Considering a switch to Teaching

[journey137]

I’m not a teacher, but I know quite a few of them. They all like to be around other people, they all enjoy talking, and they all don’t mind telling a kid to sit down, shut up, and pay attention. I don’t know where you live, but around here only the administration makes that much money. The actual teachers make half that even if they’ve been teaching for years. It is a small town with a very low cost of living, but if you compare their salaries to other jobs, they usually make less. One of my friends used to manage a bar before his teaching days. He always told his students that dealing with them was nothing compared to dealing with a bunch of drunks at closing time. If you become a teacher you’re going to have a ton of red tape to go through, a ton of papers to grade, many apathetic students that don’t want to be there, many disappointments because students aren’t doing their best, and general frustrations with dealing with kids on a daily basis. You will also have good things, but I think you already know the good things. Try being a sub in your school district and see how that works out. I think in my area you just have to have 50 college hours in anything and pass a background check to be a sub.

Kudos to you for hearing the call and responding to it.

 

[Sweeney]

My Daughter is in her second year teaching 8th grade reading, and really seems to love it. She started at about $30,000 per year, and they just got a raise from their new contract - not bad for a 25 year old, I’d say. She likes having the summer off, and works for County Parks & Rec as a day camp counselor in the summer and gets double paid.

My parents were both high school teachers, so I’d say that even thought it wasn’t the profession fpr me personally, if you feel drawn to it, go for it.

 

[darthsmozers]

God gives many good things for us. But He also gives us desires and passion so that we know what to choose.

I like this. I have heard a similar quote used before - “God allows us to desire not what we want, but what He wants of us.”

Awesome, and thank you for the reply and the prayers

 

[darthsmozers]

My Daughter is in her second year teaching 8th grade reading, and really seems to love it. She started at about $30,000 per year, and they just got a raise from their new contract - not bad for a 25 year old, I’d say. She likes having the summer off, and works for County Parks & Rec as a day camp counselor in the summer and gets double paid.

My parents were both high school teachers, so I’d say that even thought it wasn’t the profession fpr me personally, if you feel drawn to it, go for it.

Thanks! I guess the area I’m in is one of the fastest-growing counties in the country, economically and also in populations. Starting salary is about 43 or 44 k or so… which as I mentioned above is a few thousand more than I started out at last year with my gov’t contractor job (41k). But, the cost of living here is also much higher too, so i suppose it balances out… maybe Im just naive since I’ve only been a college graduate for a year

Thank you for the support

 

[darthsmozers]

You sound like you have your head on straight and are aware of both sides of the track. As you said, the income appears to be equal to what you are working now, so it wouldn’t be too much of a change.

I always said that I would not marry a teacher (my dad is an engineer/chemist with his master’s degree, so he’s always been on the upper-end of income) because they made squat and I wanted a big family. However, when I met my husband, I knew we could make it work. Besides, he’s in high demand, being a math teacher and a male, so employment and being able to find a job with a higher-end of the teaching income is much easier for him. I do make more than him right now, but I plan to quit this job once the baby comes. In fact, we’re looking to move which would mean a serious pay-cut in the beginning so we can find an area not so close to the city and a less expensive area to live as well as close to a university where he could easily continue his studies.

Many schools will pay for your education, should you pursue a master’s degree, especially if they are inner-city. That’s also something to consider.

Thank you thank you for the kind words I’d defnitely consider a masters degree - I actually enjoy the idea of continued learning, especially being able to return to my alma mater Let’s Go Mason! hahaha.

I know if it were only me for life, I’d jump in right away. But considering someday I hope to be married and have a family, I need to keep that in mind too. Perhaps God will bless me with marrying someone who won’t mind humble beginnings

 

[AirForceMama]

My degree is in music education, but I ended up teaching high school math for a semester. WOW. I ended up following the salary trail and I ended up in IT for a huge company, but this fall I will be starting my Masters in Education Administration. This is what I’ve always wanted to do. It will be a huge change from the cushy salary now, but to be truly happy has no price.

Also, it all depends where you live when you teach. If you teach in a large metropolitan area, you will have a rough time scraping by on a teacher’s salary. If you live in a small town with a low cost of living, it won’t be as bad.

Good luck!