Closing the chapter on teaching high school

Hello, friends! ☺️

I hope you are all doing well. It’s been so long since I’ve written to you. I truly had one hell of a school year. This was my 9th year teaching high school English. My supervisor was immensely cruel to me this year. She gave me an unbearable workload (six classes, all different grade levels) and would not stop criticizing my work and classroom management. The admin did nothing to support me at all. I was truly devastated. I spent every single night, since September, crying myself to sleep. I was also battling severe depression from my job.

So, I quit my teaching job. I’m free! But as I’m looking at my resume, I don’t know if I want to go back to the classroom in September. I’ve been in 5 different high schools and 2 community colleges. I truly did love teaching young minds. It was my everything. But I realized something. My peace of mind matters more. I want to live a happy life and it doesn’t matter what job I do. I used to think teaching was my entire identity.

I guess I would love to hear your thoughts. I don’t know what kind of careers I can explore. I love working with books, but if I can’t, I will scratch my literary itch by having literature as my most beloved hobby. I thought of library science for a while, but I’m so scared of the market and not having a job when I’m done with the MLIS degree.

Are there any former teachers here? What do you think?

 

You’re too kind, my dear friend. Thank you so much! It would be lovely to maybe be a children’s librarian! But I’m not sure how the market looks for librarians.

 

Go to your state library conference. The have job openings and interviews at the conference sites ( for Texas, it is the Texas Libraey Association) Go to the American Library Association website. They do as well, job listings

 

Thank you!!!

 

I hit "like" not because of the cruel educational environment, but the freedom. I hope you find the right place for you!

 

It's crazy as an educator myself how much administrators criticize everything teachers do and will side with the students and the parents. Administrators these days have no classroom experience and I remember the time when you had to have 3 years of teaching experience to work as a principal or school leader. They dropped that requirement about 20 years ago and it has been downhill every since. This is just one reason why even though I obtained my teaching license based on my experience as an adjunct professor after I dropped out of my Masters in Secondary Education program 16 years earlier why I refuse to teach K-12. It was bad then and has gotten much worse now.

 

This got me curious. In Iowa, to be eligible to be a principal you must have 3 years of teaching experience, complete an administrator preparation program, and hold a master's degree in education or a similar discipline. To become a superintendant, you must have 3 years of experience as a principal, and have at least 30 graduate hours above the master's (some get their EdD, some get the EdS and others complete a Superintendent Endorsement program that is more like a 30-hour second master's.)

If you look here: School Principals - Education Commission of the States under the "What are the school principal certification requirements for in-state candidates?" column, it looks like only 7 states do not require work experience to be a principal, although it's an interesting list:

• Louisiana
• Michigan
• Mississippi
• Ohio
• Oregon
• South Dakota
• Utah

 

Thank you so much, friend!

 

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It is sincerely terrible. My supervisor was a middle school math teacher in the 90’s. Now she is the ELA supervisor. I was so miserable. They tried to gaslight me into believing that I volunteered to teach six different grade levels. They got mad at me when I was bedridden with pneumonia and couldn’t submit grades on time. My observations were terrible too! They said I need classroom management skills. AFTER NINE YEARS? When I needed support, they ignored every single email. Even when I confronted them in person, they wouldn’t even look at me. They would just text away on their phone. I truly thought this district was going to be my forever home. It’s amazing how I realized the toxicity was making me so ill.

I don’t regret becoming a teacher. I truly did love my work. It’s been nine years. I do believe it’s time to close the chapter. What gives me solace is knowing I can find a job out there that doesn’t make me cry at night or have a panic attack every morning. I discovered that it’s just a job. It doesn’t make me who I am.

I was also looking into curriculum design. I’m really good at writing! My heart keeps calling to the library science degree, but I’m worried I might have to relocate to find a job. I guess I’ll weigh the pros and cons.

 

Boy, I certainly DO hear you...

 

No advice, but a method for examining it.

Background: I've been an ICF-accredied Professional Certified Coach for many years, and I'm also a Certified Professional Retirement Coach. I do a LOT of work regarding career and retirement decisions.

One way to look at this is "inside-out." The other is "outside-in."

"Inside-out" would involve taking inventory regarding what you like and don't like about work. Activities, values, environments, and anything else. Then, find (or build) the kind of job that largely (completely?) fulfills the list.

"Outside-in" would involve finding archetypes, or examples, of people doing things and then considering whether that would be for you. (Again, that inventory will really come in handy.)

Regarding doing that inventory, you can freestyle it yourself, or consider using an instrument (like Strengthsfinder) to suss out what you like. (The instrument is included in the cost of the book. The report of your 5 "brightest" strengths is free; you can pay a small fee to get a much more complete report, including your biggest weaknesses. In this paradigm, strengths are what energize you, not what you're good at. Weaknesses are, in turn, what drain you. It's like an interest inventory).

Another is the Strong Interest Inventory (formerly the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory). This is much more thorough and tells you what careers/vocations your interests align with.

 

Hey, everyone! I cannot thank you enough for your responses. I am starting to feel so hopeful. But I'm nervous too. I just created a LinkedIn profile and have been taking this course on transitioning from the classroom to a career in curriculum design.

I know those careers are really hard to come by. It's rough out there. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I hope this class can help. In the meantime, I have a subbing job to help me pay my bills.

I was hoping I could ask you for some more advice. I started to reflect on what I want my future to look like. I imagine a life where I wake up every morning, drink my coffee in peace, and then go to a library to help my community and fulfill my desire to work with books and technology. I could also work remote. After my mental health diagnosis, I realized that remote work would be a dream come true. But if I cannot get a remote position, there is always the library, a place of peace.

I was talking to my family last night, and they said perhaps I can seek a versatile degree, one that allows me to work in a library or data science. I found Rutgers' Master of Information program. It can allow me to get my library science degree with a specialization in technology and data science. I even found a dual master's program where I can also get an MBA.

I need to pray about this, but I would love to know your thoughts. I cannot begin to tell you how much your guidance means to me, and I appreciate your patience with me so much. I've been struggling a bit for the past few years. I thought I wanted to be a teacher forever, but I found out that my mental health and wellbeing mean more to me.

I hope you have a beautiful day wherever you are! Sending you good wishes from the Jersey Shore!

 

In a former role I was a Business Analyst. I worked for a software company, and their software was customized for each client. They needed someone who understood the nonprofit world (it was nonprofit software) and could ask the right questions about what the nonprofits want the software to do. Then they needed those requirements written up in a structured way, so that a developer or administrator could configure the software to match those requirements. The tech people didn't know the right questions to ask and the end-users didn't know how to translate their wants into the language of the software, so the BA sat in the middle. I didn't use any more complex technology than Excel to write lists of requirements, and the company's software - which was web-based and designed to be used by end users and non-techy people - and I hadn't used the software before getting the job(s).

In my current role, I take requirements I get from a Business Analyst and configure Salesforce Financial Services Cloud to meet those requirements. But I used to work on Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud. And they also have Salesforce Education Cloud. These Clouds are packages of components and features. The reason I'm bringing this up is that I had a coworker and a boss in that BA role who were former librarians, so it seems like the skills are rather transferable. You might consider looking into Business Analyst positions at educational software companies, where your teaching background would come in handy.

This position might not even require any additional education outside of a certification course. I regularly see BA positions around ~65-75K for newer candidates and above six figures with experience.

 

If you need my input about librarianship, just DM. I will try to help.

 

This sounds so wonderful! Perhaps I have a future in data! But I think you’re right. Perhaps I can get a certificate in business analytics as opposed to a full MBA. But do you think a Master of Information will be good? It can give me the opportunity to work in a library and in a data analyst field down the road. I feel like it will open more doors as opposed to an MLIS (Master’s in Library and Information Science).

 

You are too kind, my dear friend! Thank you so much. I sent you an invite to my profile. I’m the girl in pink.

 

What about teaching in an online school?

 

In Ohio, our principals need 2 years of teaching experience. There is a new "alternative pathway" that allows for someone with 5 years of experience in an administrative role (I'm thinking maybe someone like an Athletic Director becoming a Principal), and they also have to have a GPA of 3.0 on their college transcripts.