don't you become a teacher? Why isn't everyone a teacher?

Trust me - it's not hard to become a teacher.

Dude! WTF?

Not a betting man is being totally reasonable. He's just expressing his situations and feelings in an honest way. Lighten up. Not sure if you are being sarcastic or not.

Teaching is not some dream job. It doesn't pay super well, and dealing with little sociopaths all day long (which, essentially, is what most kids are until their brains are fully developed) is draining. When you throw in the facts that most parents and administrators are morons and the people that are making the important decisions about education (government types) are clueless and disconnected, it's not too hard to understand why so many teachers hate their jobs. However, it does give me three months off every year, so that's why I've stayed in it. I'm 34 now, and I am literally sick to my stomach at the thought of going back to school in a few weeks. I honestly cannot envision doing this job much longer...I'd be willing to give up the extended time off if I could find a better alternative. To people who say teachers have it made...try it for a year, and then tell me your opinion. Yeah, summers are awesome, but to get to summer, you have to deal with nine months of utter hell. I don't even think the kids are the worst of it. Most kids are tolerable, and there are some classes I sort of enjoy. The idiot administrators and the parents who literally teach their kids nothing of value is the worst part because they perpetuate the problems.

Thanks but I wouldn't even bother responding to this guy - he's just being an idiot.

John Utah wrote:

Mooiiiisssttt wrote:

Why are you still here? STFU you whiny little bitch and get back to work. You hate your job. So what? Would you like to be able to retire some day? That pension will be gold, dopus.

I hate you and I don't even know you, but I seriously hate you.

Dude! WTF?

Not a betting man is being totally reasonable. He's just expressing his situations and feelings in an honest way. Lighten up. Not sure if you are being sarcastic or not.

I used to teach. I am being totally honest when I say that, if it were socially acceptable, I'd probably take a job getting gang raped every day while getting paid 15,000 per year less over having to teach again. Seriously. During my second-to-last year of teaching, I considered faking a suicide attempt in order to get out of the last month of the school year. I'm not even joking. I thought that I'd take some pills, get my stomach pumped, and then check into a rehabilitation clinic for a month, ensuring that I wouldn't have to return to school. That's how much I hated teaching. It was then that I knew I had to look for another job. A little over a year later, I got a job as a mailman, and my life has been smooth sailing every since.

Bentberunner wrote:

Problem is when you have 14 years, a masters, and close to a doctoral. No one wants to hire you.

I'm sure I just don't wanna teach anymore. It has been 14 years and was a great experience. But at this point I just want out.

The district I am with is not bad really. Good kids , a few goofy ones, and my class sizes are tiny. Most teachers would say I have it easy.

I just get tired of it. I do t care for my boss either.

Try to get into the district office.

Try things during the summer (there's summer internships out there). Kick butt, make friends with the boss and see if you get hired on there if you like it

This guy said it perfect.

Good ideas. Problem is to get into DO you usually need to put in a few years as an assistant principal and I don't want to do that.

I get that 100%, but just know that the teaching profession is not unique in that regard. Plenty of frustration to go around in almost any other vocation. That my experience anyhow.

I work in the business world. For me, my job is probably 25% great/satisfying/fulfilling, 25% total frustration and unhappiness, and 50% "just work", grinding it out.

I, too, teach. I, too, hate it, with all the passion I possess in my very being. How do I cope? you wonder. Well...it is simple. I spend every school night in perpetual attacks of anxiety, wondering what will go wrong the following school day. On weekends, I enjoy my Friday night and Saturdays. On Sunday mornings, I begin to dread the coming five days. This is the cycle. Sometimes, I think of ending it all. Others, I drift off in a daydream, thinking of what could have been. Often, I wonder what could be done to change my station in life. Always, I come back to the reality of the decisions I've made to bring me to this place...to this immovable stone of mediocrity which will never quite make it up the steep hill of acceptance. My fate is assured; however, a deep part of me longs to rebel. But to what? Surely, I could never give up the comfort of knowing that which devours my soul will always be there...right? I could never take a chance on an uncertain future, without the crutch of undeniable monotony...or, maybe, I could cut the strings which bind me and begin anew. Ha, silly fool...you will never succeed in the real world. Stay where you are, grown child, for your destiny is already known. And I weep.

John Utah, that is true. My wife works in the business world (she's a director of a fairly successful company), but she tends to agree that teaching would be worse. Kids are different today than when we were in school, and that's not just misremembering my childhood. The breakdown of the American family has led to kids not being taught basic values. So many kids do not respect authority at all...and it's not because they are questioning things for growth and understanding purposes (which I urge); it's because they have parents that have taught them nothing but hate and argumentative behavior. So many people have kids who should not be having kids, and that is the root of the problem. Throw in idiot administrators (why is it that the dumbest people I know in education tend to have graduate degrees?) and clueless and inadequate government intervention, and, my friend, you have a clusterf#$@ that will likely never be fixed. As George Carlin said, this nation is on the downhill slide, and those in education have a front row seat of what's to come.

I am a bit confused. How can you be "bored" when you deal with a room full of young minds that need and want to be challenged with new facts, concepts and want to learn how math and science complement each other. How can you be bored if, being a runner, you might want to supplement your income with being a coach to young people who are enthusiastic and keen on becoming a better athlete and human being. How can you be bored if you decide to become an administrator by going back to school and getting an advanced degree.

Seems to me you are not bored, but short sighted. I have a close friend who taught history, coached track, became a Principal and is now retired, making over $130,000 a year for his pension with no cost or deductibles for his health plan. He was not bored. He was farsighted and was doubly rewarded, financially and by helping so many young people build their own careers after graduating from high school and college.

Teaching is a very honorable profession for those who are willing to help others grow and develop their talents.

justthefacts, most kids (though, there are some) do not strive to be challenged. You view teaching in an idealistic manner. Visit a classroom and witness what goes on. Even the best teachers are having extreme difficulties in today's day and age. There's a reason most who enter the profession tend to bail after less than 5 years...and it's not because they aren't qualified or don't care. It's because they know a sinking ship when they see it.