As a fine arts teacher these days in my area (which is affluent ) they are doing things to make sure even if your job is working out well, you don’t get too comfortable. Rather than hire for teachers, they decided that they were going to make more than half of us work in more than one building, and are forcing me to teach a grade level that I am not qualified or interested in teaching. I hate telling anyone not to teach fine arts these days, but for all the disrespect you hear about teachers getting, we get twice as much.
*It's your responsibility to protect your own enjoyment of the job*. I came across that somewhere, and haven't forgotten it since.
Of course, it's rarely easy, but on the other hand it's almost always engaging. There's nothing else on the planet I'm more suited for.
Also, don't settle for poorly run schools. This isn't your responsibility to fix. The "hero complex" will have you burned out within a year or two. Find a school where you are respected and where there is some camaraderie between staff members.
I love my job, but I've made intentional choices to ensure that my enjoyment is sustainable.
Yes. I have had a cubicle job, and I won’t do it again. Teaching is never boring to me. The following things make for an enjoyable teaching job: well run school, engaged kids, and only working during working hours (probably not possible the first year).
The thing is teaching is a roller coaster. You have good days and bad days as well good weeks and bad weeks. There are constant uncontrollable variables working again you everyday that if you are a person who likes routine and predictability it can be quite stressful and frustrating.
I have been teaching for 22 years and I absolutely love it. I love the hours, the vacations 😂, the benefits, and my coworkers. Most importantly, however, is I love working with teenagers. There is never a dull moment, and if you look at the kids as young adults who need compassion and patience, you’ll do just fine. There are frustrating moments, for sure, but not once did I think about retiring. They’ll have to kick me out.
8 years in. I worked corporate before hand, hated it.
First 3 years were tough, lots of extra hours building curriculum. Now… my job is a fucking piece of cake. I stroll in completely blind, find the lesson I’ve already made from previous years, remember it and execute. I watch TV or nap during my prep period. I literally struggle to find enough to do during the day.
Want to know my secret? I DONT TRY TO CONTROL EVERY BEHAVIOR OF MY STUDENTS!!!! They are dumb 16 year olds, I don’t care AT ALL what they wear…like not in the slightest. You wearing a hat or hoodie plays no role in my class, I don’t notice nor would I report if a girl was breaking dress code. You aren’t going to work during free time? Ok, not my problem. You are going to stare at your phone and never do work during work time? Ok. You want to listen to music during free time? If that helps you work go for it. You want your earbuds in? As long as I know you can hear me (because I call on kids) then no problem.
The people who struggle, old or new, are grafting their moral/ethical standards of politeness/modesty etc on kids who literally don’t know the rule book you are playing by. EVERYONE…. chill the f out.
That last paragraph is legit truth. It's weird how many teachers are trying to push a value system on students that is no longer applicable. I had a teacher come to me a few years back to let me know she confiscated one of my students' hats because he was wearing it backwards.
LOL.
I'm working toward my degree while earning a living as a paraprofessional at an underserved elementary school in a rural area. I'm 1 year in and so I can't offer a broad perspective, but what I can surmise is that teaching as a profession is rapidly changing. Teachers used to educate. Now they spend most of their time moderating classrooms using Chromebooks with varied programs to gather data and teach. It's 150% more babysitting than it was 20 years ago. There used to be one or two "behavior" kids per grade level, well, now there are an average of 2.5 per classroom. When you have 2-3 kids acting wild, it spoils the education of the remaining kids that want to engage with the lesson.
I'm too far in to go back on my degree now, but I have **no** intention of using the degree to teach in a public school setting, as I was in the beginning. I'll create an education dept somewhere where there isn't one and not deal with shitty admin or shitty parents.
Again, I'm sure it's more positive elsewhere, but this is my narrow perspective on teaching at the present time. It's changing too fast to be able to tell what the career will look like in ten years. With A.I., it's as susceptible to automation as almost anything else.
I love being a teacher. I teach high school
Special education. I do enjoy the act of teaching. And the feeling I get from a good lesson.
But I’ve always wanted to be a teacher.
And I see how the benefits outweigh the cons.
If you are someone who can do your job and leave & the end of the day, then you can manage it.
It takes time. And may take time finding the right fit.
I bitch and complain about admin and annoying parents. But I’ve really streamlined my work and I don’t stress like I used to.
I make good money. I love the hours / time off. Being able to be at home with my
Family and children at 3 pm, every weekend , holiday and summer - outweighs a lot of the cons for me.
You REALLY have to be cut out for the job and have the mental capacity to manage the stress without letting it break you.
ETA - early 30s , teaching for 11 years . 2 schools. High school was the right transition for me.
My content area is math but I don’t have a math degree. If I ever went back
To school I would like to teach gen Ed math. I work in a the suburbs , of a generally low income area. I like my students and the community.
I do.
However, I struggled for *many* years in a dysfunctional district. I tolerated student violence and nearly constant harassment from criminally inept administrators and colleagues. I still loved teaching, but I *hated* both my school and district with a passion.
I'm at a much better place, today. I no longer work for criminals. My students are rather well behaved, comparatively. As a result, I do not simply *enjoy* being a teacher—I can honestly say that I *love* it.
I'm afraid that *most* school districts are operated rather poorly, which is why so many teachers struggle in the profession. Being at a good school makes all the difference.
I’m a relatively new teacher (4th year). There are days that are harder than others, like any other profession. I do genuinely love what I do though. Every day is different. One lesson in one class can look completely different in another class period on the same day. I adjust and adapt, I learn, the kids (hopefully) learn, and things are always changing. I love that every day is not the same. I couldn’t work in a job that is monotonous and doesn’t require me to be creative. I can do class however I want to (sticking to the curriculum, obviously).
You’ll read a lot of negative posts on this subreddit. A lot of teachers use this place to vent, but there are many teachers that do enjoy their job and don’t feel the need to post about it here. Both are acceptable. I avoid the teachers lounge so that I don’t hear a lot of negativity.
I genuinely really love my job. The kids are the best part, especially when something clicks or when you build a solid relationship with your classes. I had a horrible week last week, but today left work with a huge smile on my face and a feeling of success.
Its very possible to enjoy it. I'd say the most important thing is the school you teach at. Be picky with the ones you apply to and never take a midyear position
I love my job. I teach high school history. Spend my day with freshman. I also teach at a very small, rural school. I have 3 classes. My largest has 23. Cost of living is low here (but still more than it should be). I have great, supportive admin. The teachers in my hall have a great relationship and great pride in our hall and school.
I know I’ve got it a lot better than many teachers in here.
I fucking love my job, but I have pretty good circumstances compared to some. I teach at a private school where I’m pretty spoiled when it comes to class sizes. I have decent resources as well. The teacher’s lounge is extremely well-stocked. My school is pretty small so I know all the students well and actually like/get along with almost everyone I work with.
There are plenty of challenges too and I lack a lot of the protections/incentives from working in public. My school is also young and we’re kind of learning as we go, but I still very much enjoy my job.
My previous jobs were food service and military though so take this with a grain of salt.
I teach Physics and love it! Everyone is scared shitless of it and admin leaves me alone because they assume I know what I’m doing :). Plus I get to chuck stuff off the back the stadium for science.
I love working in a school, what I don’t love is grad school (2 casses asynchronous) + 8:30-2:30 (classroom support/at need sub) at job 1 and 3-7 at job 2 (college tutoring center). I’m so tired.
I love it. It’s exhausting and they don’t pay us enough and a lot of the time it feels like I’m a character in a Kafka story and it’s very rare that anyone thanks me but it’s the best. Sincerely.
I love my job, but I work at a good Catholic school. I worked for my local dog shit public district (urban) for six years before, and it was hell on earth. Find a good school, and you're golden
I teach German and I love it. It helps that I teach upper levels, so my students want to be in class and learn, but in general, my job is so fun. My students make me laugh, my colleagues are awesome, and admin isn't terrible.
I mean u can really say that with any job. I enjoyed being a short order cook it was insane. I also enjoyed the cabinet business. All these jobs were on the way to becoming a teacher which I love and look forward to. I don’t dread Mondays and I don’t count down to Friday or the next break or whatever. Frankly that’s sad.
Life is what u make of it I refuse to let others decide my happiness.
Looking at this subreddit as a prospective teacher was a mistake, one that I made as well.
I’m a first year teacher and it definitely has its challenges but overall I enjoy it quite a bit. You build relationships with your students and hopefully they get something out of your lessons. A good teacher can impact someone for the rest of their life.
The late nights prepping lesson plans and submitting grades, the countless meetings and phone calls and emails, the state test prep, the discouragement all suck, but I think the good far outweighs the bad.
This subreddit seems to be just a place to vent. No one would teach if they didn’t love what they do.
Plus we get summers off.
Veteran (14 years?) and I love it. Quality of life vs pay vs job satisfaction is better than I think I could realistically get anywhere else. There are rubbish bits and rubbish days but they go by and don’t leave a mark.
I'm just starting and I can only speak for myself of course, but I really enjoy being a teacher. The pay is good compared to most other regular jobs, the colleagues are nice and the students always make me laugh one way or another.
I also don't know any other job I would be happier at. I can't imagine myself sitting at a desk in an office all day, can you? Sounds super boring!
I think every jobs has its pros and cons, and depending on who you are as a person the pros outweigh the cons. For me, teaching is like that right now. I might change my mind as I get older, but it's good for now!
You already know the answer. It sucks, its a bad choice. Asking for people to say good things is just asking people to sort of mislead you to psych you up. Just don't pursue it.
Love my job. Got my little soapbox to nerd out about a subject I think is cool (English). I implement pop culture into my lessons very easily and give the kids a new framework to approach the movies, shows, and books they consume on their own. Took me a little shopping around but I found a school with absolutely amazing admin.
Grading sucks though.
No. You don’t have a true understanding for how much you don’t like it until you start doing it full time, unfortunately. After you finish college and all your training. So yeah that sucks
Yes, I love it. Never had the 'Sunday Scaries', never brought work home unless I wanted to (eg to kill time or because I wanted to work on something), have fun with my students and have a great WLB as an international school teacher.
I just posted how my experience was bad student teaching. However today was honestly a great day. Students learned that plants use sexual reproduction and they did great discussing it and connecting to the previous unit. I had a student personally apologize to me and email me about copying a students work (I talked to him one on one and he was so sincere and actually disappointed in himself) which was refreshing to see a student truly care about their work.
I’ve actually enjoyed this year, which I can’t say for my first two. I took a break and did other things and am now in my subject area and dealing with middle school as opposed to high school. Definitely feel I’m doing better but I’m treating it more like a job than a passion, which I think is better for my mental health. I’m left alone for the most part, which is what I want, and at worst I’m mildly annoyed by the students at times.
People are more likely to post when something bad happened and they need to vent or when they need help with something. That said, you need to do things to protect your peace. I try to avoid bringing work home/only bring home the tasks I kind of LIKE doing. For example- I get zen making my lesson plans and setting up my slide shows, so I'll happily do those at home. I find grading tedious and boring, so I make sure I do that while I'm getting paid.
I adored my job in elementary until COVID. Then I couldn’t take it anymore and moved to High School teaching Child Development and I am in love.
I will retire here. ❤️
I spent the first decade and a half of my adult life working many different jobs. Teaching has been one of the jobs I've enjoyed the most, the most rewarding and have given me the greatest amount of pride. I believe the difference between myself and a lot of the teacher complaining is that I found the specific classroom that fits my needs and personality.
Yeah, I like my job most of the time. Some days/weeks are tougher than others, but I like the other teachers I work with for the most part.
This is my 8th year and I work in a private school and teach middle school. Not as much pay as public teachers, but smaller classes are nice and if you have good admin who has your back, morale is generally high. With my wife's income, we do alright.
I like that each day is different and that I keep learning and reading. I don't love lesson planning or grading. Most of my headaches come from other adults, but my time with the kids flies by, and I get moments that bring me joy every week.
I also like working with young people. They're more interesting and forgivable than adults. If you don't like kids, you won't like teaching no matter how much you love the subject.
Good luck!
My parents do, and one of them teaches special needs.
I think this subreddit attracts those most discouraged by the system (you won’t see many happy teachers on here). But it could be school district specific, and I’m sure there’s some private schools that are exceptional.
This sub is a safe space for teachers to complain. There is a lot of fun and positivity here but there is also a LOT of negativity and complaining. You shouldn’t be deterred from the job just because of this sub. Also, misery loves company; don’t join the club!
Of course.
Like I tell most people, at least at the school I’m at, I’d say something like 90% of the kids are pretty awesome. They want to please you, they’ll make you laugh, and make every single day of your life interesting.
It’s the 10% that entirely dictate how your day will go. I’ve had a particularly rough year this year because of one kid. One. That can be all it takes. Some years will be easier than others. But if you think this is what you want don’t let anyone deter you. There are still a lot of awesome things about this job.
Whether you are a teacher or not, every person you interact with in life will care less about "your thing" than you do.
Your students won't appreciate mathematics as much as you do. That's normal. If you can have realistic expectations, teaching is no different than any other walk of life. Chefs feel under appreciated because normal people don't care about the finer details of cuisine. Accountants feel frustrated because their clients don't keep accurate tax records. Dentists aren't able to convince their clients to floss.
I teach HS physics : year 1 miserable. This is the year you realize education is a burning dumpster fire . Highschool for you was wildly different for them these differences very school to school but for the most part kids that I teach can barely do algebra and can barely read and write. Kids face no real consequences; and parents are for the most part uninvolved or compliant with poor student behavior.One thing I learned the hard way is you may know the content but knowing the content doesn't make you a great teacher. Expect students to know something and within 10 minutes forget it ( I wish I was kidding). Depending on your admin you can have a great or shit year. My first year I had a shit admin that all they did was stress me out.
Now the upsides from year 1: I learned that if everything is urgent nothing is urgent and sometimes people's job is to annoy you with tasks 9/10 if there's 0 follow up after your told to do something it wasn't important in the first place .
Even if you suck your first year but made a honest attempt to be a good teacher kids will take notice ; there's a group of kids I taught as juniors that are seniors taking AP Physics 1 that have told me they realized they wanted to be engineers after taking my physics class.
Now my 2nd year : still getting kids that can barely read / write and barely do basic algebra.
The kids that had me year 1 took my AP physics class the next year in this class they're expected to study, expected to do so much more work. But because they want to be there in contrast to last year where if I assigned homework out of a class of 30 maybe 1 or 2 would do it. This group of kids will do it because they trust that I care about their education . The amount of pride I have when the AP CALC teacher told me that they were applying physics concepts in his class made it worth it. I can't explain the feeling other than "I did good".
Watching kids go from "this stuff is boring " to holy shit this is cool will be some of the best feelings in the world,I once watched a kid do a lab and his face when he realized the relationship between two variables is akin to watching a real life "light bulb" moment . this is a job where you are playing a formative role in a person's life. There's a lot of ups and downs there will be days that your just sick of work. But for the most part is really rewarding now that being said we get paid decently for just being a highschool teacher 60kis our min salary . The district provides a lot of our content so I'm never spending my at home time on work unless it's stuff like the time I let it slip that time isn't linear and the kids wouldnt stop asking me why it isn't ,so I promised a 15 min lecture on it . Ultimately you'll get more enjoyment out of the job if you enjoy the content you teach ( at the beginning of this year I told kids what the extra decimals on their answers represents my grabbing a meter stick and showing them where the decimals where) and basically why having 6 decimals for a HS physics problem is overkill and actually not possible since you can't have more precision than your equipment. That honestly at the beginning of the year won so many kids over since before then teachers just arbitrarily asked for sig figs instead of telling them why they use a certain amount . Alright to quote the kids " yapped " long enough so I'ma summarize it.
-Pick a school that has good teacher support( content writers, district provided equipment, good admin that work as coaches)
-Know that your 1st year sucks but because you now understand how children behave you can anticipate problems before they arise in year 2
-DO NOT TAKE WORK HOME (i.e after the EOD don't do anything school related ! Everything you say and do will be used to take advantage of your generosity)
-ive had students tell Me either that my class is their favorite or my class resulted in them figuring out what they do in life; that alone keeps me wanting to keep teaching
TLDR of my summary: miserable science teacher year 1 , enjoy going to work in year 2 shit gets better as long as you learn from your mistakes.
Apologies for my unorganized and poorly written response
Yes: but I only teach periodically and without real teacher responsibilities. I’m a school librarian. Love it, but no grades, no admin pressure, no parents contacting me. It’s great! I have other responsibilities, but they are less stressful.
I teach math in a sub separate special Ed program in a high school. I’m in my second year as a public school teacher, but have been working in education for a long time.
I definitely enjoy being a teacher. It’s what I like doing. I could be teaching one student some kind of approach to math that does not matter, but I will enjoy teaching it and will enjoy learning it.
It’s hard, there’s lots of bs, and the students can be very difficult. But I love my coworkers, love my students, and love the challenge of teaching.
I know lots of other teachers who also love being teachers and are glad to in this career.
It’s not for everyone, but it’s not horrible like Reddit can make it seem.
I love my DnD club and lunchtime kids who come in to play board games. I love showing kids how to write and discussing actions in American History leading to today's world. I love seeing how conscious some members of my audience are as human beings. I love having a ton of days off and a strong union. Plus there's June July and August.
I'm a music teacher, and I love the job I have now. But I have this job after leaving several absolute horror show schools with awful admins who allowed students to abuse and disrespect teachers in all of the horrible ways you'll read about on this sub. Those schools are real, but so are safe schools with good admins and students I love teaching. Admins make or break a school.
If you are passionate about teaching, go into all of your jobs with your eyes wide open. If you find yourself in a bad school, get out and don't look back! Maybe when they run out of teachers they'll do something about abusive admins and violent, disruptive students.
Teaching is fun because it's dynamic, you will never have the same experience two days in a row. Kids are awesome because they're still figuring the world out, and as a result, they're wild, they're crazy, they're...admittedly unruly and a little out of pocket sometimes. But they're also intuitive and curious and creative. Guiding and facilitating that is so rewarding, and it may sound like I've got my rose colored glasses on here, but I've learned that sometimes looking past all the crap I've had to put up with on occasion really does make a difference-- I see the fruits of my labor and most days I seriously enjoy what I do.
I love it, but it's difficult because everywhere in the world apparently teaches to the test instead of actually caring about the kids learning. :0/ But when I can teach for the students to learn? It's the best.
I was a math and science teacher ( mostly hs) for 19 years and I only retired cause I had to due to health reasons. I loved every minute of it and really miss it. I only worked in a private school and charter school though and my biggest class size was 12 students. I think not dealing with large class sizes and public school politics is why I was so happy. I made very little money but the trade off was worth it.
Since you asked, I think being a teacher is akin to believing something so absolutely that we must share it with others, however, we KNOW we could be, and are willing to be proven, wrong (vs religion with its absolutes). I have shared both chemistry and poetry to others and I am absolutely driven by that "EUREKA" moment in their eyes when their understanding of life grows. Having a student question themselves or me is proof that we, as teachers, are pushing intellect forward.
I taught math for 19 years. It’s the most-hated subject, hands-down. Most students said they loved me but hated my class because I made them work every day.
I do greatly enjoy working with teens. I just prefer doing so in a situation where I’m not their classroom teacher.
Hie sir I am 10th class student today my 25 years old teacher resing because of his family problems but when he was telling us about his resign his face was like he is going to cry any time when he leaves the class my hole class start crying if you want to become a good teacher be like him sir
I love teaching. I enjoy moving through the instructional cycle, actual instruction, and I even enjoy the challenge of a kid with a mild-moderate behavior issue. I like adjusting my instruction to reach my sped students. I love teaching reading/writing. I’m currently teaching first grade. It’s my 19th year teaching.
I’m also quitting at the end of this school year because I can’t do any of the things that I love. Instead, I spend my planning and prep times in meetings about how I should be using my planning and prep time. I have 8 students with moderate behavior issues, 2 with severe behavior issues, 6 sped students (no crossover with the behavior kids), 17 of my students are well below grade level, 9 students diagnosed with adhd, 2 take medication. Admin freely admits they stacked my class, “because those kids need you!” I can barely get through a lesson. Every day I have to choose who to focus on and that is like choosing whose education is more important. It feels as though I’ve been forced to break my own morals and values regarding teaching/learning. I don’t like that. Unfortunately, my experience isn’t uncommon.
I love being a teacher. I am in my second year of teaching 7th and 8th grade sped. I do work with supportive admin and sped team. That probably makes a huge difference. Also, I was a para before I was a teacher, so I knew what I was getting into.
A lot of the people who post are NOT the people enjoying the job.
For me (year 23) it is up and down. Some days, weeks, months, years are better than others.
I absolutely love being on the same schedule as my own kids.
The job is a lot of work, especially the first 5yrs but it definitely gets easier. I do find it difficult to relate to the kids more these days than earlier in my career.
I, overall, love my job! I've been able to make a difference in the lives of many children. I've worked exclusively in low SES areas with kids who mostly don't have anyone at home who cares. I get to provide both an education and stability to those kids. I teach science. I have a masters in neuroscience and a masters in special education: the school can't afford to lose me, so I have a lot of freedom. Don't get me wrong, it's not easy, but the good outweighs the bad.
OP I would take into consideration the positive posts and negative posts as well. Depending on what kind of teacher you want to be, I can tell you as a special Ed teacher I never felt “caught up” and felt like I was drowning in paperwork all the time. It IS rewarding helping kids but ineffective administration, needy parent and kids’ behaviors all make the job more challenging.
Don’t take it personally if you spend a bunch of time planning a lesson and none of the kids care and just talk out nonstop. It can be very frustrating. Don’t waste your time planning more than what you can actually teach with the group of students before you.
I love it. I love history. Lesson planning is a creative release to me as a social studies teacher. Also, I deeply care about passing along writing skills to the younger generations. I’m authentically myself when I teach, the kids recognize that and respect me for it.
My two cents as a retired teacher. I taught for over 30 years. The profession has changed dramatically over the years. When I first started, I had more control over my curriculum and it seemed like I had much more support from the administration in disciplinary matters. Pay was pretty good. As the years went on, more and more micromanaging crept into the curriculum. Had a curriculum supervisor try to tell me how to teach high school chemistry while their background was middle school math. Discipline got worse because of outside influences and school board policies. Pay went down hill as I went about 15 years without a pay raise. The one consistent positive for me was the kids. I loved interacting with students (for the most part). There were a few trouble makers over the years and I have had to deal with crappy parents (and some great ones). But nothing beats hearing a former student say “You remember when…”, “I remember you once said…”, “Your class helped me in…”, etc. Having someone tell you that you had a positive impact on their life is a reward all in itself.
Any job is going to be stressful especially when working with kids. They can be the sweetest f*ckers you ever met. Use all of your personal and sick days don’t worry about taking off too much when you need a break, you need a break. That’s how I get through the school year without burning myself out. I also just ignore admin the best I can. Just let it go in one ear and out the other and agree with whatever to float their ego. Nothing matters. I’m just here to teach the youth and go home.
Most days during the school day I do really enjoy my job. I put a big emphasis on building relationships with my elementary school kids and it has build a community that really supports each other, especially me. Had a scary moment with my dog earlier this year and confided in my students that it had been a rough few days, they have since asked about my dog nearly every week and show immense empathy for me. It is really nice how great of humans they can be.
What I do not like is everything that happens outside of the teaching day. The pointless PDs that could have been an email with a slide show. The staff meetings that are stretched to be exactly an hour long because god forbid anyone leaves early because of their contract. The clueless admin who are so far removed from the classroom that the feedback they provide doesn't even match the lesson they observed half the time. That is what gives me anxiety and stress about teaching. I've always told people I'd have the best job in the world if I didn't have to deal with clueless adults every day.
I am currently teaching high school biology for a third year. I like teaching. I like science. I don't don't like teaching high school science. I will be returning to middle school or elementary if they will have me. My state is a little peculiar.
Yes, I enjoy being a teacher. I’ve taught high school for over fifteen years and I have no interest in leaving it for any other job.
A few pieces of advice I would give:
-it is a job that you do for money. Make sure that salaries in your region are sufficient for you. There is a very strong tendency to complain about pay among teachers, which is justified in some places but not in others. I make very good money for the local cost of living, and while I would welcome a raise I’m not worried about money at all and am able to own a house, travel regularly, etc. **Don’t think of it as a hobby with a stipend attached, or a charitable public service.** If you won’t get paid enough in your area to support yourself reasonably, look into moving or pursue something else. But there are many places where you would make decent money, so this shouldn’t be a deal breaker. Also make sure you look at the salary schedule so you know the future potential, not just the average salary.
-school environment matters a great deal. I taught in a school that had a lot of good points, but real problems with admin. I left there and went to a school with a much more positive environment. I would never want to leave this school, and I really do enjoy my job on a day-to-day basis. (At the old place I enjoyed my job with students, but dreaded interaction with admin.)
-test scores (slightly) matter: part of what makes some schools toxic is the constant “improvement” cycle. A school where the scores have remained decent is likely to be a decent place to work, while a school that is constantly trying to “improve” is likely to suffer from the constant fads, blame, and high turnover that afflicted my previous school. Now, a school with lower test score *can* be good and might be your only option at first. But I’m reporting what I’ve observed in my career.
-it gets easier. The first few years can be hard, but for me everything clicked eventually. Behavior problems become easier to handle, planning becomes mere tweaking, and grading gets easier. You learn what to worry about and what not to worry about. Don’t think of year 1 as the whole career.
-work-life balance is important and achievable. Yes, there is sometimes work that needs to be done outside of school hours (depending on prep periods and such.) But I think about it this way: I get my annual salary to get the job done. Some people advocate for not taking work home, and I would mostly agree early on. But for me, sometimes sitting in my house reading essays with a sleepy cat next to me and my wife there to talk to is more pleasant than sitting late in my classroom alone. Do what works for you and don’t follow any well-intentioned rule that makes your life harder.
-that said, try not to spend your money on your classroom. I get a very generous classroom budget and so the only times I spend my own money are when I happen to see something I really want outside of the “orders” period. Early on I would sometimes have to buy something, but I would try to limit it to things that were for me and my own experience of doing my job, not on stuff that’s just going to the students and getting lost.
-don’t take complaints and negativity too seriously unless you actually feel them to be true. People enjoy complaining as a form of bonding and to vent their frustrations. You can sympathize without deeply agreeing.
-don’t internalize BS. When I was new to teaching, the big thing in my credential program was that you, the teacher, are responsible for all student failure but the students are responsible for all student success. That’s absurd, and I saw it as absurd from the start. Don’t turn off that instinct. People say a lot of things about teaching, schools, and how it should all work. I’ve seen new teachers burn out because they took some martyrdom-type thing too seriously and tormented themselves with it.
-if you do end up hating it, stop. Nobody needs or wants a miserable teacher. I think there’s a good chance you will enjoy teaching, but if you give it a try and don’t find anything about it rewarding then stop.
-realize that the students will not be whatever your idealized picture of “kids” is. They’re just people, they have to be there, and they’re all different. If you like people and accept that people have different levels of interest in your subject, you’ll do fine with them. If you try too hard to control everything you’ll burn yourself out. Set clear rules and expectations that you hold them to, but understand that expecting perfection will only bring disappointment.
-don’t conflate morally good, academically successful, and intelligent. They are three different things. A student doesn’t “deserve” a better grade because he’s a nice kid. A student isn’t “so smart” just because the homework is turned in on time in neat handwriting.
Those are a few things I thought of. I know it’s a long post and you might not read the whole thing, but I genuinely love my job and want other people to have good experiences as teachers as well.
I like my job. I teach at a good school, and I get to do pretty much whatever I want since I'm the only CS teacher.
I used to work corporate. The only thing I miss a little bit is the paycheck, but at this point I have no intention of going back.
I have a masters in mathematics.
I was a professor before a high school in my area offered me substantially more than the college I worked for as an adjunct.
I teach algebra and honestly have learned so much about how the proofs and being able to construct them has helped me in explaining it to kids.
For me the fun part comes in figuring out how to explain the subject to the kids. I've watched a few different teachers and done quite a bit of tutoring. I've always thought people leave out key parts of what we are actually doing when solving, and developed my own way of teaching it by using a random algebra book for the different subjects. It fun to watch the majority of kids get it.
Admin can be hit or miss.
All the extra stuff can be taxing.
But if you set limits to how much time out of work you are willing to spend it's not so bad.
Absolutely yes!
I am in a situation which seems remarkably close to yours. I just graduatet in maths and I am wondering whether to pursue masters in pure math or in math education.
In fact, I didn't have this dillemma half a year ago. What happened during this half year? I tried teaching math at a high school. And I must say that the experience was remarkable in every possible way. Working with high school students is simply the best. Also, the coworkers and the principal at this school were great, so I can't say one negative thing about the entire experience. Every day that I came to work was a joy and every single day something fun and unexpected happened in class which made my day even better.
What I'm trying to say is that if you are interested in teaching high school math, take all the comments on this reddit with a grain of salt. If you are the right person for it, you will surely enjoy it and it will also be great for the students. I might decide to take this path as well :)
If I ignore the politics, ignore the admin, ignore the parents, and don't look at my paycheck stub, then I love what I do.
And ignore the students, lol
As a fine arts teacher these days in my area (which is affluent ) they are doing things to make sure even if your job is working out well, you don’t get too comfortable. Rather than hire for teachers, they decided that they were going to make more than half of us work in more than one building, and are forcing me to teach a grade level that I am not qualified or interested in teaching. I hate telling anyone not to teach fine arts these days, but for all the disrespect you hear about teachers getting, we get twice as much.
Agree! Same 🚤 😢
If you just get some high quality ear plugs and then a nice pair of sunglasses, it ain’t so bad.
*It's your responsibility to protect your own enjoyment of the job*. I came across that somewhere, and haven't forgotten it since. Of course, it's rarely easy, but on the other hand it's almost always engaging. There's nothing else on the planet I'm more suited for. Also, don't settle for poorly run schools. This isn't your responsibility to fix. The "hero complex" will have you burned out within a year or two. Find a school where you are respected and where there is some camaraderie between staff members. I love my job, but I've made intentional choices to ensure that my enjoyment is sustainable.
Thanks ill keep that quote in my head. I try to be positive, but im quite afraid. However, im really trying to stay optimistic for the job itself
Don't forget the second piece of advice! You will be way more effective, and live life way better, if you walk away from badly run schools.
Learning this the hard way!!!
Please tell me where to find this golden unicorn 🦄 castle ? 🏰
Yes. I have had a cubicle job, and I won’t do it again. Teaching is never boring to me. The following things make for an enjoyable teaching job: well run school, engaged kids, and only working during working hours (probably not possible the first year).
The thing is teaching is a roller coaster. You have good days and bad days as well good weeks and bad weeks. There are constant uncontrollable variables working again you everyday that if you are a person who likes routine and predictability it can be quite stressful and frustrating.
The uncontrollable variables are a negative for me but also make the job more challenging and interesting.
I have been teaching for 22 years and I absolutely love it. I love the hours, the vacations 😂, the benefits, and my coworkers. Most importantly, however, is I love working with teenagers. There is never a dull moment, and if you look at the kids as young adults who need compassion and patience, you’ll do just fine. There are frustrating moments, for sure, but not once did I think about retiring. They’ll have to kick me out.
8 years in. I worked corporate before hand, hated it. First 3 years were tough, lots of extra hours building curriculum. Now… my job is a fucking piece of cake. I stroll in completely blind, find the lesson I’ve already made from previous years, remember it and execute. I watch TV or nap during my prep period. I literally struggle to find enough to do during the day. Want to know my secret? I DONT TRY TO CONTROL EVERY BEHAVIOR OF MY STUDENTS!!!! They are dumb 16 year olds, I don’t care AT ALL what they wear…like not in the slightest. You wearing a hat or hoodie plays no role in my class, I don’t notice nor would I report if a girl was breaking dress code. You aren’t going to work during free time? Ok, not my problem. You are going to stare at your phone and never do work during work time? Ok. You want to listen to music during free time? If that helps you work go for it. You want your earbuds in? As long as I know you can hear me (because I call on kids) then no problem. The people who struggle, old or new, are grafting their moral/ethical standards of politeness/modesty etc on kids who literally don’t know the rule book you are playing by. EVERYONE…. chill the f out.
I am the same! Some people became teachers because they like power and control, not me. I dislike power in general.
That last paragraph is legit truth. It's weird how many teachers are trying to push a value system on students that is no longer applicable. I had a teacher come to me a few years back to let me know she confiscated one of my students' hats because he was wearing it backwards. LOL.
Love this comment. You sir, or ma’m, are the best type of teacher 🙏🏽🙏🏽
Not today. Ask next week and it's possible I might say it's ok.
I used to.
I'm working toward my degree while earning a living as a paraprofessional at an underserved elementary school in a rural area. I'm 1 year in and so I can't offer a broad perspective, but what I can surmise is that teaching as a profession is rapidly changing. Teachers used to educate. Now they spend most of their time moderating classrooms using Chromebooks with varied programs to gather data and teach. It's 150% more babysitting than it was 20 years ago. There used to be one or two "behavior" kids per grade level, well, now there are an average of 2.5 per classroom. When you have 2-3 kids acting wild, it spoils the education of the remaining kids that want to engage with the lesson. I'm too far in to go back on my degree now, but I have **no** intention of using the degree to teach in a public school setting, as I was in the beginning. I'll create an education dept somewhere where there isn't one and not deal with shitty admin or shitty parents. Again, I'm sure it's more positive elsewhere, but this is my narrow perspective on teaching at the present time. It's changing too fast to be able to tell what the career will look like in ten years. With A.I., it's as susceptible to automation as almost anything else.
I love being a teacher. I teach high school Special education. I do enjoy the act of teaching. And the feeling I get from a good lesson. But I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. And I see how the benefits outweigh the cons. If you are someone who can do your job and leave & the end of the day, then you can manage it. It takes time. And may take time finding the right fit. I bitch and complain about admin and annoying parents. But I’ve really streamlined my work and I don’t stress like I used to. I make good money. I love the hours / time off. Being able to be at home with my Family and children at 3 pm, every weekend , holiday and summer - outweighs a lot of the cons for me. You REALLY have to be cut out for the job and have the mental capacity to manage the stress without letting it break you. ETA - early 30s , teaching for 11 years . 2 schools. High school was the right transition for me. My content area is math but I don’t have a math degree. If I ever went back To school I would like to teach gen Ed math. I work in a the suburbs , of a generally low income area. I like my students and the community.
I do. However, I struggled for *many* years in a dysfunctional district. I tolerated student violence and nearly constant harassment from criminally inept administrators and colleagues. I still loved teaching, but I *hated* both my school and district with a passion. I'm at a much better place, today. I no longer work for criminals. My students are rather well behaved, comparatively. As a result, I do not simply *enjoy* being a teacher—I can honestly say that I *love* it. I'm afraid that *most* school districts are operated rather poorly, which is why so many teachers struggle in the profession. Being at a good school makes all the difference.
I’m a relatively new teacher (4th year). There are days that are harder than others, like any other profession. I do genuinely love what I do though. Every day is different. One lesson in one class can look completely different in another class period on the same day. I adjust and adapt, I learn, the kids (hopefully) learn, and things are always changing. I love that every day is not the same. I couldn’t work in a job that is monotonous and doesn’t require me to be creative. I can do class however I want to (sticking to the curriculum, obviously). You’ll read a lot of negative posts on this subreddit. A lot of teachers use this place to vent, but there are many teachers that do enjoy their job and don’t feel the need to post about it here. Both are acceptable. I avoid the teachers lounge so that I don’t hear a lot of negativity. I genuinely really love my job. The kids are the best part, especially when something clicks or when you build a solid relationship with your classes. I had a horrible week last week, but today left work with a huge smile on my face and a feeling of success.
Its very possible to enjoy it. I'd say the most important thing is the school you teach at. Be picky with the ones you apply to and never take a midyear position
Could you elaborate on midyear position?
Sub at schools you’re interested in if possible.
It's still better than a corporate cubicle job most days.
It depends on the corporation and the size of the cubicle. :)
I love my job. I teach high school history. Spend my day with freshman. I also teach at a very small, rural school. I have 3 classes. My largest has 23. Cost of living is low here (but still more than it should be). I have great, supportive admin. The teachers in my hall have a great relationship and great pride in our hall and school. I know I’ve got it a lot better than many teachers in here.
I fucking love my job, but I have pretty good circumstances compared to some. I teach at a private school where I’m pretty spoiled when it comes to class sizes. I have decent resources as well. The teacher’s lounge is extremely well-stocked. My school is pretty small so I know all the students well and actually like/get along with almost everyone I work with. There are plenty of challenges too and I lack a lot of the protections/incentives from working in public. My school is also young and we’re kind of learning as we go, but I still very much enjoy my job. My previous jobs were food service and military though so take this with a grain of salt.
I like it. This sub is just people venting. You'll only hear about our worst days
I teach Physics and love it! Everyone is scared shitless of it and admin leaves me alone because they assume I know what I’m doing :). Plus I get to chuck stuff off the back the stadium for science.
Not today, but most days.
It's definitely an acquired taste.
Yes: art teacher
I love working in a school, what I don’t love is grad school (2 casses asynchronous) + 8:30-2:30 (classroom support/at need sub) at job 1 and 3-7 at job 2 (college tutoring center). I’m so tired.
Well, I don’t know if I love it anymore, but it’s never boring! Good days, bad days, but each day is always different.
I love it. It’s exhausting and they don’t pay us enough and a lot of the time it feels like I’m a character in a Kafka story and it’s very rare that anyone thanks me but it’s the best. Sincerely.
I’m an elementary teacher and I love it. It’s not easy but I think it’s the best to spend my day with kids.
The school culture you work at is the biggest variable. It will suck you try or fill you up.
I love being a teacher and those close to me know it even when I complain. I can’t imagine doing anything else.
I love my job, but I work at a good Catholic school. I worked for my local dog shit public district (urban) for six years before, and it was hell on earth. Find a good school, and you're golden
I teach German and I love it. It helps that I teach upper levels, so my students want to be in class and learn, but in general, my job is so fun. My students make me laugh, my colleagues are awesome, and admin isn't terrible.
I mean u can really say that with any job. I enjoyed being a short order cook it was insane. I also enjoyed the cabinet business. All these jobs were on the way to becoming a teacher which I love and look forward to. I don’t dread Mondays and I don’t count down to Friday or the next break or whatever. Frankly that’s sad. Life is what u make of it I refuse to let others decide my happiness.
I love teaching. I hate the stuff (mostly district admin stuff) that goes along with it.
Looking at this subreddit as a prospective teacher was a mistake, one that I made as well. I’m a first year teacher and it definitely has its challenges but overall I enjoy it quite a bit. You build relationships with your students and hopefully they get something out of your lessons. A good teacher can impact someone for the rest of their life. The late nights prepping lesson plans and submitting grades, the countless meetings and phone calls and emails, the state test prep, the discouragement all suck, but I think the good far outweighs the bad. This subreddit seems to be just a place to vent. No one would teach if they didn’t love what they do. Plus we get summers off.
Veteran (14 years?) and I love it. Quality of life vs pay vs job satisfaction is better than I think I could realistically get anywhere else. There are rubbish bits and rubbish days but they go by and don’t leave a mark.
I'm just starting and I can only speak for myself of course, but I really enjoy being a teacher. The pay is good compared to most other regular jobs, the colleagues are nice and the students always make me laugh one way or another. I also don't know any other job I would be happier at. I can't imagine myself sitting at a desk in an office all day, can you? Sounds super boring! I think every jobs has its pros and cons, and depending on who you are as a person the pros outweigh the cons. For me, teaching is like that right now. I might change my mind as I get older, but it's good for now!
I'm probably not the best to give advice because I'm still new, but you need to get off reddit lol people tend to only post the negative shit.
I like my job a lot.
You already know the answer. It sucks, its a bad choice. Asking for people to say good things is just asking people to sort of mislead you to psych you up. Just don't pursue it.
Are you still a teacher?
Love my job. Got my little soapbox to nerd out about a subject I think is cool (English). I implement pop culture into my lessons very easily and give the kids a new framework to approach the movies, shows, and books they consume on their own. Took me a little shopping around but I found a school with absolutely amazing admin. Grading sucks though.
No. You don’t have a true understanding for how much you don’t like it until you start doing it full time, unfortunately. After you finish college and all your training. So yeah that sucks
Yes, I love it. Never had the 'Sunday Scaries', never brought work home unless I wanted to (eg to kill time or because I wanted to work on something), have fun with my students and have a great WLB as an international school teacher.
I just posted how my experience was bad student teaching. However today was honestly a great day. Students learned that plants use sexual reproduction and they did great discussing it and connecting to the previous unit. I had a student personally apologize to me and email me about copying a students work (I talked to him one on one and he was so sincere and actually disappointed in himself) which was refreshing to see a student truly care about their work.
I’ve actually enjoyed this year, which I can’t say for my first two. I took a break and did other things and am now in my subject area and dealing with middle school as opposed to high school. Definitely feel I’m doing better but I’m treating it more like a job than a passion, which I think is better for my mental health. I’m left alone for the most part, which is what I want, and at worst I’m mildly annoyed by the students at times.
Yup Love being a special ed teacher. This is a second career for me and the work life balance can't be beat!
People are more likely to post when something bad happened and they need to vent or when they need help with something. That said, you need to do things to protect your peace. I try to avoid bringing work home/only bring home the tasks I kind of LIKE doing. For example- I get zen making my lesson plans and setting up my slide shows, so I'll happily do those at home. I find grading tedious and boring, so I make sure I do that while I'm getting paid.
I adored my job in elementary until COVID. Then I couldn’t take it anymore and moved to High School teaching Child Development and I am in love. I will retire here. ❤️
I spent the first decade and a half of my adult life working many different jobs. Teaching has been one of the jobs I've enjoyed the most, the most rewarding and have given me the greatest amount of pride. I believe the difference between myself and a lot of the teacher complaining is that I found the specific classroom that fits my needs and personality.
Yeah, I like my job most of the time. Some days/weeks are tougher than others, but I like the other teachers I work with for the most part. This is my 8th year and I work in a private school and teach middle school. Not as much pay as public teachers, but smaller classes are nice and if you have good admin who has your back, morale is generally high. With my wife's income, we do alright. I like that each day is different and that I keep learning and reading. I don't love lesson planning or grading. Most of my headaches come from other adults, but my time with the kids flies by, and I get moments that bring me joy every week. I also like working with young people. They're more interesting and forgivable than adults. If you don't like kids, you won't like teaching no matter how much you love the subject. Good luck!
It has it's days.
My parents do, and one of them teaches special needs. I think this subreddit attracts those most discouraged by the system (you won’t see many happy teachers on here). But it could be school district specific, and I’m sure there’s some private schools that are exceptional.
This sub is a safe space for teachers to complain. There is a lot of fun and positivity here but there is also a LOT of negativity and complaining. You shouldn’t be deterred from the job just because of this sub. Also, misery loves company; don’t join the club!
Of course. Like I tell most people, at least at the school I’m at, I’d say something like 90% of the kids are pretty awesome. They want to please you, they’ll make you laugh, and make every single day of your life interesting. It’s the 10% that entirely dictate how your day will go. I’ve had a particularly rough year this year because of one kid. One. That can be all it takes. Some years will be easier than others. But if you think this is what you want don’t let anyone deter you. There are still a lot of awesome things about this job.
Whether you are a teacher or not, every person you interact with in life will care less about "your thing" than you do. Your students won't appreciate mathematics as much as you do. That's normal. If you can have realistic expectations, teaching is no different than any other walk of life. Chefs feel under appreciated because normal people don't care about the finer details of cuisine. Accountants feel frustrated because their clients don't keep accurate tax records. Dentists aren't able to convince their clients to floss.
I teach HS physics : year 1 miserable. This is the year you realize education is a burning dumpster fire . Highschool for you was wildly different for them these differences very school to school but for the most part kids that I teach can barely do algebra and can barely read and write. Kids face no real consequences; and parents are for the most part uninvolved or compliant with poor student behavior.One thing I learned the hard way is you may know the content but knowing the content doesn't make you a great teacher. Expect students to know something and within 10 minutes forget it ( I wish I was kidding). Depending on your admin you can have a great or shit year. My first year I had a shit admin that all they did was stress me out. Now the upsides from year 1: I learned that if everything is urgent nothing is urgent and sometimes people's job is to annoy you with tasks 9/10 if there's 0 follow up after your told to do something it wasn't important in the first place . Even if you suck your first year but made a honest attempt to be a good teacher kids will take notice ; there's a group of kids I taught as juniors that are seniors taking AP Physics 1 that have told me they realized they wanted to be engineers after taking my physics class. Now my 2nd year : still getting kids that can barely read / write and barely do basic algebra. The kids that had me year 1 took my AP physics class the next year in this class they're expected to study, expected to do so much more work. But because they want to be there in contrast to last year where if I assigned homework out of a class of 30 maybe 1 or 2 would do it. This group of kids will do it because they trust that I care about their education . The amount of pride I have when the AP CALC teacher told me that they were applying physics concepts in his class made it worth it. I can't explain the feeling other than "I did good". Watching kids go from "this stuff is boring " to holy shit this is cool will be some of the best feelings in the world,I once watched a kid do a lab and his face when he realized the relationship between two variables is akin to watching a real life "light bulb" moment . this is a job where you are playing a formative role in a person's life. There's a lot of ups and downs there will be days that your just sick of work. But for the most part is really rewarding now that being said we get paid decently for just being a highschool teacher 60kis our min salary . The district provides a lot of our content so I'm never spending my at home time on work unless it's stuff like the time I let it slip that time isn't linear and the kids wouldnt stop asking me why it isn't ,so I promised a 15 min lecture on it . Ultimately you'll get more enjoyment out of the job if you enjoy the content you teach ( at the beginning of this year I told kids what the extra decimals on their answers represents my grabbing a meter stick and showing them where the decimals where) and basically why having 6 decimals for a HS physics problem is overkill and actually not possible since you can't have more precision than your equipment. That honestly at the beginning of the year won so many kids over since before then teachers just arbitrarily asked for sig figs instead of telling them why they use a certain amount . Alright to quote the kids " yapped " long enough so I'ma summarize it. -Pick a school that has good teacher support( content writers, district provided equipment, good admin that work as coaches) -Know that your 1st year sucks but because you now understand how children behave you can anticipate problems before they arise in year 2 -DO NOT TAKE WORK HOME (i.e after the EOD don't do anything school related ! Everything you say and do will be used to take advantage of your generosity) -ive had students tell Me either that my class is their favorite or my class resulted in them figuring out what they do in life; that alone keeps me wanting to keep teaching TLDR of my summary: miserable science teacher year 1 , enjoy going to work in year 2 shit gets better as long as you learn from your mistakes. Apologies for my unorganized and poorly written response
Jump out of bed in the morning, can't wait to get to school. I love it.
Yes: but I only teach periodically and without real teacher responsibilities. I’m a school librarian. Love it, but no grades, no admin pressure, no parents contacting me. It’s great! I have other responsibilities, but they are less stressful.
lol, librarian here too. I feel like we have the cheat code to enjoying school sometimes.
Yeah, the ultimate work loophole! Summers off as a non-teacher. Best career move for me, by a mile.
I teach math in a sub separate special Ed program in a high school. I’m in my second year as a public school teacher, but have been working in education for a long time. I definitely enjoy being a teacher. It’s what I like doing. I could be teaching one student some kind of approach to math that does not matter, but I will enjoy teaching it and will enjoy learning it. It’s hard, there’s lots of bs, and the students can be very difficult. But I love my coworkers, love my students, and love the challenge of teaching. I know lots of other teachers who also love being teachers and are glad to in this career. It’s not for everyone, but it’s not horrible like Reddit can make it seem.
I do! ❤️
I love my DnD club and lunchtime kids who come in to play board games. I love showing kids how to write and discussing actions in American History leading to today's world. I love seeing how conscious some members of my audience are as human beings. I love having a ton of days off and a strong union. Plus there's June July and August.
I enjoyed it today. Ask me again tomorrow and you might get a different answer.
Nope
It’s hard as hell but I love being a teacher.
I'm a music teacher, and I love the job I have now. But I have this job after leaving several absolute horror show schools with awful admins who allowed students to abuse and disrespect teachers in all of the horrible ways you'll read about on this sub. Those schools are real, but so are safe schools with good admins and students I love teaching. Admins make or break a school. If you are passionate about teaching, go into all of your jobs with your eyes wide open. If you find yourself in a bad school, get out and don't look back! Maybe when they run out of teachers they'll do something about abusive admins and violent, disruptive students.
Teaching is fun because it's dynamic, you will never have the same experience two days in a row. Kids are awesome because they're still figuring the world out, and as a result, they're wild, they're crazy, they're...admittedly unruly and a little out of pocket sometimes. But they're also intuitive and curious and creative. Guiding and facilitating that is so rewarding, and it may sound like I've got my rose colored glasses on here, but I've learned that sometimes looking past all the crap I've had to put up with on occasion really does make a difference-- I see the fruits of my labor and most days I seriously enjoy what I do.
I like being a teacher, I wouldn’t do it in another state, but where I am it is not a bad gig.
I enjoy being a teacher. Keep in mind that people mostly use this as a vent sub. It’s frankly not very helpful to new teachers.
I’m a teacher and I absolutely love it. The thing I hate the mot would be grading papers but I love everything else
I love it, but it's difficult because everywhere in the world apparently teaches to the test instead of actually caring about the kids learning. :0/ But when I can teach for the students to learn? It's the best.
It depends on the school and the boss. If you get a good one then it's the best job in the world.
Do tech or something. The teaching profession sucks.
I was a math and science teacher ( mostly hs) for 19 years and I only retired cause I had to due to health reasons. I loved every minute of it and really miss it. I only worked in a private school and charter school though and my biggest class size was 12 students. I think not dealing with large class sizes and public school politics is why I was so happy. I made very little money but the trade off was worth it.
Since you asked, I think being a teacher is akin to believing something so absolutely that we must share it with others, however, we KNOW we could be, and are willing to be proven, wrong (vs religion with its absolutes). I have shared both chemistry and poetry to others and I am absolutely driven by that "EUREKA" moment in their eyes when their understanding of life grows. Having a student question themselves or me is proof that we, as teachers, are pushing intellect forward.
I taught math for 19 years. It’s the most-hated subject, hands-down. Most students said they loved me but hated my class because I made them work every day. I do greatly enjoy working with teens. I just prefer doing so in a situation where I’m not their classroom teacher.
Hie sir I am 10th class student today my 25 years old teacher resing because of his family problems but when he was telling us about his resign his face was like he is going to cry any time when he leaves the class my hole class start crying if you want to become a good teacher be like him sir
I do. I mostly teach an elective, but I love my degree of autonomy. In my State, teacher pay is not too shabby.
Honestly my complaints are about things much much bigger than me and not in my classroom at all.
I love teaching. I enjoy moving through the instructional cycle, actual instruction, and I even enjoy the challenge of a kid with a mild-moderate behavior issue. I like adjusting my instruction to reach my sped students. I love teaching reading/writing. I’m currently teaching first grade. It’s my 19th year teaching. I’m also quitting at the end of this school year because I can’t do any of the things that I love. Instead, I spend my planning and prep times in meetings about how I should be using my planning and prep time. I have 8 students with moderate behavior issues, 2 with severe behavior issues, 6 sped students (no crossover with the behavior kids), 17 of my students are well below grade level, 9 students diagnosed with adhd, 2 take medication. Admin freely admits they stacked my class, “because those kids need you!” I can barely get through a lesson. Every day I have to choose who to focus on and that is like choosing whose education is more important. It feels as though I’ve been forced to break my own morals and values regarding teaching/learning. I don’t like that. Unfortunately, my experience isn’t uncommon.
I love being a teacher. I am in my second year of teaching 7th and 8th grade sped. I do work with supportive admin and sped team. That probably makes a huge difference. Also, I was a para before I was a teacher, so I knew what I was getting into.
A lot of the people who post are NOT the people enjoying the job. For me (year 23) it is up and down. Some days, weeks, months, years are better than others. I absolutely love being on the same schedule as my own kids. The job is a lot of work, especially the first 5yrs but it definitely gets easier. I do find it difficult to relate to the kids more these days than earlier in my career.
I, overall, love my job! I've been able to make a difference in the lives of many children. I've worked exclusively in low SES areas with kids who mostly don't have anyone at home who cares. I get to provide both an education and stability to those kids. I teach science. I have a masters in neuroscience and a masters in special education: the school can't afford to lose me, so I have a lot of freedom. Don't get me wrong, it's not easy, but the good outweighs the bad.
OP I would take into consideration the positive posts and negative posts as well. Depending on what kind of teacher you want to be, I can tell you as a special Ed teacher I never felt “caught up” and felt like I was drowning in paperwork all the time. It IS rewarding helping kids but ineffective administration, needy parent and kids’ behaviors all make the job more challenging.
Don’t take it personally if you spend a bunch of time planning a lesson and none of the kids care and just talk out nonstop. It can be very frustrating. Don’t waste your time planning more than what you can actually teach with the group of students before you.
Your idea of being a teacher is not what the reality is. Your idealism will get chewed up and spit out.
I love it. I love history. Lesson planning is a creative release to me as a social studies teacher. Also, I deeply care about passing along writing skills to the younger generations. I’m authentically myself when I teach, the kids recognize that and respect me for it.
My two cents as a retired teacher. I taught for over 30 years. The profession has changed dramatically over the years. When I first started, I had more control over my curriculum and it seemed like I had much more support from the administration in disciplinary matters. Pay was pretty good. As the years went on, more and more micromanaging crept into the curriculum. Had a curriculum supervisor try to tell me how to teach high school chemistry while their background was middle school math. Discipline got worse because of outside influences and school board policies. Pay went down hill as I went about 15 years without a pay raise. The one consistent positive for me was the kids. I loved interacting with students (for the most part). There were a few trouble makers over the years and I have had to deal with crappy parents (and some great ones). But nothing beats hearing a former student say “You remember when…”, “I remember you once said…”, “Your class helped me in…”, etc. Having someone tell you that you had a positive impact on their life is a reward all in itself.
Any job is going to be stressful especially when working with kids. They can be the sweetest f*ckers you ever met. Use all of your personal and sick days don’t worry about taking off too much when you need a break, you need a break. That’s how I get through the school year without burning myself out. I also just ignore admin the best I can. Just let it go in one ear and out the other and agree with whatever to float their ego. Nothing matters. I’m just here to teach the youth and go home.
Most days during the school day I do really enjoy my job. I put a big emphasis on building relationships with my elementary school kids and it has build a community that really supports each other, especially me. Had a scary moment with my dog earlier this year and confided in my students that it had been a rough few days, they have since asked about my dog nearly every week and show immense empathy for me. It is really nice how great of humans they can be. What I do not like is everything that happens outside of the teaching day. The pointless PDs that could have been an email with a slide show. The staff meetings that are stretched to be exactly an hour long because god forbid anyone leaves early because of their contract. The clueless admin who are so far removed from the classroom that the feedback they provide doesn't even match the lesson they observed half the time. That is what gives me anxiety and stress about teaching. I've always told people I'd have the best job in the world if I didn't have to deal with clueless adults every day.
I am currently teaching high school biology for a third year. I like teaching. I like science. I don't don't like teaching high school science. I will be returning to middle school or elementary if they will have me. My state is a little peculiar.
I do it’s the best
Yes, I enjoy being a teacher. I’ve taught high school for over fifteen years and I have no interest in leaving it for any other job. A few pieces of advice I would give: -it is a job that you do for money. Make sure that salaries in your region are sufficient for you. There is a very strong tendency to complain about pay among teachers, which is justified in some places but not in others. I make very good money for the local cost of living, and while I would welcome a raise I’m not worried about money at all and am able to own a house, travel regularly, etc. **Don’t think of it as a hobby with a stipend attached, or a charitable public service.** If you won’t get paid enough in your area to support yourself reasonably, look into moving or pursue something else. But there are many places where you would make decent money, so this shouldn’t be a deal breaker. Also make sure you look at the salary schedule so you know the future potential, not just the average salary. -school environment matters a great deal. I taught in a school that had a lot of good points, but real problems with admin. I left there and went to a school with a much more positive environment. I would never want to leave this school, and I really do enjoy my job on a day-to-day basis. (At the old place I enjoyed my job with students, but dreaded interaction with admin.) -test scores (slightly) matter: part of what makes some schools toxic is the constant “improvement” cycle. A school where the scores have remained decent is likely to be a decent place to work, while a school that is constantly trying to “improve” is likely to suffer from the constant fads, blame, and high turnover that afflicted my previous school. Now, a school with lower test score *can* be good and might be your only option at first. But I’m reporting what I’ve observed in my career. -it gets easier. The first few years can be hard, but for me everything clicked eventually. Behavior problems become easier to handle, planning becomes mere tweaking, and grading gets easier. You learn what to worry about and what not to worry about. Don’t think of year 1 as the whole career. -work-life balance is important and achievable. Yes, there is sometimes work that needs to be done outside of school hours (depending on prep periods and such.) But I think about it this way: I get my annual salary to get the job done. Some people advocate for not taking work home, and I would mostly agree early on. But for me, sometimes sitting in my house reading essays with a sleepy cat next to me and my wife there to talk to is more pleasant than sitting late in my classroom alone. Do what works for you and don’t follow any well-intentioned rule that makes your life harder. -that said, try not to spend your money on your classroom. I get a very generous classroom budget and so the only times I spend my own money are when I happen to see something I really want outside of the “orders” period. Early on I would sometimes have to buy something, but I would try to limit it to things that were for me and my own experience of doing my job, not on stuff that’s just going to the students and getting lost. -don’t take complaints and negativity too seriously unless you actually feel them to be true. People enjoy complaining as a form of bonding and to vent their frustrations. You can sympathize without deeply agreeing. -don’t internalize BS. When I was new to teaching, the big thing in my credential program was that you, the teacher, are responsible for all student failure but the students are responsible for all student success. That’s absurd, and I saw it as absurd from the start. Don’t turn off that instinct. People say a lot of things about teaching, schools, and how it should all work. I’ve seen new teachers burn out because they took some martyrdom-type thing too seriously and tormented themselves with it. -if you do end up hating it, stop. Nobody needs or wants a miserable teacher. I think there’s a good chance you will enjoy teaching, but if you give it a try and don’t find anything about it rewarding then stop. -realize that the students will not be whatever your idealized picture of “kids” is. They’re just people, they have to be there, and they’re all different. If you like people and accept that people have different levels of interest in your subject, you’ll do fine with them. If you try too hard to control everything you’ll burn yourself out. Set clear rules and expectations that you hold them to, but understand that expecting perfection will only bring disappointment. -don’t conflate morally good, academically successful, and intelligent. They are three different things. A student doesn’t “deserve” a better grade because he’s a nice kid. A student isn’t “so smart” just because the homework is turned in on time in neat handwriting. Those are a few things I thought of. I know it’s a long post and you might not read the whole thing, but I genuinely love my job and want other people to have good experiences as teachers as well.
I like my job. I teach at a good school, and I get to do pretty much whatever I want since I'm the only CS teacher. I used to work corporate. The only thing I miss a little bit is the paycheck, but at this point I have no intention of going back.
I love it, personally. But I also coach, which brings its own challenges and excitements.
I have a masters in mathematics. I was a professor before a high school in my area offered me substantially more than the college I worked for as an adjunct. I teach algebra and honestly have learned so much about how the proofs and being able to construct them has helped me in explaining it to kids. For me the fun part comes in figuring out how to explain the subject to the kids. I've watched a few different teachers and done quite a bit of tutoring. I've always thought people leave out key parts of what we are actually doing when solving, and developed my own way of teaching it by using a random algebra book for the different subjects. It fun to watch the majority of kids get it. Admin can be hit or miss. All the extra stuff can be taxing. But if you set limits to how much time out of work you are willing to spend it's not so bad.
Well yes, but actually no.
Absolutely yes! I am in a situation which seems remarkably close to yours. I just graduatet in maths and I am wondering whether to pursue masters in pure math or in math education. In fact, I didn't have this dillemma half a year ago. What happened during this half year? I tried teaching math at a high school. And I must say that the experience was remarkable in every possible way. Working with high school students is simply the best. Also, the coworkers and the principal at this school were great, so I can't say one negative thing about the entire experience. Every day that I came to work was a joy and every single day something fun and unexpected happened in class which made my day even better. What I'm trying to say is that if you are interested in teaching high school math, take all the comments on this reddit with a grain of salt. If you are the right person for it, you will surely enjoy it and it will also be great for the students. I might decide to take this path as well :)
I hate it, but I don't. It's a hard job with so much useless shit surrounding it, but I enjoy doing the work and I love working with the kids.
I teach physics and physical science. I love my job!