Questions for teachers here

[trcy]

I know there is quite a few of you. I am try to figure out what I want to do with my life after DS starts school. Anything will likely involve me going back to school. I already have one degree I will likely never use again. So I am trying to avoid that again. Teacher is one career path that has crossed my mind.
So....
What do you love about your job?
What do you hate about your job?
What do you wish you knew about teaching before getting into the field?

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[umsh]

Here’s a thread from not too long ago that has some good insights

Calling all (former or current) teachers!
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?share_fid=23005&share_tid=504775&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwindsorpeak%2Ecom%2Fvbulletin%2Fs howthread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D504775&share_type=t


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[marymoo86]

Keep portability in mind as well as you search - I think I recall a potential move?

I was just in the Asheville area over Thanksgiving and got a "birds eye" view of the surrounding areas :)

[trcy]

Keep portability in mind as well as you search - I think I recall a potential move?

I was just in the Asheville area over Thanksgiving and got a "birds eye" view of the surrounding areas :)We are actually going to visit the Asheville area at the end of the month. Our biggest concern is the cold. We are wimps, lol. We figured December/January would give us a good idea of the worst of it.

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[mom2binsd]

I have a lot of friends who are teachers and worked wihr teaches for many years. They take a lot of work home, especially in the first 5 years, but even after that, so much marking and prep. You will need to figure out before and after school care for sure. Depending on the area the salary may not be worth it.

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[DualvansMommy]

I have a lot of friends who are teachers and worked wihr teaches for many years. They take a lot of work home, especially in the first 5 years, but even after that, so much marking and prep. You will need to figure out before and after school care for sure. Depending on the area the salary may not be worth it.

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ITA! In my state, teachers make decent salaries especially those with Masters and few years of teaching experience under their belt. Easily in range of 70K and higher; the longer at district, etc but they also do a ton of work before and after school, and at home too. They also rely a lot on childcare or wraparound services if they also have young kids because they need to leave house before their own kids get picked up by their school buses.


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[AngB]

I have a lot of friends who are teachers and worked wihr teaches for many years. They take a lot of work home, especially in the first 5 years, but even after that, so much marking and prep. You will need to figure out before and after school care for sure. Depending on the area the salary may not be worth it.

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This. I just graduated from ultrasound school last December. I am PRN and only work as much as I want, which for most of this year has been 2-3 times a week, with multiple entire weeks off. I have already made more working this year- extremely part time-then I did my first year teaching full-time. (And teaching full time, I was working 6:30 am until 9pm most days, weekends, days off, etc. ) I quit teaching after we lost our daughter and after having kids, decided for the amount of hours it required would never pay enough to be worth it (especially for Comm Arts). Most teachers in our area- midwest- are not making anywhere near 70k even with masters and years of experience...(more like in the 50k range.)

[NCGrandma]

If you’re considering a move to the Asheville area, I’d be very surprised if even experienced teachers make anywhere near 70K. I don’t have current info about N.C. teacher salaries, but others here probably do.


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[trcy]

If you’re considering a move to the Asheville area, I’d be very surprised if even experienced teachers make anywhere near 70K. I don’t have current info about N.C. teacher salaries, but others here probably do.


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[PZMommy]

What I love is working with my students. If I could just close my door and teach my kids what they need to know, life would be great! I love all the silly stories my kids tell me, and the smiles and hugs I get everyday from my current and former students. I’ve had kids come back from college and stop by to say hi. I love getting to work with families. I often have younger siblings of former students, and it is fun to watch them grow over the years and then finally have them in your class.

What I hate is all the unnecessary testing, time devoted to practice for testing, paperwork, beaurocracy, and did I mention testing?? The amount of time I have to spend testing kindergarteners is crazy! It only gets worse as they get in the higher grades. Also you get blamed for all that is wrong with education and students not learning.

What I didn’t know, but wish I did. The amount of work time you will spend outside of school is much greater than you will anticipate. Most of my summer is spent prepping for the next year. I spend several hours every night gradiing papers, prepping projects, etc. You will be teaching many students who have had trauma in their life or who have special needs. You will not have adequate training in working with these students, and you will not get enough services to help them as much as you want to. You will miss out on events and activities at your own child’s school. I never get to go to their first day of school or last day of school. I use most of my sick days to attend programs or events at their school. I have to pay for before and after care as I have to be at school long before I can drop them off at school, and can pick them up. Both DH and I are teachers, but if your spouse has a more flexible job, some of these may not be as big of a deal. You will spend a ton of your own money to buy supplies and materials for your students and classroom. The amount you spend to get your teaching credential is ridiculous to what you will actually make. We can’t even afford a house in the district we teach in. We live paycheck to paycheck, and I have no clue how we will survive an upcoming teacher’s strike. Again, if your DH has a better job, that may not be a concern to you.

To be honest, if I had to chose a career today, I would not go into teaching. I would find another career that would allow me to work with kids.

[jgenie]

This. I just graduated from ultrasound school last December. I am PRN and only work as much as I want, which for most of this year has been 2-3 times a week, with multiple entire weeks off. I have already made more working this year- extremely part time-then I did my first year teaching full-time. (And teaching full time, I was working 6:30 am until 9pm most days, weekends, days off, etc. ) I quit teaching after we lost our daughter and after having kids, decided for the amount of hours it required would never pay enough to be worth it (especially for Comm Arts). Most teachers in our area- midwest- are not making anywhere near 70k even with masters and years of experience...(more like in the 50k range.)

What kind of schooling is ultrasound school? Is it a community college or university track? How long did the schooling take? What is the salary range? Are jobs plentiful?

[umsh]

What I love is working with my students. If I could just close my door and teach my kids what they need to know, life would be great! I love all the silly stories my kids tell me, and the smiles and hugs I get everyday from my current and former students. I’ve had kids come back from college and stop by to say hi. I love getting to work with families. I often have younger siblings of former students, and it is fun to watch them grow over the years and then finally have them in your class.

What I hate is all the unnecessary testing, time devoted to practice for testing, paperwork, beaurocracy, and did I mention testing?? The amount of time I have to spend testing kindergarteners is crazy! It only gets worse as they get in the higher grades. Also you get blamed for all that is wrong with education and students not learning.

What I didn’t know, but wish I did. The amount of work time you will spend outside of school is much greater than you will anticipate. Most of my summer is spent prepping for the next year. I spend several hours every night gradiing papers, prepping projects, etc. You will be teaching many students who have had trauma in their life or who have special needs. You will not have adequate training in working with these students, and you will not get enough services to help them as much as you want to. You will miss out on events and activities at your own child’s school. I never get to go to their first day of school or last day of school. I use most of my sick days to attend programs or events at their school. I have to pay for before and after care as I have to be at school long before I can drop them off at school, and can pick them up. Both DH and I are teachers, but if your spouse has a more flexible job, some of these may not be as big of a deal. You will spend a ton of your own money to buy supplies and materials for your students and classroom. The amount you spend to get your teaching credential is ridiculous to what you will actually make. We can’t even afford a house in the district we teach in. We live paycheck to paycheck, and I have no clue how we will survive an upcoming teacher’s strike. Again, if your DH has a better job, that may not be a concern to you.

To be honest, if I had to chose a career today, I would not go into teaching. I would find another career that would allow me to work with kids.

Yes! Everything PZMommy said! I love teaching and believe it is a calling, but it is not at all easy to teach and have young kids (or maybe older kids too, don’t know as mine are still young). Maybe it’d be easier if I didn’t have such a long “break” while I stayed home with my kids. I always wanted to stay at home anyway, but with twins and another soon after, we literally would have been losing money with me working for several years bc the salary is so low where we live (and I have a Masters and dual certification).

I thought I’d go back when my youngest went to kindergarten, but the kids all started a new school that year, so I wanted to take that year for myself and be really involved at their school. Then as I began exploring going back for the current school year, I realized with DH’s crazy travel schedule (he’s gone most weeks), it would have put a huge strain on our family life. The reason for that is all the time and effort outside of the school day that is necessary to be prepared for the following day...there just wouldn’t be any time for my own kids at all, especially since I’d be kind of starting fresh after 10+ years out of the field. Like PZMommy said, if your DH has a flexible job or can be consistently available, it can work. For us, it wasn’t practical. I wish there were a way to work part time, but it’s pretty much unheard of in elementary (and I don’t think it’s common in upper grades either). Definitely look closely at the salary scale wherever you end up moving to, where I live I’d likely be starting in the mid 40s and likely would never hit 60k.




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[umsh]

What kind of schooling is ultrasound school? Is it a community college or university track? How long did the schooling take? What is the salary range? Are jobs plentiful?

I’m curious about all this too. And you’re pregnant AngB right? Can you take off as much time as you want after you have the baby? What do you think going back to work with a baby will look like in your situation?


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[hbridge]

For a few years, I worked 20 hours a week as an Tier 1 support teacher. I loved my students and I loved my job, BUT... I made barely enough to cover the cost of working (morning extended day for my kids, a work wardrobe, convenience foods/takeout, ect) AND I worked at least 6 hours a day (getting paid for 4); in school for 4 and then at least two hours every day at home doing paperwork and making sure I had targeted lessons for all of my students. I had one planning block each WEEK so I did most reports on my own time. I had a caseload of 25 kids (all well below grade level) who I saw weekly and needed to have reports written regularly. I supported 4 teachers, attending their classes and helping as needed. The job was great, but required much more than the school realized if the job was to be done correctly.

I left after two years because it was wreaking havoc with my own family... So, be prepared for a LOT more work than you anticipate.

[WatchingThemGrow]

For a few years, I worked 20 hours a week as an Tier 1 support teacher. I loved my students and I loved my job, BUT... I made barely enough to cover the cost of working (morning extended day for my kids, a work wardrobe, convenience foods/takeout, ect) AND I worked at least 6 hours a day (getting paid for 4); in school for 4 and then at least two hours every day at home doing paperwork and making sure I had targeted lessons for all of my students. I had one planning block each WEEK so I did most reports on my own time. I had a caseload of 25 kids (all well below grade level) who I saw weekly and needed to have reports written regularly. I supported 4 teachers, attending their classes and helping as needed. The job was great, but required much more than the school realized if the job was to be done correctly.

I left after two years because it was wreaking havoc with my own family... So, be prepared for a LOT more work than you anticipate.

Thanks for sharing this! I have been hoping for a part-time position and was offered one (just like this) last year. Then they said I needed to be full-time, which I did for 3.5 months. It was way too much of exactly what you describe. I was invited to do 2 long term sub jobs to start this year, but they were too much for us. DH couldn’t easily fill in the gaps and maintain his work comfortably. I have been hoping for 20hrs/week intervention support position but need to be realistic about how disruptive it would really be to our family. I was driving home from DD’s middle school basketball game last night thanking the Lord that I didn’t have to get everything ready to teach the next morning and I had energy to talk with my daughter about her time at the game and about how she was concerned about a teammate’s mental health. If I was working, I’d be missing out.



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[marymoo86]

We are actually going to visit the Asheville area at the end of the month. Our biggest concern is the cold. We are wimps, lol. We figured December/January would give us a good idea of the worst of it.

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If I recall you don't want to be in Asheville proper? I think you would like Hendersonville/Flat Rock area a lot or maybe Swannanoa. Definitely check them out as it has really cool eateries and local flavor. I prefer that side more than west of Asheville until you get to Dillsboro/Bryson City but that's too far to commute. One thing to consider though is availability of internet service the further you get from Asheville.

It really doesn't get all that cold on average but of course is dependent on how high of elevation you go. There will be of course cold spells but not long streaks of never ending cold :)

https://www.exploreasheville.com/iconic-asheville/about-asheville/weather/

[marymoo86]

If you’re considering a move to the Asheville area, I’d be very surprised if even experienced teachers make anywhere near 70K. I don’t have current info about N.C. teacher salaries, but others here probably do.


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It's an idea we are thinking about. Not even close to happening. A lot of other things would need to happen first.

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This is accurate - maybe teachers in Raleigh, Charlotte, etc with multiple years of experience would get 69K+ and would include supplements for additional certs/activity in school as well as the county supplement which varies.
I think WNC would be way more budget challenged than the more metro counties:

https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2016/09/26/how-much-do-wnc-teachers-really-make/90840178/

[kdeunc]

This is accurate - maybe teachers in Raleigh, Charlotte, etc with multiple years of experience would get 69K+ and would include supplements for additional certs/activity in school as well as the county supplement which varies.
I think WNC would be way more budget challenged than the more metro counties:

https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2016/09/26/how-much-do-wnc-teachers-really-make/90840178/

Yes to the above. If you are considering a move to NC you definitely need to research teacher pay in NC. In my county I personally know teachers with 20+years experience and master's degrees that are not making $50K. A close friend is an Assistant Principal in a middle school, multiple master's degrees and almost 20 years in the school system and she is not at $50K.