School teacher

[diamond]

Looking at all threads about working, making me think. I think being a teacher will be nice to give flexibility to stay with kids. How does one become a teacher? I have a masters degree in biology.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Fwiw, I was chatting with one of the teachers at the kids' school one day around 5:30-6pm (many of the teachers are there 2-3 hours after the kids leave for the day) and she said she often tells friends jealous of her summers off that she works as much as they do in 12 months but she has to do it over 9-10 months instead. It's a very full time job during a lot of the school year. However, it is conducive to family life with regards to holidays, breaks, snow days (if something you might have)... I'll let someone more versed in requirements chime in. They vary by state and elementary vs secondary.

[bisous]

Looking at all threads about working, making me think. I think being a teacher will be nice to give flexibility to stay with kids. How does one become a teacher? I have a masters degree in biology.

With a degree in science you might be able to teach in High School or Jr. High without a teaching degree. I don't know if that is good idea but not too long ago CA was accepting teachers on an "emergency credential" basis. If you had a bachelors and were working towards a teaching credential, you could work temporarily in the classroom! I think that emergency credentials are no longer accepted in most subjects but the sciences and math are always looking for people. I'd check your state requirements and inquire at your local districts.

[llama8]

I am a teacher and it is not an easy job. You should get into it because you love teaching others or you have always had a desire to work with kids in a school setting. The people who get into it for summers off or time with their kids rarely last because the passion isn't there. I am not saying that is how you feel. I am just saying that you should make a list of all of the reasons you want to be a teacher and make sure it is something you want to do.

Each state is different in requirements:
In NY, you need:
- an education degree and a Master's Degree
- you need to pass 3-4 teacher exams for licensing
- many hours observing teachers
1-2 semesters of student teaching
a video test to get your license

Good luck. If it is something you are truly interested in, you should meet with a University to see what programs they would have for you. You will need to complete a degree. The science degree alone is not enough.

[acmom]

I taught (elementary and special Ed) for about 10 years until my 2nd was born. Now I am debating whether to go back or find a new field. There are lots of wonderful things about teaching and things I loved about it. However, I think sometimes its a myth that it is very family friendly While you do have the same general hours and schedule as the kids, teachers have very little flexibility in their schedule and do have to do a lot of outside of work time (especially if you were just starting out). If you are in a different district than your children, your days off and school times don't always line up. I never taught anywhere that gave you more than 1-3 days off (personal days) outside of the scheduled school vacations, which can be a challenge for attending things for your own children such as performances, dr appts etc. Many of the days off kids get, teachers don't (conference days, professional development days, summer in services, etc) so most of my teacher friends still have to have childcare in place for before/afterschool as well as those other days that occur throughout the year.

If it is something that you think you would really enjoy as a career, then I would totally go for it as it is a great field and very rewarding. But I don't think I would go into it thinking it would be great for giving flexibility to be with your kids.

[ang79]

I'm in PA and have my Elem./Early Childhood certificate in PA and MD. I taught 2 years in MD straight out of college. It was an experience! I loved both of my student teaching placements and was ery excited to have my own classroom. There were things I loved about it, but it was also very challenging coming in brand new, lots of work to make my own materials, lesson plans, etc. and not tons of teacher support from the admin. That can vary from school to school though, but it left me very stressed and not loving my job. When we relocated for DH's job, I decided to stay out of education for awhile. I've never gone back full time, but still do part time work in the field (online tutoring and last year started substituting in our district). My kids will be in 1st and 3rd this fall and I am sticking with the substituting for now. I want to be able to have the time off to volunteer in their classrooms, field trips, etc. And I'm the one who does all sick days, Dr. appts., etc., as DH doesn't get much vacation time off from his job. If I were teaching full time that would be really difficult. Thankfully we are doing fine financially, so I don't need to work full time right now. As the kids get older, not sure if I will try to get back into full time teaching or not. I would like to do something in the schools though, as the holiday/summer schedule is great for not having to find childcare (closest family are the in-laws that live 30-40 min. away, so not really practical for childcare). And I do enjoy the teaching aspect of it (though the politics and parent interactions are a less enjoyable part). Great thing about subbing is that I still get to teach and interact with the kids, but no take home work!

In our district teachers are to be in the classroom 30 min. before kids arrive. They can leave once all students dismiss, but most stay after to clean up, prep for the next day, etc. When I was teaching (before I had kids), I often would be at work 1-2 hours after students left and still took home work to do every night, weekend, and holiday!

Each state varies by requirements. If schools are desperate for good teachers, they may have emergency certification programs, especially in inner city schools I think. Many private/Christian schools also do not require a teaching certificate (my MIL has taught secondary math for two different Christian schools but does not have her certificate, thogh she has had to take some educational classes).

[PZMommy]

Each state has different requirements, so you need to check what is required by your state. Student teaching will be a full time commitment!

I disagree with the flexibility thing though. Trying to schedule all dr appointments outside of school hours is challenging. Not being able to take time off to attend my own child's school events, having to arrange for a sub if I have to stay home with a sick kid. Plus in summer you have to attend trainings and take classes so you still need child care. My oldest attends school where I teach. He hangs out in my room in the morning as I get ready and stays after to help me clean. We have professional development after school once per week and trying to find aftercare that would allow him to attend one day per week was impossible.

[niccig]

You'll still need some childcare. I'm about to start work as a SLP in a school. My contracted hours are different to a teacher, I'll finish at 4, so DS still needs to go to aftercare. The teachers I know have kids in aftercare as they can't get from their school to their child's school (if different) in time. DS will also be going to aftercare on days his school has off for staff days etc and some over the summer (I'll finish 1 week after he does in June). I won't have a sub, so if I'm out a day, I'll have to make up the missed therapy times making my work week even more crazy, so I have to be careful about taking time off. Getting Dr. appointments is already looking difficult. I'm trying to get early morning appointments as DH doesn't start work until 10, or wait until holidays for things like dental check-ups. Sick days are totally different and I'll have to negotiate with DH who takes time off.

I still think me picking up DS hopefully around 4.30 is better than picking him up at 6pm, which is what I would need to do if not working in a school. I'll also have more than 2 weeks vacation, which other jobs would give me. I will be taking work home to do, but I prefer to do that than be rushing to get work done and try to get to DS before aftercare closes - I did that for 3 months when on an internship and it added an incredible amount of stress to my day to be running into aftercare at 5:58pm. Compared to my alternatives, the schools give a better schedule, but there will still be difficulties and compromises to make.

[Simon]

You need to find out the requirements for your state because it varies wildly. Try searching for post-Bac teacher licensing programs in your state. Around here, there are several programs that take about 14 months to complete all training and student teaching. Science is considered a "high need" area so the cost is quite reasonable (around ~6-7k).