Teaching

[Katherine]

[Katherine]

Well, I got my Secondary Education and English degree two years ago, and since then I have done nothing with it-except get my license. part of it was because I had a nine month old that I yearned to stay home with, but the biggest part of it was because I was so frazzled by the stress from my student teaching experience that I felt I didn’t want to teach, so I decided not to.
Well, fast forward two years later-and after trying to find a job-with no success-I decided to try to be a teacher. (also, that my husband hold a not-so-secret-grudge against me for not using my degree).
I am going to apply to be a substitute teacher for a while, while applying to be an English teacher. I have a few worries, however. I am afraid that two years is too long of time to pass between getting my initial license and teaching and that I will always be at the bottom of the list for potential hire’s.
Also, I am trying to obtain my credentials (references from my supervising instructor and cooperating teachers from student teaching) and trying to access the portfolio I created on a website. My account expired and I really hope I can get it back because I actually threw away a lot of my student teaching material believing I would never teach (stupid of me-I know). So, I could never create another portfolio.

I just feel lost, and I am scared and excited at the same time.

The good thing about two years passing, is that the passionate frustration that I held right after I was done with student teaching has passed and I feel comfortable giving it a try–I just don’t feel like others would perceive me as being adequate.

[Kristen]

My fiancee (a new teacher) thinks that getting on a sublist is a good plan. Hopefully you can get your account back and get your portfolio back.

At any rate, subbing at the very least should get you in with a school board, which while it doesn’t help you get a full time job NOW, you’d be making some money, part time, while building up contacts in multiple schools, which will increase your chances later, regardless of what’s happened to your portfolio.

We both wish you all the luck in the world! 😀 Let us know how it goes!

[Kelly]

Well, I would say go for it if your heart is in teaching. Don’t let the two years hold you back. I had a great job in the tech industry, but being young and naive I let other things get in the way. Well long story short, I ended up working a few dead end type of jobs to get me by and 10 years went by with me feeling like I lost out on what my skills and ambitions were. Finally, with a little push from my husband, I decided to re-apply into the tech industry. after many interviews and 2nd interviews I finaly landed a better job than I expected. I am able to train and cert. on site with potential growth for the future. This is all very recent I’m coming up on my first year anniversary in April. So don’t let your self doubt [and time] stop you. Ten years away from tech is equivelent to 100 years away from teaching. Teaching, in my humble opinion, is more about figuring out how each individual learns, and then using that knowledge to impart knowledge. I learned math, not from numbers, but from music. I also learned that everything involves math, but not everything involves numbers. I learned the importance of language involves the ability to communicate with precision. It took me forever to learn the proper usage of pronouns. I came out of an under funded, and beaten down educational system that had some very good teachers. The problem was that most of the students and possibly most of the teachers were just going thru the motions. Luckily, that didn’t stop the teachers with heart. It did frustrate the living crap out of them tho. My husband came out of a school system where the dumb kids were B students. He passed his time in Latin class trying to translate Latin into modern usage. There is no word for car in Latin. Currus [ chariot ] is the closest word. Meus currus fractus est. My car is broken. It always got him in trouble. Take heart, there are diamonds in the rough out there. Jump back in and polish a few. 🙂

[Katherine]

Thank you so much for the encouragement! I also hope subbing will get me a good foot in the door with some school districts!

[siberakh1]

Yes! Get on the sublist for any schools in the area that you are willing to drive to. Many schools will take a qualified teacher from the sublist that they ‘know’ over a qualified teacher with equal qualifications that they ‘don’t know’. It’s like having an ‘in’. I know my school district likes to rehire qualified graduates from the district as well. 🙂

[Katherine]

The only problem is I can’t find my stinking transcripts! Gah! I found my license, and the transcripts should be in the same place (the filing cabinet) but I can’t find it! So much for being a potentially organized teacher! lol

But it seriously gives me hope that subbing is the best route and the right one for me right now! 🙂

[siberakh1]

eaglefeather831 wrote:

The only problem is I can’t find my stinking transcripts! Gah! I found my license, and the transcripts should be in the same place (the filing cabinet) but I can’t find it! So much for being a potentially organized teacher! lol

But it seriously gives me hope that subbing is the best route and the right one for me right now! 🙂

Transcripts are easy enough to get from the college you went to. You should be able to call them to find out how to request or where to download the form to request (many colleges require the request be in writing). Shouldn’t be too expensive either. I’d suggest getting a couple of extra copies if you can, perhaps with one or two copies being sealed, should you ever need a sealed copy. Nice to have on hand for when you do. 🙂

[darjeb]

My sister did sub teaching while her children wre young but it got to the point somebody was calling her everyday to sub somewhere so she decided to go back full time for full pay instead of half pay. But it is a good way to get started and a very good experience having different schools and classes to teach.

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