Teachers who burned out of public schools--what did you do?

[aidansmommy]

I'm feeling pretty trapped right now in my job and am not sure what to do. I'm a teacher and have been working for 10 years now in the same K-6 district. Up until this year I have just loved where I work. This year I come back to my now part-time position after a year maternity leave to a new superintendant who isn't crazy about the 1/2 position the old guy made for me and has basically been making my life really hard. He's definitely trying to find a loophole to get rid of me.
At this point, I have a 4 year old and a 1 year old and I'm just not ready for full-time work and I really feel like a need a break from the BS and politics that go on in a public school.
This is where I'm starting to feel upset because I feel like there's nothing else I can do with this teaching degree of mine and I'm feeling trapped. For instance, my SIL is a RN and she just gave up a job in the ICU of a hospital and is now doing in-home nursing and she loves is and is so happy to have a change of setting. My sister is a speech therapist and she can work in a hospital, nursing home, elementary school, do private therapy, etc. Their possibilities seem endless.
But what else can I do? Any suggestions or ideas of alternate settings or maybe even something completely different that I'd be qualified to do?
Right now I'm earning $25K a year with a 20 hour work week. So I'd like to find/do something earning in that ball park for part-time work.
Any suggestions???

[schums]

Not a teacher, but I know several who've taken breaks from teaching when they had kids. Most did private tutoring, using students/friends as a base to start with. You set the hours and the rate. Depending on where you are in the country, you can make a good living at this. Many of my friends who did this never went back to teaching -- they'd have to take a pay cut (on an hourly basis).

GL!

[MamaMolly]

I hear you on the burnout. It is AMAZING how much a difference it makes having support from admin.
When we moved to a different state I had a tough time getting a full time teaching job in the part of town where I wanted to work. I eventually ended up working at a Sylvan Learning Center and loved, loved, loved it. Initially I was just going to tutor, but I ended up being...oh, I can't remember the title now but in essence I administered testing and did light office work in addition to tutoring. It was so nice!
Now that said, I think that every Sylvan is a franchise and is run differently, so you need to consider what you think of the program and the other staff. You might also want to check out other tutoring agencies.
You have very desirable skills, so don't sell yourself short!
Good luck!

[ha98ed14]

I hear you, my DH is a public school teacher, 4th grade, and by this time of the year, he comes home most thurs and fridays feeling suber burned out.

I second Molly's Sylvan idea as an option, especially if you keep your teaching license up. Most teachers have to work full time, so there are not that many qualified ones who can "freelance" at a Sylvan or another tutoring place, yet these places LOVE to say that they have certified/ credientialed teachers as the tutors. So, if you can be free to work in the after school hours, (3-6) this could be a gold mine for you.

Another option I would encourage you to seek out is contacting some home school groups or co-ops. Here in California, most families affliliate themselves with a homeschool group. These groups often will hire a teacher to teach a class on something that the parent-teachers don't feel qualified to teach themselves. My BFF has 3 boys and homeschools her kids. She lives in CT and is part of an awesome (non-religious if that is an issue for you, there are secular ones too) homeschool co-op that teaches all kinds of cool classes. My friend has 2 masters degrees, one in children ed, so she is way qualified to teach her own kids, but she likes to take advantage of the group dynamic that the kids get through classes. It might take some effort, but the connections you make could lead to some steady work.

Good Luck!

[WatchingThemGrow]

I would be thrilled to know the the answer to this question. Having the money would be nice, but I cannot FATHOM how one could survive a full-time teaching position with little ones. In our district, it's pretty much full-time or nothing. Jobs are in high demand, so I'm just laying out and makin' do until it seems like the right thing for our family. Friends I have that try to do other side jobs are just as frantic trying to keep their homes running. Friends who are teaching with little ones are just trying to keep their head above water on a daily basis. But then again, here I sit with a filthy house and an empty fridge. What IS the perfect model of being able to get everything done and keep all the plates balanced?

[Laurel]

I've been in/have buddies in a similar situation. Some ideas:

-private tutoring (experienced teachers here charge $35-50 an hour and up, check your local craigslist for the going rate)
-college application help (again, teachers get good money for this)
-homeschool consultant
-after school program teaching/management
-hospital/home teacher for kids w/long-term health issues
-on-set teacher for children in modeling/acting
-consulting for a textbook company (around here we call it selling your soul)

hth!

[aidansmommy]

Thanks everyone, this is just the kind of information and encouragement I need. I actually stopped in at Sylvan on my way home from work today to pick up an application and there is also a Huntington Learning Center in my town that I'm going to check out.
This evening I spent some time making a rough draft of a flyer I could make to advertise my tutoring services. I've never thought about doing like this on my own--it's scary but also a little exciting. I've always had an employer, guaranteed salary, job description, etc. but tutoring out of my home could really work out if I could find enough students.
And I like the idea of looking into home schooling groups. I'm not sure if there's any in my area but I'm going to check it out.