Any teachers here?

[GoldenBear]

I'm thinking life as a teacher for an elementary school or maybe something like high school math would be a nice way to go, and during the summers I could do some computer work or whatnot.

And since I'm a guy, going the elementary school path should be a bit easier..And what girl doesn't like a guy that teaches little kids

So any teachers here that could lead me in the right path on where to go and such? I might want to move out of the Bay Area here and go to Sacramento or whatnot.

 

[nateholtrop]

teaching is a crowded profession right now....

Nate

 

[tkim]

it depends...do you have your credentials? you have to get those or be in the process. also, you have to take the msat. its for teachers. easy. a good friend of mine is a teacher. i think that's about it. you might want to check out T.F.A. Teach For America.

warning: hope you like teaching cause teachers are extremely underpaid!

 

[DesignDawg]

Truths and untruths.. My wife is a teacher. Teaching is a crowded profession right now? This is the possible untruth. I hope you don't mean it's hard to get a job teaching. There is ALWAYS a need for teachers. Definitely not a hard profession to get a job in. It's crowded if you mean there'd be a lot of kids in your class. Yeah. Too many kids in a class. Because there's not enough teachers.
Oh, and being a guy will DEFINITELY make things easy for you. VERY VERY easy. Male teachers are hard to come by. When a male is in an education program training to be a teacher, it's like there's blood in the water. ALL the schools in the area will hound you like you wouldn't believe. Schools would hire a male over a female any day. That's just the way it goes. Oh, and as for making any money in it: YEAH. I hope you like teaching. The pay isn't gonna make you like the job. Teachers get paid JACK. SUPPOSEDLY, you are working 40 hours a week. 7-3. BULLSH!T. You work a HELL of a lot more than that.... If you actually got paid for every hour you actually work as a teacher (after school, at home, etc.) starting teacher pay wouldn't even b minimum wage. HOWEVER, higher degrees DEFINITELY help. You automatically go into a higher pay bracket with a master's, Dr.'s, etc... And national board certification can be an automatic boost of up to over 1/3 of your salary. SO, there's ways to make a LIVING being a teacher, but with starting pay being around $24,000....don't expect to be living the american dream or anything right away.

BTW....I consider teaching one of the most, if not THE MOST honorable professions there is. If you go into it, you have my respect.

Ricky
DesignDawg

 

[Soybomb]

I've thought abour going into teaching myself. Personally I was spotting teaching in college, even the local community college. The big difference is that in college you've got kids who want to be tehre and aren't forced to be there, but also colleges tend to be able to offer a bit more money. Pick the age group of kids you guy.......

Also finding computer work for 3 months in the summer could be hard to do I think.

 

[Scrapster]

teaching is a crowded profession right now....

That's b/c you're retarded and you need 10 teachers to keep you "tuned-in" each day.

 

[NutBucket]

Geese, I'm sure LAUSD would snatch you up in a second if you have a credential. They got tons of ppl in classrooms on "emergency" credentials. Course, that's assuming you like Los Angeles.

 

[KaBudokan]

I'm in school right now in a Master's program for teaching. I'll have my certification at the end of December, and will finish my Master's courses at my own pace. I can get hired in the Spring of next year though.

There is a MAJOR shortage of teachers right now in many, if not most, areas. As an elementary school teacher, you're right about there being few guys. At the secondary level there are more, though I am not sure of the split. If you become a math teacher, you will be in high demand no matter what. In my current "cohort" of teacher candidates, there is one math teacher out of about 40.

People are right... You have to really want to be a teacher. Honestly, I can see it is going to be a lot of work. Luckily, I have really loved all the kids I've worked with and I am looking forward to the job.

Just for reference, most of the people in the program with me are people who were in the business world or other similar professions and, despite the $$$, found the work unrewarding. They decided to do something they wanted to do that could potentially make a difference.

 

[LadyNiniane]

If you have a degree (or at least 60 college credit hours) and the available time, you might try signing up for substitute teaching in one or two schools.

If you have computer skills, check with your local elementary or middle school (junior high) to see if they have a need for/interest in someone teaching short special classes, like basic Web page work.

One word of warning: if you have an interest in teaching secondary math, be prepared to work your way up to the good classes. I've taught in both public and parochial schools, and I have yet to find anyone with less than 5 years of experience teaching the "good" math classes (Algebra, Trig, Calc, etc.).

Can you say "7th grade General Mathematics"??? I thought you could...

Lady Niniane

 

[Isla]

Only do it if you love kids and love teaching. If you don't have a heart for it, don't bother! If you do have a heart for it, please, please, please join the ranks. Good teachers who really care are desperately needed.

I am a teacher in limbo... I was working on my MA in Special Ed but quit when I got pregnant with my youngest kid. I might go back eventually, but not until my children are older.

Here in FL, starting salary is 30K. The cost of living here is fairly low, so that is a decent wage considering it is for 9 months work. Of course, you'll never get rich by teaching, but it has other rewards. You can have a BA in just about anything and the system will put you to work... that's how desperate they are in my state.

 

[Namuna]

I'm seeing someone and she's been a teacher for about 7 years now in the NY 'projects' area. She teaches kids in the 8-10 age group and MAN these kids are PURE EVIL!

There really isn't a day that goes by that she doesn't have some kind of horror story about the failing attitudes of kids and it's getting worse...Once this school year is over, she's decided to go into a different field.

I didn't intend to make this a beat up on the Teacher Profession post, just saying that the location of where you want to be is also important.

Also, she makes crap pay and works WELL PAST 3pm everyday...Has parent-teacher conferences, field trips (that she usually has to pitch in her own money on), and summer projects.

In other words, the ONLY real reward of being a Teacher (cause it sure ain't money or lots of time off) is teaching...There's NOTHING like the feeling of knowing you made an impact in someone's life!