Thinking of a second career in teaching

typos:

'...everyone I've talked TO...'

'...they say THERE are...'

sorry

Why not call the area superintendents' offices and ask about registering as a substitute. You could check out students for yourself.

That's probably the best thing to do.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what kind of childcare arrangements work best for substitutes? (Besides dropping the child off at grandma's; she lives 8 hrs. away).

Research! Research! Research!

Finding a reliable, available-at-short-notice on an irregular basis may be very difficult.

Off the top of my head: nursery school, day care, sympathetic elderly neighbor who needs a few extra dollars.....

Not knowing your area/neighborhood, offering specific advice is difficult.

yes, but I'm
Lazy! Lazy! Lazy!

Seriously, though, I've been struggling to find childcare that I'm comfortable with since she was born. I've looked at a few pre-schools and was not really happy with any of them; even the pricey one seemed somehow lacking. There's a drop-in day care in town which would be better for sporadic use but then I worry it would be disruptive for her and there might be sick kids or kids with behavior problems.

I'd probably like best a trustworthy stay-at-home mom as a babysitter, but as yet I have not found anyone. One of the moms in my child's playgroup babysits, but she'salso the one who leaves her toddler alone in the car and allows him free run of the house while she showers. I once discussed latching the kitchen cupboards. She thought it was a hassle and said something like, well, if they just take a little sip of some cleaner they won't drink anymore. To which I replied that if it is drain cleaner, just one sip and you'll have to feed him through a stomach tube. Now that's a real hassle.

I spent three years teaching high school physics after a career in software development. For the record, I am now developing software again.

Teaching is a very difficult profession. There are people who are wonderful at it (I wasn't one of them), but it requires that you have a special set of skills.

The three concerns you have listed were not concerns I faced. It is unlikely you will need to worry about them.

Violence in schools is much less prevelent that the TV news would have you think (remember there are 10's of thousands of schools and you hear about all the exceptional cases). All schools have strict policies in place to deal with and protect teachers from violence.

Likewise evolution is a controvery on the school board level not in the classroom. I have never heard of a problem with animal rights issues except for individual students who want to be excused from dissection (and I think they should be allowed to - but that's another discsussion).

These are the things you should be worried about.

1) Student Discipline is a big problem. You need to be both strict and patient. You also need to be calm and consistant through 180 days. If you don't have a lot of patience and confidence, teaching is a big problem.

To be successful you need to be a good leader, actor and psychologist. You must maintain your composure and the students respect. There are 20-30 students in a classroom and just one teacher. If the teacher loses control of the class, things get ugly very quickly.

2) It is a huge amount of work. I had 130 students in my classes on any day (and this was a good school). This meant I had to correct homework for 130 students, calculate grades for 130 students while preparing work. This is in addition to 4 hours or so a day in front of the classroom where you must always be cheerful and energetic. Plus there are always a certain number of students who require or want special attention or are having problems.

When I was a teacher, I would become near homicidal at some of my poor friends (who didn't have any clue) would talk about how lucky I was to work 6 hours a day and have vacation. Teaching was by far the most work I have ever done on a job.

3) Teaching is emotionally draining. Students are constantly complaining about grades. Parents are constantly complaining about whatever. And worse, given the pressures I just talked about, they often are justified.

Then there are ethical dillemas like what to do when a student isn't doing much work, but then the parents come with the guidance counselor and a note from a therapist about how a bad grade will "damage" this student.
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Of course there are great things about teaching, and I found some parts of it very fulfilling -- for example I loved working with the students when they wanted help and the times when I sparked enthusiasm in my students were priceless.

But you asked, and teaching is a very demanding difficult job. There are some people who are very good teachers -- but it is not for everyone.

You should know what you are getting into. It is not an easy career. If you have the patience and want the fulfilment of helping kids than it is for you. But it is not for everyone and you should definately take the time to talk to teachers. Spending time in schools is a very good idea.

(1) worries me a bit, but (2) & (3) sound a lot like my old job.

I'm very patient , and a good public speaker, but I worry about maintaining control of the classroom.

This is my 2nd year of teaching High School science after 8 years of working in the ecology field. I originally did my Grad. Dip. in Education so that I could do some casual science teaching on the side - the ecology work was always short-term/casual/contract, i.e. no job security - then halfway through the course I felt inspired to give full-time teaching a go.

My first post (where I still am) is to a tiny village of 390 people in the Outback. Teaching out here has many challenges - I am the only science teacher in the school on my first posting plus there is no lab assistant, limited resources, etc. - but it also has many rewards. Out here the kids are great, when I was doing my prac I was teaching some really challenging kids, but even so I have learnt the hard way that the more thought and effort you put into planning your lessons beforehand, the smoother they generally go. And by planning, I mean think about what the kids will be interested in and motivated to learn. If you go into a lesson thinking "This is going to be a boring lesson, the sooner its over the better" then best kids in the world (which I pretty much have) are going to muck up on you.

But when a lesson goes well and the kids are into it and actually enjoying learning new stuff, it is very satisfying. Plus (over here anyway) the 12 weeks paid holiday per year is pretty hard to beat.