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Working Moms
meganjoey0728
member
I hate teaching....
meganjoey0728
member
in Working Moms
I use to love this profession, until I had my son. Now I loath it. All the extra work that I am suppose to fit in somewhere, the crazy parents, and the huge class sizes. And yes, I know you will all say, but you get the summers off. Not at all. I already have 4 one week trainings scheduled and I know it will get worse. I just want more time with my son 
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Re: I hate teaching....
I'm a teacher too. I had a very frustrating day today with my students but I do like my job. I really feel like I'm making a difference with these kids. I know teachers bring a lot of work home but honestly I do feel fortunate that I have a profession that allows me to be home early for my DD. My mom was also a teacher and I thought it was awesome that she was always there to pick me up from school and I always felt lucky that I didn't have to go to summer camp because my mom was off. I know when my DD is in school that it will be great to have the same schedule as her so that I am home when she gets home. Every time I think about how I don't get enough time with my DD I think of all the other mothers who don't even leave their office until 5 (I'm already home with my DD by 3) and have to work summers and many breaks like spring break and christmas break.
Is there a way you can do less? I used to bring a lot more work home than I do now. Now I really think about "Will this really help my kids learn more or make my life easier as a teacher?" if the answer is no then I don't do it. I do have a girlfriend who teaches first grade and I feel like she just does way too much and stresses herself out over silly things.
Also, maybe working at a different school and for different administrators will help. My other friend switched schools. At her old school, her principal was a real hard ass and only wanted lesson plans to be done a certain way, had faculty meetings every week, and just gave the teachers a lot of extra work. She is much happier at her new school with the new principal.
2011: FSH 13.3 & E 99; AMH 0.54 2nd FSH 6.2 E 40's AFC: 8
BFP from Clomid/IUI ~ Pre-e and IUGR during pregnancy ~ DS born 9/4/12
Feb./March 2013: AMH less than 0.16 (undectable) and AFC = 4;
BFP from supps ~ DS#2 due May 2014
May 2014 January Siggy Challenge:
I teach public school. I drop my kid off at daycare at 6:30 and pick him up about 5:00. I don't know a single teacher who actually gets home by 3:00. I'm jealous. They are moving all our school to CLC schools, so no more summer break. We are going to be teaching on our "breaks" during the school year now too, because we are a low performing school, so tutoring will be available.
OP: Education is getting to be a more and more difficult profession to work in. Only you can decide if you want to quit or stick with it. Is the pay off more rewarding than the extra work and the actual pay? I think it's getting easier now that my kiddo is getting older, but now I'm about to have a second and we have seriously discussed whether or not I plan on staying in the work force for now. I have thought about substituting instead so I can pick the days/hours I want to work...
Both of my parents were teachers, and sure you get to bring work home, but holy cow, you bring a crapload of work home every night not to mention lots of stress. It's certainly not the nice family friendly profession so many people think it is, and I think it's gotten even harder since my parents retired.
I work in education, but as an instructional designer for a university. A heck of a lot less stressful than teaching. There's no harm in looking at other fields you could move into.
If you loathe teaching then you shouldn't teach.
Plenty of jobs you can loathe and still carry on with. Teaching isn't one of them, IMO. Too much at stake.
Sorry you're feeling this way.
Well, I do teach music so I don't bring anything home with me. My last class of the day ends at 2:30 and I am home at 3:00 everyday. My mother taught high school math for 33 years and she was home by 3:30 everyday to meet me and my brother at the bus stop when we were kids. Yes, she brought work home with her but she never stayed later than she had to unless she had to stay for extra help or something. She would often do her schoolwork when my brother and I did our homework or she would do it after we went to bed.
My aunt taught high school spanish and she would stay after school until 6 at night doing school work. I'm sorry but that's just crazy. There is no reason why any teacher should be staying after school for hours every day.
I hate to tell you not to count on that! I taught 3-5th for the past four years and dropped back down to first grade this year (had previously taught it for four years too) and the work load for first grade is a LOT more demanding than when I had older kids. The actual work during the day is more demanding too and I spend a lot more time communicating with parents of younger kids outside of school hours (because of course you are required to communicate with them, but can't get ahold of them on your 20 minute break during the day!) Also, we still have a lot of testing, it's just not one "big test" and is spread out over the year (as I think it should be.) I run a DIBELS reading test on each individual kid once a month and my evaluation has a part that is linked to their scores improving. Like I said though, I find it rewarding still, just time consuming. I'm about to stop playing and go finish report cards right now!
After having my son I knew I couldn't go back so I SAHM until he was 10 mo. Now I am working parttime at a private school as a teacher's assistant in PreK. I don't bring home a single thing, including stress. It's wonderful. I know that isn't an option for everyone, and the pay is significantly less, but it works for us. I still get benefits for the family, a small paycheck, and most importantly my sanity.
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
I'll second this. I was also a teacher, and did a career change. I'm now a technical trainer for a government contracting agency. I learn new systems (like records management) and teach government agencies how to use the tools.
I love that I can leave work at work, come home, and be mom. A teaching degree/certificate really does open a lot of opportunities.
This is really harsh. I'm willing to bet that OP and PPs, like myself, love to teach and do it well. What we hate is how the profession has become so stressful and time consuming. Ironically, education itself is becoming less and less about the child and more about test scores and data. Children deserve a system that works for them, including teachers that are well respected and are able to focus on teaching, not a million meetings, assessments, committees...
When I was teaching, I was a great teacher, but I was becoming a miserable person outside of the classroom. That wasn't fair to my family or myself.
I agree with this 100%. I feel as if many teachers create a lot of work for themselves. As I said before, I teach elementary school music so I don't bring any work home. It doesn't mean I don't work hard. I have to prepare students for concerts and school programs. But i don't give tests or homework so I have relatively less work than other teachers. I just feel like some teachers bring too much work home or do unnecessary work. My friend teaches first grade and she always complains about how much work she has but there are some things she does that I cannot believe she actually spends time on. For example, the other day she told me she spent hours cutting out little jack-o-lanterns for a bulletin board she was doing. Really?! Why in the world would you spend so much time on that? It's not like the kids are going to learn better just because of this bulletin board.
I don't know what other people's school work hours are, but last year my contract hours changed from 8-3:30 to 8:45-4:15. When my DD starts school I'm not going to be able to pick her up from school or be there when the bus drops her off, even when I leave work as soon as I can (which I almost always do). So forget about that "benefit."
However, generally speaking, I do not bring work home except during very busy times of the year. I have a small amount of plan time on most days, and I have an hour for lunch so I get things done then (yes, it helps that I'm not pumping anymore). I also have a heavily staffed special ed room so I am able to delegate a lot of tasks, especially prep work, to TA's. I don't think I'm a bad teacher, and for the most part I do enjoy the job even though for me, it's both mentally and physically challenging; even if I'm not bringing actual work home, there are plenty of days when I bring stress and emotional baggage home. I am not as dedicated to my work as I was before kids, but I'm certain nobody's education is suffering for that; what needs to be done, gets done. I think you have to just give yourself permission to cut corners as acceptable, and realize that you cannot give 100% to both work and parenting. I once had a teacher mom say her guage is asking herself if she would be happy with her efforts if her own child was in her classroom, and if the answer is yes, she doesn't sweat it. I also agree that some teachers spend a LOT more time than what's necessary working on certain tasks. I work with a few people like that too. Sometimes their efforts make me feel guilty, but know what? None of them have small children living at home! When my children are older maybe I'll stay an hour or 2 after the kids leave like I used to, but right now I cannot do that and also spend needed hours with my daughter.
If you truly think you "hate" it, and you won't start liking it again once you're more in the groove of being a working mom (for me this took a year and I do still struggle with it off and on) I WOULD look in to a career change, or even looking into PT teaching possibilities if it works financially for your family.
I just had a similar discussion with my BFF. We're both Kindergarten teachers but I'm a mother of 2 and she plans to never have kids. OP, are you hating the profession or your current situation? I ask because I've been at schools where the administration was unsupportive and uninspiring. I actually even considered changing careers after that year.
But I stuck through it and after my 4th school (I was always placed as a temp and would automatically lose my job in June) I found the school that fit me well. I typically get to school by 7:30. School begins at 8:00 and the kiddos go home at 11:20 (it's a half-day Kinder.) I take a 45 min. lunch but aside from that I work like a fiend until about 2:45/3:00. I plan in advanced as much as possible (having morning work copied the school year before, figuring out holiday activities a month in advance, etc.) For the past couple of years I've been fortunate enough to have enough parents that are willing to help so they take care of assembling a lot of my packets and little readers. I also take advantage of our school volunteer and have her do a majority of the copying so I can focus on the nitty gritty stuff. But, in the end I focus on the important things and dabble a little bit in the extras. I make it a point not to take work home (report cards are usually the exception) because the reality is that once both kids are in bed, lunch has been made, and things have been tidied up I literally have maybe 2 hours to myself. I choose to spend that relaxing. So if that means I don't do a bunch of extra things than that's fine with me. My students have done fine, most have learned what they needed to, and I sleep well at night knowing I do a pretty good job.
OP, evaluate what it is you're really hating? Is it the school, the situation, or is it really teaching?
You're amazing for still being with it!
I taught high school for 3 years and knew I could never have a family and keep the job. I quit before getting pregnant with no real plan. I am now getting a masters in the field in which I'm working. I took a big pay cut, but I'm a million times happier. DH and I may not have everything we want, but we have time and it's wonderful!
If you have a way to get out and you think it would make you happier...it might be worth it! It's tough though! Good luck!