9 to 5
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Back to School-Teaching
I am in my mid-twenties and just decided to go to school for Elementary Education. I'm nervous and excited at the same time and really don't know what to expect or where to start. If anyone has any tips or advice I would greatly appreciate it!!
Re: Back to School-Teaching
28/100
LittleL 8/10/07
Baby E 11/27/10
Check out my makeup and reading blog:
Books and Beauty
sadly i was thinking this too, i'm in NY- and the market for all teachers in general (even more so for elementary ed) is terrible. Tenured teachers are being laid off. Its really sad.
I'm sure OP has heard of the market for teaching. It's not like it's a secret, y'all.
I got the same discouraging comments with my career change, yet am still happy with my choice. Make sure you are thick skinned enough to deal with a LOT of similar comments. Even though I've heard what a dumb idea it was to go into teaching, honestly going back to school for teaching has made me a better person overall. There are so many things I learned in teaching that you can apply in other professions. As long as you're prepared to sub/aide/etc. for a while, hang in there. Teaching is cyclical. In about 5-10 years the market for teachers will change substantially.
My advice - try to go to as many schools as possible and network like crazy. Make SURE the principal knows who you are, and get an amazing reference from all of your pre-service assignments. Good luck!
Same here. I suggest that you keep your options open to settings outside of a school and try to get a jump start on working with kids in any way you can including volunteering. A friend of mine is doing this now - going for the same thing you are but at the age of 34.
i agree. i've taught for 12 years, and this was the first year i felt like my job was in danger. luckily, i'm still employed. it was also the first year the district's done massive layoffs. and the state and local budgets aren't getting better in the foreseeable future. i don't mean to be all doom and gloom, but i also think that you ought to know what kind of job market you're going to eventually enter.
I agree with pp about looking into the job market. There are way more elementary teachers than positions in most states.
If you haven't, I would try to spend some time in classrooms at different grade levels (elementary, middle and high) to make sure you know for certain that you want to be an elementary teacher. I think this is also good to make sure you want to be a teacher. I have seen plenty of people who get through school and then don't enjoy being in the classroom or they get through school and don't like the age group that they are credentialed for.
Good luck
I went back to school for secondary education just two years after I graduated with my first degree (went from a reporter to education), and I felt like a lot had changed in just those two years. More classes were using online supplements to real classrooms, and it was difficult at first to get to know my fellow students because I was married and most of them were 18-19 years old during my first semester back.
However, after I got through that first semester and got out most of the lower-level classes, I was able to get to know older students who were farther along in the program, and I made some great contacts.
I've heard all the negative about the job market, but I don't regret my decision to change my career at all. I feel like I've finally found something I love, and I'm thrilled (and nervous) to be going into my student-teaching semester this fall.
My advice would be to SAVE EVERYTHING! It's important when creating your portfolio to have work samples of both what you did as a student and what you did as a teaching-in-training. Be organized, and try to keep electronic copies of everything. Also, attend all of your classes. For me, going back to school wasn't like my first stint in an undergrad program. This time, I really felt like I was getting so much out of my education. Soak it up! Also, consider adding a special education certification or some other specialization to make yourself more desirable in the field.
Finally, I recently read Road to Teaching: A Guide to Teaching Training, Student Teaching, and Finding a Job by Eric Hougan. I found a lot of good tips in it! Good luck!
Thank you! It's something I have wanted to do for awhile and am just now feeling ready, I'm very excited!! Good Luck to you too on your first year!!
Thanks for the encouragement, really you have no idea how much that helps...or maybe you do! ;o) I am not enrolled yet but have my first appointment on Monday with the advisor to discuss my plan and all of the sudden have a fierce determination to make it happen-no matter how long!
I would love to hear more about how your first teaching year goes as the school year moves along!