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

not quite, my man wrote:

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.

Really? Your view of me is totally off the wall. Been in field of education at all levels for 51 years. The sinking ship is the teacher who thinks teaching is a cake job where you work from 7:30 to 2:30 and go home. Many teachers are true professionals dedicated to their jobs and the student/athletes they are educating. Sounds like you are the one that hasn't really been in a classroom.

My own experience has been that yes, kids are different today, but so is the world and. One adapts to the times and circumstances. The ability to work with others, communicating, educating, motivating has not changed. It takes a lot of creativity to be a good teacher and once students see that a teacher is competent and caring, most will respond positively. Certainly there will always be a few that don't get it, but to make it sound as if today's students are too difficult to work with is a myth. And as I said, there are plenty of challenges that keep the education profession from being boring. The teacher challenges the student and the student challenges the teacher, resulting in a stimulating and great learning experience on both sides.

Your generalizations are way off the mark.

I think it depends on your standards. I see a very disturbing trend with students coming up. It isn't their fault...it's the fault of a combination of things. Technology, parenting, and, yes, teaching. I don't necessarily think teachers are doing a poor job due to complete incompetence...I don't think our way of educating students best fits the needs of today. The cattle call way of educating doesn't work. However, I don't have solutions. With that said, there's a reason American education has fallen, and it may be due to people being happy with mediocrity. I'm not saying that's the case with you, but from what I've seen, many teachers who think they are doing a good job actually aren't...they just have lowered their standards to pacify an increasingly apathetic culture and society. I've never had issues, aside from a case or two here and there, of making relationships with individual students. Many kids consistently say they enjoy my classes more than others who teach the same subject...but, despite that, I don't see much work ethic in many of them...and I do think that begins at home. In short, in an ideal world, I agree with you...but I don't think our world is anywhere close to ideal, and we are more or less just churning out obedient workers, with little critical thinking or creative skills. To me, that is mediocrity and hard to swallow, and it is why our country is bound to fail.

Dude. Not sure what fantasy world you live in.

Most kids hate math and nothing you say or do will change that.

I have that graduate degree and can't land an admin job because so many people out there have them.

And now I'm stuck where I'm at cause no one wants a teacher with a doctoral

Degree.

And teaching/coaching is the a somut WORST gig to have from a stress point of view. You'll be driving in every Saturday for meets, late nights, dealing with patents, etc.

Please get a clue.

You are living in fantasy land. I have a feeling people laugh at you behind your back.

I hated teaching until I got into private schools. Yes, you are working almost exclusively with rich kids. Yes, some days you think the parents have literally nothing else to do with their lives than ask you repeatedly why their charming Esther got an A- and not an A. Yes, some days you will feel like you have sold society out and are doing little more than providing advantages for the already advantaged. But, you know what? Kids are kids. They don't get to choose where they grow up, they don't get to choose their backgrounds, they don't get to choose their parents or their school. Rich kids can be remarkably f--ked up just as poor kids can.

In privates you don't have to deal with all the bureaucracy, the in-fighting, the dumb as sxxt colleagues, the 40-student classrooms, the micro-managing administrators, the lack of materials, etc, etc, etc. All that is worth its weight in gold.

And we all get a 2-3 month paid vacation every year!! That is possible in no other job.

39 now. Teach hs English in NYC.

Kids don't like school because school sucks and has very little real world application. Somehow, school takes all the fun out of learning. Take a wonderful subject like history. Now look at a high school history class. Is there anything more boring and lifeless? It's not the fault of the teachers. It's how the system is set up. Also, if kids have zero discipline they shouldn't be in school. It's not the government's job to raise children.

You're a math/science teacher. Take those math skills and learn software coding. Java for Web and Android development is hot. Objective C (being replaced by Swift language) for Apple IOS is huge. Learn database. Strive to get your first gig. This might be a contract role. A degree is not required if you know your stuff. I'm a manager in a big pharma division for digital development. We can't find the candidates.

It seems that what is missing here is that you talk about being bored, etc.

With all due respect, the problem seems to be between your desk and chair.

If you teach, and only teach, you will find the whole process to be boring, tedious and rote.

Read some Vygotsky, Cummins, Krashen, Gardner, and find out lessons that can play to so many of the eight intelligences that you will be so interactive that you, and the students, could not find time in the lesson to even stifle a yawn.

Create new methods. Use your business skills and entrepreneurial spirit to encourage your students to seek new vistas. Maybe they can create their own business plans from scratch:

they could write about it (Language development)

publish "lab reports" and "studies" (science)

they could create statistics and figures and formulas (math/science)

I think leaving is the easy way out. It seems that you could be an innovator and turn their lives and your life into something that you enjoy.

If you feel this is too difficult and you want to pursue something different, that is fine, but that would mean that you weren't really sincere about the profession. If that is the case, then to me, it really does not matter what you do because it does not benefit the students.

There is a lot that you can do that I fear that you are not even trying to do.

You could do better. Leaving is hardly the solution.

But you might be correct. Be better or let someone else lead.

Students first or you first. Choose wisely.

Sincerely,

Mike, M. Ed. Cross-cultural teaching

Credentialed Teacher (Social Science) 2005-2010

College ESL Educator 2012-??

Runn262 wrote:

You're a math/science teacher. Take those math skills and learn software coding. Java for Web and Android development is hot. Objective C (being replaced by Swift language) for Apple IOS is huge. Learn database. Strive to get your first gig. This might be a contract role. A degree is not required if you know your stuff. I'm a manager in a big pharma division for digital development. We can't find the candidates.

you replied to me, i'm not a teacher, fyi

I can 10000% understand why teachers hate their jobs if this (below) is the kind of person they have to deal with. I now understand why someone above considered faking a suicide to get out of work. Ugh!

I'm guessing you are a glass half empty/grass is always greener type, and whatever else you do you will find as equally unfulfilling as teaching.

Unless you know what you want to do, I'd suggest not making a drastic move. Nobody can tell you want you should be doing. It has to come from you.

Here's what I suggest, work at being the best you can be at your current job. The absolute best. Then notice what parts of your job you find most fulfilling. Then figure out how you can do more of that, and less of the parts you find less fulfilling.

If you are the absolute best teacher at your school, at your district, in your state, you will be able to start calling your own shots to a larger degree.

It might also lead to finding an golden opportunity - possibly in something other than teaching.

You really never find fulfillment by constantly searching for what's around the corner. Right now. Today. You are a teacher. That is what you are. Do the absolute best you can at it.

How can you present the material in the best way possible to the students. How can you learn the material so well that any question is a snap to answer. How can you maximize the students time in your class. How can you give the students the best possible experience from you. Every day figure out how you could have done better.

Maybe you need to work on your presentation skills. Maybe your knowledge of the subject. Or maybe you need to work on developing a better lesson plan. Or stories, analogies, or new techniques for helping students learn and absorb the material.

here is the problem, you are speaking about theory and it sounds logical in theory, but the reality is that "being the best teacher" will get you fired in the f#cked up world of government bureaucracy. That sound like an absurd statement, but anyone who has any experience with the FUBAR knows what I'm talking about. They don't care about quality and innovation, they care about riduculuous rules and absurd measurements

How about investment banking? Guaranteed to have no free time, low job security, and the highest scrutiny on performance, but you'll likely get paid decently and not be bored.

Okay, so you've clearly contradicted yourself here. You say that you want to potentially be self-employed (consultant) but your risk tolerance is very low. You do not have an entrepreneurial mindset if you readily admit that your risk tolerance is very low. Further, you go on to say that you hate sales and feel that marketing is *vain*. Good luck being self-employed if you hate sales and marketing.

1.) You say you want to try software engineering/programming? Try any of the dozens of free online tutorials (dataquest, code academy, tutorialspoint). If you like it, keep learning new languages and work on solo projects. Or, you can try a coding boot camp. They last 10-20 weeks and the cost is significantly lower than a degree. Plus, you have a good chance of getting hired into an entry level programming, design, or UX position because you're cheaper to employ. We have a number of people who graduated from various boot camps working at my firm. Programming is turning into a blue-collar profession. It's not hard to get in the door if you can show some basic proficiency.

2.) Forget about consulting for now. What do you think consulting consists of? Selling and marketing yourself as a valuable asset. As someone who works as a contractor and a self-employed consultant on the side, I promise you that your business is only as good as your marketing and sales ability (aside from actually being an expert). That brings me to my next point, you're not an expert in anything except teaching. You wont be an expert in your new job and it will show. Become an expert in something and then think about consulting, not the other way around. It's foolish and naive of you to think that you can pick up a brand new career and become a consultant in that field right away.

6th through 8th grade my teachers were some of the most grumpy, jaded, and just generally unpleasant people I was ever taught by. One let slip one day while yelling at the class, "you think I want to be here!?". They made our lives miserable, so we consciously returned the favor.

Years later my wife taught JH, and I can see why a room full of kids that age can take their toll. It takes a particular kind of personality to not get frustrated. She is now in the high school and likes it a lot better. Coaching is her primary passion and is what keeps her going.

Switching gears, here is some info on being an engineer. I'm a civil PE and work in the water/wastewater industry.

- 4 year degree. You might have 2 years already done with a math or science degree.

- Your degree will only give you the theoretical background to learn an industry and zero real world knowledge. You have to work for someone at first. Some industries require a PE license, which takes 4 years experience.

- 100% a desk job. Hours usually in the 40s.

- Human interaction can vary from almost zero to moderate if in a manager role.

- The end product once something is built is satisfying. The occasional higher level problem solving is also very satisfying, but the reality is most problems have already been solved and you just copy/paste. Everything requires attention to detail, so even if it's not difficult work, you always have to be mentally engaged. It can be tedious and repetitive.

- Starting your own business takes a high level of expertise gained through years of slaving away for someone else, with few exceptions. You can go the solo route (usually providing some very specific service), or you can start your own firm.

Overall, not a good career for someone who gets bored easily, because you won't make it long enough to become a manager or strike out on your own.

An engineering degree can also be parlayed into a technical sales position for some manufacturer. People fall into these after a few years working in an industry, not right out of school. You'll travel, give technical presentations to potential clients, and usually be the first point of contact for technical support after they've purchased the product.

Solid post. I can tell that you are an engineer.

Exactly. And note how the expert is teaching at a college and not kids in a classroom.

Also, dude, you need to get out of middle school. No adult human should have to deal with their emotional swings, their neediness, their lack of hygiene, and their in-class ejaculations. You'll encounter all that in high school, of course, but just with less drama.

If you believe that then you should become a teacher! Teaching, at least to me, is not at all how you described it - sure there are a group of kids that love to be challenged and it's great to see them learn but those "facts" aren't new for you! It's the same curriculum you have to teach year after year. The only change is in the way you can teach it and that is just a bunch of bogged down boring theory and politics with coworkers. To boot, 90% of my coworkers couldn't do a basic physics problem or name 3 leaders of other countries. Again their are some genius teachers but they are few and far between. of course it is an honorable profession.