I found this while googling “good teaching” and I am so glad I did. Check out these videos:
Power teaching in action – High School Math
Lessons on Power Teaching:
Start with Lesson 1, and find Lessons 2-8 on youtube: Lesson 1 – Chris Biffle
Here is their official website: Whole Brain Teaching, LLC
Happy teaching!
ina
This whole week has been an emotional roller coaster. It started out with job applications and a full blown freak out over this career change. I talked to some teachers in my life (sister and sister-in-law) for a LONG time and picked their brains about teaching, the environment, the nuisances, the absolute stupidness of the administration, and parents’ intrusive entitlement.
I can’t say I full grasp how difficult a profession it is without having been in those shoes, but I can say that it did not deter me from trying it. Here’s my bottom line: every time I hit a slump in my job, I think “I am going to try teaching now!” It’s just something I need to try. Worst case scenario: I have the worst year of my life, I get it out of my system, and never try it again. No more “what might have been.” Best case scenario: I try it, I love it, and wonder why it took me so long to take the plunge.
Everyone agrees that it will be really hard for me to find a job as a teacher for this fall. So I’m going to pursue that job at my husband’s company and keep doing the teaching thing on the side. It’s a win-win: I don’t give up on teaching, just become better prepared, while I’m making money to pay for the licensing education. Plus, I get to try another company out. It’s just time.
We’ll see what happens, but I can say that my mood has definitely improved. Whatever happens, I’m OK with it.
ina
I looked into education programs to go from a Preliminary to an Initial license. These programs are not trivial! They are full blown programs that may take you anywhere from 2 to 3 years to complete. The Mass Dept of Education website has this list of recognized programs in Massachusetts: Programs Directory.
I contacted a few of them, and most of them said their enrollment was already closed for 2010-2011. Too bad.
That’s when I started looking for online programs: going at my own pace, better chance of rolling enrollment, etc.
Most of these online programs are based out of state, but they can be verified and recognized by the Massachusetts DOE as long as the program is accredited by one of these organizations:
Accredited Organizations
Besides being accredited by the organizations, the institution of your choice must also be in a state that enjoys reciprocity with Massachusetts. Here is the form that needs to be filled out. Look at the last page to see the state and certification type that has reciprocity: Reciprocity Form
To find an online program, go to eLearner. On the right-hand side, use the dropdowns to select the following options:
That will take you to programs that MAY have an Initial license certification program. Make sure to read through the descriptions and contact the universities directly to find out for sure!
I contacted a couple of them, and I have phone calls pending to find out more about the tuition, pace, etc.
I actually liked what I read about Western Governors University. You pay by the semester (less than $3,000), which means that you can cram as many classes as you possibly can in one semester. The faster you finish, the more you save. That idea was really appealing to me.
I asked them more about it. They said you have to sign up for a minimum of 12 credits. If you still have time left in the semester after you are done with those, you can add more onto your load mid-semester without paying more.
Hope this helps!
ina
Good things happened last night. I made dinner for Brian and we talked for about two hours about finances and teaching. Regarding finances, we decided to make some cuts to our current lifestyle. We seem to be on the same page, so I have full faith we will survive with my income cut back.
About teaching, he had a very good point. He said that he would like to see me pursue the job at his company as a Plan B to teaching. As my friend, mathteacher, pointed out in a comment on my last post, getting a teaching job is not as easy as applying. You need a license, and getting a license requires education, which I do not have. I know you can work towards your license by studying part-time while you work full-time, but there are many people out there with a perfectly good license who also need a job. The reality is that I might not get a teaching job this fall. It’s sad, but it is true.
Don’t fret, though. There is still hope. Brian completely agrees that I should get out of my company as soon as possible. He thinks that if I don’t get a teaching job, I could get a job at his company and then work towards going to teaching for fall of 2011. I didn’t like it when he suggested I worked there when I thought he meant permanently, but he seems to have come around to the idea that I need to get this out of my system, and he is OK with me trying it out for a while. That gave me strength.
Mathteacher’s comment about the license is something that has kept my wheels turning in my head all morning. I need to find out about licensing programs so I can start taking those classes in the fall. If I get a teaching job, then I’ll be taking them part-time, as planned. If I don’t get a teaching job, I can take my pretty paycheck from the new job and use it towards paying for the program. Either way, I need to get into some education plan towards the license!!!
Thanks to my husband and mathteacher, this is really taking some shape. THANK YOU!!!
ina
My sister, whom I call Monica Geller, had a very good piece of advice.
She said that Brian just wants to see me happy. If teaching is something that I really wanted to do, I should be excited and looking forward to the process. I shouldn’t be moping around saying how scared out of my mind I am. That gives the impression that I am having second thoughts, and he will feel the need to rescue me.
I thought that was a GREAT point. I have been so scared about the change, that I have not enjoyed the fact that I might be changing careers to something more creative, exciting and fulfilling than what I have been doing for the past several years. I think it’s time to start getting excited about this! It’s time to buckle down and study for the Math MTEL, and interview more teachers and find out what else there is to know about the process.
It’s time to hold my chin up high, and start ENJOYING my future career from NOW!
ina
I am freaking out. I am freaking out. I am freaking out. I am freaking out.
I am freaking out. I am freaking out. I am freaking out. I am freaking out.
I am freaking out. I am freaking out. I am freaking out. I am freaking out.
I am freaking out. I am freaking out. I am freaking out. I am freaking out.
I am freaking out. I am freaking out. I am freaking out. I am freaking out.
I am freaking out. I am freaking out. I am freaking out. I am freaking out.
I am freaking out. I am freaking out. I am freaking out. I am freaking out.
Over the weekend I submitted a few applications for Math positions near my hometown. I even submitted one for Northeastern University. I submitted a couple more today. I was (and still am) very very nervous, and I hadn’t been able to talk to my husband, Brian, in full about this yet. He was sick all weekend and it was just a bad time to talk.
Last night I told him how nervous and scared I was. I guess I was expecting him to tell me that it was going to be OK and that I was doing all the right things, but instead, he revealed his true concerns (which is OK, it was just not what I needed to hear). He asked me what things I needed in a job that I am not getting from my current one. My answers:
Brian then went on to say that those things might be available in his company at a position that he thinks I would be great at. He said he knew that’s not what I wanted to hear, but he thought I was really good at project management and I would be working with a lot of people and clients every day. He said that every person who works in that team at his office actually worked in my company at one point or another, and now they LOVE their jobs. He thinks this change might have a more positive effect on me.
I rolled over away from him.
I would hate to wake up one day two years from now and realize that I am now two more years into a career I don’t like or have ever enjoyed. It’s even worse, though, because now I’d be in a company where my own husband works and it might not look great on him if I quit after two years. Also, it’ll be harder to leave a new job, rather than an old one. I am afraid that if I don’t give teaching a shot now, I will always have that as my potential Plan B, and always go through this freak-out every time I think about changing careers.
Is it really so wrong to try this out for a year or so? Would it hurt anyone if I just changed now? If I didn’t like it, then who cares. I’ll come back to corporate. My experience and education are not going anywhere. I have demonstrated consistency and excellence in performance for 7 years. I could always spin the year I spent teaching as a wonderful experience and as something that was a dream of mine to try.
Would a company really not hire me for having taken a year off to try something new? Seriously? Am I going to become completely unmarketable if I take a year off to do this? Who’s to say I’d even want to go back to corporate?
I am so freaking out about this change right now. I’m hyperventilating and depressed and I can’t think straight.
ina
For the past couple of months I have been settling into a new job. Same company, same desk, different boss, different duties. It was exciting to finally leave my old role after a couple of years working with the same team and task list, so I decided to give this new job a fair shot and stop looking for jobs outside during my transition.
Two months later, I am back where I left off on this Blog: unhappy, in need for a change, wondering what a career in teaching would be like.
After a lot of career soul searching, and a billion new hobbies (and blogs) later, I find myself still having no clue what I want to do, but in dire need for change. So I took some action.
I signed up for the Math MTEL to teach high school math, just to make sure I did get my teaching license this year, per my predefined goal. A week later, I opened up http://higheredjobs.com and saw an interesting posting for a full time faculty position teaching IT at a nearby college. I seized the golden opportunity and I applied for it.
The moments that followed were of utter horror. Did I really just apply for a job as a teacher? Am I serious about this? Am I ready to cut my pay in half? What if they called me back for an interview? What then? Am I really doing this? For real???
I completely freaked out. I realized that the only people who would not think this was a stupid idea would be my husband and my sister. My husband was sick, therefore unable to give me the kind of moral support he would have otherwise, and my sister thought it was “interesting.” They don’t disagree with the idea, but they both have the same concern I have: am I really leaving a secure job and big paycheck for a career I don’t even know I will like?
I hyperventilated for a while, and promised my husband that I would take a look at our finances to make sure we’ll be alright.
That’s pretty much where we stand. I applied to that job yesterday. I have homework to do for school, work to do for work, Math studying to do for the MTEL, and groceries to buy so we save some $ on eating out during the week. I’m quite busy, so I’ll keep it in the DL for a little bit and continue letting the idea simmer a bit in my head.
Deep breath.
ina
I decided to take the Math MTEL on July 10th instead of May. I am way too busy right now.
Also, I had a dream that I quit my job, in which I might get a big raise soon, and went to work as a counselor at a school, and I woke up freaked out and wanting to get my job back. That’s gotta say something, right?
ina
I got my MTEL scores on Friday. The unofficial score reporting website says the scores are available starting at 5pm, but they were ready during the day.
The website and the email will tell you exactly the same information, so don’t expect one to be more detailed than the other.
It will just tell you whether you passed or not, pretty much. The minimum passing score is a curved 240 out of 300.
I think the reason they don’t give scores beyond 240 is so that employers don’t use them as SAT scores. After all, a better teacher is not necessarily the one that got the better score.
While I agree with that reasoning 100%, it sort of killed my competitive spirit to not know my ACTUAL score.
You do get more detailed explanation of your performance in the official scores in the mail. In summary, apparently my summarizing skills suck! But the MTEL graders agree that I kick ass at writing quick short essays. Nice 🙂
Good luck with your scores!
ina
That’s a club that I believe would teach real life skills to kids: how to give presentations in the real world. You have no idea how many college graduates, and even working MBA students, have NO IDEA how to give a good presentation. It makes me cringe, like nails on a blackboard, when I see grown ups reading from slides, holding onto notecards, and memorizing speeches. I can’t stand it!!!
There we go. We’ve got 2 clubs so far 🙂 Although I’d probably finnd a more attractive name for the club than just Corporate Presentations. Any ideas? Think of something sexy
ina
Many schools don’t have a programming course where kids can develop their coding skills. If I became a teacher, I would SO start a Programming Club for kids who are interested.
I started programming in high school my senior year with Pascal. It was MAGICAL. Love at first sight. [I was going to say "at first site," but Pascal is not a website programming tool… So my little punn wouldn’t have worked] I loved how much like a game it was! I’d love to pass on that love to kids who want to be there and feel it, too.
I’d probably start with Java, so they can learn about APIs. I don’t know exactly what are the goals of a club… Are we supposed to have a final project, or presentation, or anything like that? I don’t know, I’m sure it will come to me.
ina
I love trigonometry. It’s so logical and rule-driven. I can’t do proofs or any other math that requires creative solutions, but give me a set of rules, and I can do any exercise. I guess that’s why I loved programming so much. It was like a game where they give you all the rules in the beginning. There’s just no way to fail when you know the rules
If I were teaching trigonometry, I would love to stress exactly where the concepts come from. Like the fact that all the sine and cosine values are nothing but the Y and X coordinates, respectively, in a circle of radius 1.
I would also show them this nifty little chart to figure out the sin, cos, and tan of the notable angles:
(chart)
That’s the only way I remember the actual values. It’s not by heart, it’s just by writing out this table and just calculating from there.
I’d love to teach trig, if I do end up teaching Math.
ina
This is how a conversation with my sister went recently:
ina: I’m sick and tired of this bullshit
Monica: (laughs)
ina: I just don’t want to do this anymore. Somethings has got to change!
Monica: Weren’t you working on becoming a teacher?
ina: Yeah, but the subject matter test won’t be until May, which means that I won’t get the scores until July, which means that I won’t get my license until September, and by then it will be too late to apply for jobs for the fall.
Monica: Well, I don’t know how things work over there, but here in Texas you can apply for jobs before getting your license. That’s how I was able to get a job so quickly when I moved up here.
ina: I do know for a fact that I could apply for jobs without a license……
Monica: So what’s stopping you?
ina: …
ina: I’m so scaaaared!
Throughout the conversation I came to understand that I was actively trying to come up with excuses to not switch careers in a few months. I can’t say I know for sure WHY I’m stopping myself. I guess I am not comfortable leaving my job yet because I’m starting out in a new role, and I like the people I’ll be working for, and I certainly don’t want to let them down. Besides that, which sounds like illogical loyalty, I also wonder whether the new job will be better than my last, and I won’t really be giving it a fair try if I am trying to find another job in the meantime.
So I think I am more comfortable staying put for now. I will get my license this year, and I will start looking at jobs when the time is right. I am just very scared of a change like this, and I want to make sure I do it right. No rushing.
ina
So here’s a game to get kids to know how algebraic signs work:
Give each student a card with a plus (+) or a minus (-) sign on it, and give them a blank card. The first person in each row passes their card to the one behind, and that kid will have to figure out which sign is the result of the combination of the one they got and they one they had. Write the answer on the blank card, and pass on that answer card. The game continues until the last person in the row has the final outcome of the signs.
Then we’ll review and see on the board what the answer actually was. The winning row gets points.
I think there are more games where this one came from 🙂
ina
This morning I didn’t have to iron, which gave me back 10 minutes of my time before I had to leave to catch the train.
I went downstairs and just lied on my new couch to rest my brain a little I got a shiver throughout my body, and acknowleged that I did not want to go into work today. My immediate next thought was: what would be different if I were teaching?
Then I started daydreaming about an idea I had for an algebra class (see next post). Sooner than I hoped, came the time to get up and catch my train.
Hope you all have a good day at work.
ina
After I read John Kreiss’s posting on Why I want to be a teacher, I started thinking of what he said about MBA classes being engaging. I’m getting my MBA right now (will be done in August, thank goodness), and the classes are engaging because they are discussion-style. There is some lecturing in there, but there is usually a case students have to read beforehand and discuss with the rest of the class.
Would this approach work with middle school or high school kids? I don’t think I would be able to capture their attention for a whole hour without stopping… I thought that maybe I could do something like that: assign a reading and have them discuss it. If they didn’t read it, send them out to the office. That seems to do the trick for them to catch on that they have to do the reading. I could assign 1-pagers, so that they can even read it on the way to school (nothing like what we get in business school which can take multiple hours of reading). But I like this idea.
If I end up teaching math, there isn’t much discussion, right? … still, I don’t think I could just lecture. I’d probably assign exercises and have them come up to the board to resolve. If they didn’t do the homework, you guessed it, they’ll be going to the office.
I don’t know if I’m allowed to use that technique… I just think it’s important to set the boundaries from the start, so they know what is OK and what is not OK. If they don’t do the exercises they will not learn. If they do not learn, they will not get a good grade and I will not have done my job.
Good luck to my kids in advance 😉
ina
I’ve been thinking about career-changing into teaching all day. Today I outed myself to one of my coworkers, and his reaction was “you know they don’t make any money, right?” Yes, I know, but I’ll take a drop of their job satisfaction any day. That seemed to shut him up, but I was left feeling like he had lost all respect for me.
So it has begun: the corporate shame spiral that it is to leave a job you are totally qualified for, you make a lot of money doing, and where you might have a future (albeit unwanted), all for another job that you might (or might not) “enjoy” better.
I have this notebook that I got at a Barnes & Noble back in 2003, in which I rant and vent, and it’s not out of blank pages yet. One of the first things I did with that book was to write a list of things I wanted to do in life. You know what one of those things was?
Not be afraid to quit my job to follow my dreams
The thing is that I don’t know what my dreams are anymore. Is it to become a teacher? Well, maybe not a lifelong hardcore full-blown DREAM, but maybe something I want to try before I just die in the same old job not having changed a thing in my life.
Can you blame me for that?
ina
PS: For the record, I am fully aware that all this “lack of respect” is coming from within me. I’ve got to come to terms with my own decision.
As I mentioned on an earlier post, I decided not to take the March 6th Subject Matter MTEL because I’d have no time to study. The deadline to sign up for the May test is at the end of March (see all the dates on the MTEL website), so I’ve been busy with other stuff in the meantime. See more at inanutshelll.com.
But yesterday my spirits were lifted by the simple presence of my sister-in-law. She’s a first grade teacher, and she really inspires me. She loves her job and her kids, and such confidence makes me want to have her job.
I should probably start studying for that Math MTEL…
ina
PS: The scores for the Communication & Literacy MTEL will be posted this Friday!
I am feeling very conflicted right now. Here’s more or less what my train of thought has been for the past 2 days:
You see, the thing is that I don’t know if I’m going to be ready to change careers in the Fall. I got a raise coming up and I want to ride on it for a little while before giving it up. The thought of staying at my current job for another year is quite gloomy, but at the same time, I’ll be graduating in August, and I don’t know if I could handle SO much of a change all at once. Maybe I should take my raise, get my license without any rush, enjoy my holidays, keep taking MTELs until I got all the licenses I wanted, and apply for the following year.
My immediate reaction to what I just wrote is “I know that’s the right choice, but I don’t want to feel like I’m settling.” I try to tell myself that as long as I’m making progress (getting licenses), I am on the right track.
I’m so scared of this change. Am I just trying to sabotage myself by slowing down?
ina
Today I took the Communications and Literacy Reading and Writing tests. When I signed up for both tests, I selected Reading in the morning and Writing in the afternoon, so I was expecting to be at the test site for 8 hours or more. To be super prepared and not have to scramble in the morning, I planned on getting up at 6am to get to the site between 7 and 7:15am. That would give me 30 min of sitting around reading up and reviewing some stuff before the test (for which we were supposed to report to the site at 7:45am). So I packed my bag last night. This is what I took with me:
Then the day came. Woke up, had a quick breakfast (wheat toast with strawberry jelly and a banana with orange juice) while I listened to Taylor Swift’s new songs from the Platinum Fearless album (don’t judge!), made myself a turkey sandwich for lunch and put some crackers in a zip lock bag, then brushed my teeth, put lotion on my body and face, got dressed and was in the car to leave at 6:40am.
Turns out that they were serious when they said there was limited parking. I ended up parking in a Resident Permit Only – Violators will be towed spot. My nerves about the test dissolved as soon as I decided to turn a blind eye to my illegal parking situation. I spent the entire time worried about coming back to an empty, albeit snowy, spot. (Don’t worry, it was OK in the end — I didn’t even get a ticket!).
There was a line all the way out from the school entrance. I did not think there were going to be a million people there! I thought I would have time to read!
While we waited in line (which moved pretty quickly), I tried to make a new friend… but the girl next to me would just answer questions, didn’t ask any back. I was a bit overly friendly, so maybe I just freaked her out a little bit. Especially when I asked her which school she went to, and then told her which school I went to, and then said “I just wanted to see if you were nearby…” — yeah, kinda weird. I stopped talking at that point.
Inside, it was chaos. People getting signed in, and giving up their cellphones. Yup, they took our cellphones away at the door. The lady behind the cellphone table was a bit rough, but I just stayed quiet not to anger her.
I went up to the room and sat at the wrong desk. Yes, the desks are assigned. The proctor signed me in, checked my 2 forms of ID, and even made me put my thumb print on the test answer sheets before I realized the answer sheets had the wrong name on them. Way to be thorough! The lady even called me Elizabeth once, and I corrected her… and that still didn’t raise any concerns for her. I won’t say more about her, though, she was extremely nice, and if I ever see her on the street I’ll give her a big hug 🙂 If I pass the test, that is.
As soon as you are in the room, you can’t walk out again or open a book. So I really should have sat outside with my book for the remaining 40 minutes before the test actually began (which was 8:30am… I didn’t find this out until that moment). So I just sat there waiting patiently for the test to begin.
On a side note, they were also not kidding when they said “dress in layers.” Even though it was 30 degrees outside, the room was SO hot I had to take off my turtleneck shirt and ended up taking most of the test in a wife beater. So yes, dress in layers: assume it’s going to be AWFULLY hot, and assume it might be BRUTALLY cold.
I got the test booklets for both tests at once (Reading and Writing), which I thought was strange. The proctor read the instructions and asked if there were any questions. I asked her if there was going to be a break in between the tests for those of us who were going to be there for 8 hours. She seemed confused and said that we only had 4 hours, and we’d have to come back in the afternoon for the second test. (???) Another guy who understood my concern said that we actually had 4 hours to finish BOTH tests. This surprised me, but didn’t really worry me. The practice tests were so short that I laughed at the thought that I’d have to spend 4 hours on them.
The test began. I raced through the Reading section. It wasn’t bad at all. Mostly it asked you to read a passage and to answer:
It really wasn’t that bad. I finished in one hour!!! Then took a little break and continued onto the Writing section.
Most of the test was multiple choice on correcting sentences. Some typical questions were:
That was actually kind of fun. I read the questions first and then went searching for the mistakes.
The part I didn’t like so much was the one where you have to rewrite a sentence to replace one that has mistakes.
Then came summarizing a passage. I could have done better, but I really went a little long. I wrote exactly 150 words (the instruction said 100-150). Oh well.
Then came the essay. The one we got was to argue one side of the argument of whether teachers should get a bonus if their students perform better on standardized tests. I’m sure everyone got a different topic, but I had fun with this one. I can write long essays in no time: I’ve had a lot of practice with 30-min BS essay writing during the MBA.
I was done with the Writing section in 2.5 hours. I left the test site at 12 noon (30 min before time was up).
I feel really good about it. I hope this helped you prepare for your own experience in this test.
I’ll leave you with one thing that was hanging up in the classroom, and made me smile the entire time. I just kept thinking to myself “Is that why they call it mooning?” LOL 🙂
ina
I’m on my way to the MTEL. I’m starting to get a little nervous about the test, but I know it will be OK. I studied during my commute all this week, but never took a practice test. Just didn’t have time.
Last night my husband and I had a pizza night with our next door neighbors (let’s call them Fred and Ethel), so I got to pick both their teacher brains about teaching. They reassured me that I will not have any free time when I change careers, contrary to popular belief. Also, that the test is going to be a breeze. Cross my fingers!
So far the hardest thing has been finding parking!!!
Ok, here goes nothing…
ina
I started doing vocab drills this past weekend. The test is this coming Saturday, and I’m still not worried (should I be?). The verbal section does not appear to be any harder than the GMAT verbal section, which I did OK in.
I’m still in the Reading section of the study guide, but I’m sure the Writing piece won’t be too difficult. Maybe I’m just downplaying this way too much… so far I have learned nothing more than a few more vocab words I didn’t know before. Take from that what you will.
I’ll let you know how things go this week. Hopefully I’ll be able to tell you that things went peachy keen with the studying (I don’t have time to study at night, so I’m just doing it on my commute on the train). I’ll give you one more update before the test.
As for the subject-specific test, I have decided not to take it in March. I have way too many things going on in February and March, and I won’t be able to get in any kind of shape for the test. I’ve decided to take that in May.
I don’t know if I will be applying for teaching jobs in the Spring for the Fall semester. I think I might be putting this off for another year. The reason is LIFE. I hope to be getting a raise this year, and my husband and I have grand plans for how to use the extra cash. I don’t think it will help anybody for me to lower my pay this year. Plus, I’m changing roles and things are bound to look differently at work this Spring.
Confession: I know I’m not supposed to feel this way, which is why this is a confession rather than a passing thought. Here it goes: I have to admit, I’m dreading subbing again. The kids were totally out of line last time, and I am having difficulty getting excited to sub again in the future. I have heard that teaching full time is FAR better because you do get to establish a certain routine and respect with the kids, but subs get the shaft every time. I know this in my head, but my whole body shakes at the thought of putting myself in that position again. I shiver all over. Not a great sign, but again, teaching would be different… right?
If anyone out there is reading this, do you have any thoughts or words of encouragement for me?
ina
I haven’t started studying for the Communication & Literacy MTEL yet… it’s in a week and a half.
ina
A lot has happened since I signed up for the MTEL in December. My full time job has tried to pull me back and rekindle my interest in it, which I don’t welcome at all, but it’s hard to not react to it in its favor. My leaders want me to succeed so they entice me with raises, new roles, and flexible work arrangements. Temptation is everywhere.
I have to keep reminding myself that it’s really easy to make the decision to fold when the chips are down. But the smartest time to make a decision is when you can think clearly and weigh all the options that are before you. So maybe it’s a good thing that the situation is looking up at work, so that I can think of my career in an objective manner, and I don’t feel like I’m just running away from a difficult situation.
Things will get better, and they will get worse again. It’s just the work cycle. The question has always been whether these cycles spend more time in the up than in the down, and so far the answer has consistently been No. I have spent more time complaining about my job than being excited about it. Shouldn’t that be telling enough that it’s time to move on?
I’d like to take this opportunity that things are looking up to really weigh the pros and cons of changing careers. Maybe I should ease into it. I can get my license and see if I can do some part time work as a teacher. Maybe summer school, maybe teach at a local college or adult education while I’m employed full time, and see if that is what I really want to do.
Anyways, just thought I’d give you a snippet of what is going on in my head. If any of you out there are thinking of changing careers, and you are having similar thoughts, maybe this will help you with your decision-making process.
Good luck to you and me,
ina
I signed up for my very first MTEL. I like their website a lot. It has all the information you possibly need: how to register, checklists, even study guides.
MTEL site: http://www.mtel.nesinc.com/
I signed up for the Communications & Literacy one, which has more test dates than the rest. I might sign up for math, because of the need for math teachers, but I’m still thinking about it. I think my degree might be more suitable to teach business (even though that’s really scary to me, since I’ve never actually worked in “business”). I’ll let you know what I decide.
The test is Jan 23rd. I have 1 month an a week to study for it. Wish me luck 😉
ina
So I had my first subbing gig at a high school.
I’ll cut to the chase, and then elaborate: it was interesting. It didn’t make me feel like that was my calling in life, but it didn’t completely turn me off. It was a day full of “uh huh… so that’s how it is.” So, I don’t have a groundbreaking answer for you. I do have a few anecdotes to share, which I will keep as general as possible to preserve the anonymity of those involved.
The Good
The Bad
The Ugly
Would I do it again? Yes, for sure. This was just a small taste of what teaching is like. Actually, it wasn’t really a teaching experience, as much as an immersion experience. I got to see what the environment is like, interact with those who live it every day, but I did not get the experience that teachers get: I did not get to practice constant consistency (in fact, I was a disrupting factor in the kids’ routine, by definition), I did not get to prepare lesson plans and make it fun for kids to learn. I was not really teaching. I was babysitting. I did not enjoy the babysitting aspect of it. I just wonder what it would be like to be there every day and have a rhythm.
ina
I am surrounded by teachers in my life: my sister, my sister-in-law, my mother-in-law, and good friends from college. When you think of all the abuse they must have endured from the limit-pushing students year after year, it makes you wonder how they do it, or why they do it.
The fact that they are still teaching makes them superhuman in my mind. So I called my sister and asked her a few questions about teaching.
She took me back to my own high school days. I remember kids being mean, entitled, disrespectful, and overall completely disinterested in what the teacher was saying. For the life of me I can’t quite remember anything I learned in Universal History, and I was one of the good and quiet ones! In short, kids will probably learn nothing from my subbing session. They may also be tired and drained and checked out for the semester, further feeding the Nothing Learned rule.
My sister told me the story of a military man who came to teach at her school. They all thought he was exactly what the school needed. Well, he didn’t last 2 weeks. He basically left puffing and saying how could anyone stand all that abuse. Expect kids to push your buttons and don’t let them see you lose your cool. Check.
I have to say: I was intimidated before, but now I am even more! What if I can’t cut it? What if I am just too emotional and kids walk all over me? What if they make me cry, like my sister promises they will?
I’m preparing myself mentally for this Friday’s subbing gig. I am expecting kids to be lazy, loud, disrespectful. I have a few tricks up my sleeve to get them to behave, but I don’t know if they will work. I may be being too naive in thinking I could handle a classroom perfectly on my first day.
I do have to say that the one thing that gives me confidence is that I do have experience captivating an audience. I have a strong inclination towards making things entertaining enough and lively enough. I do believe I have the right makings to be a good teacher.
The question is: will it be enough?
ina
I’ll be teaching a high school class on Friday, and I’m trying to psych myself for it.
I’ll probably get 45 minutes with each group of students, right? I don’t know how many groups of students I’ll get on a given day, or which grades I’ll be teaching, but I can only imagine that I won’t have classes back to back, and I might get a free period somewhere. Maybe I can learn something about classroom management or fun ways to teach and implement them period to period. Yes? No? First times are nerve wrecking!
I’ll tell you what’s underneath this anxiety: I’ve got a lot riding on this career change. What if I don’t like it?
Right now I yearn for a major change in my day-to-day. I want a job where I am not chained to a computer and a phone all day, where emails don’t dictate my tasks for the day, where I’m not being constantly discouraged from being myself. I want a job where I can excel by just being naturally me. A job that doesn’t feel like a job. Am I being too idealistic? I admit I’m probably setting myself up for failure, but… [sigh] I don’t know.
I’m a believer in appreciation by comparison. Maybe I would not have settled down in Boston if I hadn’t lived in 2 other states before coming back to Massachusetts. Maybe I wouldn’t have bought my perfect house on the rockhill if it had been the first house I saw. And I’m still thankful I didn’t end up marrying my very first boyfriend. So why should I settle for the only job I’ve ever known, especially when I know my heart is not in it? The point is that when you have something to compare against, you grow appreciation for one over the other. Makes sense, right?
I just hope that this change doesn’t drive me right back to the desk job where I started.
Again, wish me luck.
ina
I just signed up to teach my last subbing gig of the year. It will happen this Friday, December 4th. This time: a high school! That’s what I aim to teach, so this will be a maker or a breaker.
Wish me luck!
ina
As adults we sometimes feel we know best when it comes to dealing with children. We think we know what’s good, what’s bad, what’s not a big deal, and what’s necessary. At least as compared to a child’s judgment.
I’m here to tell you that we don’t know jack.
We have all been there: kid is being too loud, we tell them to be quiet. Kid is being annoying, we tell them to stop. We never actually follow an exact strategy to know for sure whether our little lessons are teaching about right and wrong, or if we are actually causing long-lasting harm to the child.
I heard a story once, I forget where, of a mother who came home from a bad day at work with a migraine. She went straight to her room to sleep. Her daughter, six years old, was in the other room singing quite loudly. This felt like jackhammers in her mother’s head (if you’ve had a migraine, you know what that must have felt like). She just yelled out her daughter’s name without getting up, and asked her to please stop, mommy was feeling sick.
The next day, the girl didn’t sing anymore. The mother didn’t think anything of it (she was being so good and quiet). What we fail to realize in this scenario is that the girl was probably singing loudly to get her mother’s attention. She wanted her mother to think she was the best singer and be proud of her. When her mother asked her to stop, this killed her spirit (“oh, I must not be that good”) and she never sang as confidently as she had that last night.
The moral of the story is that all kids have a gift they are proud of. We could choose to think they are just being annoying, or trying to get your attention, and we could just quiet them down or get them to sit still and “be good.” Or we could really pay attention to what those things are they are so proud of and encourage them to channel that energy positively.
Your kid is annoyingly singing loudly? Tell them what great singers they are and ask them how they would like to take some singing lessons. Your kid always interrupts others, has a lot of opinions and seems overly verbal? Might be a good candidate for kids debate club. Kid has trouble following directions and marches to the beat of their own drum? Sounds like great leadership material – would there be any programs to teach kids how to lead others? Encourage their independent thinking, but remind them that they should also do what the teacher says at school.
This is not as easy as it sounds. We all want kids to be quiet and good and obedient, but that’s how you’ll end up with a robot who just wants to please you and never question what they are asked to do. That’s how you end up with adults who are unhappy with their path and decide, too late in life (or maybe never), to pursue a different one. Yes, I’m talking about me now.
This must be especially challenging for teachers, who have to deal with as many as thirty individual minds at a time. I do hope I can remember my own advice and stop and think if a student needs a nudge in a new direction.
ina
A career change is the hardest thing to do. Few things will cause the same level of anxiety, uncertainty, and fear. To make a move like that, you have to be really ready for a change. Statistics say 90% of humans fear change, so the odds are already against you, even before you began. (Also note that 65% of statistics are made up on the spot, so it could really go either way) 😉
I’ll tell you why I feel ready. Why now? Why not earlier or later?
Let’s start from the top: I went to college for Computer Science. I thought I would graduate and become a computer programmer. Programming was fun and challenging: it is problem solving in the best sense of the words. I thought employers would pay me to play (=program) on the computer all day. I was in Heaven. The problem was that I was not legally authorized to work in the United States at the time, without some kind of Visa sponsorship by a daring corporation.
Fortunately for me, I did find a job in a prestigious company that was still sponsoring international students (they no longer do). It was for an IT entry-level program. Programming was not part of the career path.
Sorely disappointed, but understanding that I had no other alternative if I wanted to stay in the US, I took the job.
I tried to like it. I really did. I drank the kool-aid they would feed us every morning: we were to be the next generation of leaders in the company. We were headed for great things. They would introduce us to CEOs, CIOs, CTOs and we worked hand-in-hand with the leaders’ direct reports. We were being given the opportunity of a lifetime… but my heart really wasn’t in it.
Where would I go if I left, though? Not only did I not know what I wanted to do with my life, but no company would have hired me without work authorization anyway! I was stuck until I got a greencard, or until I gathered the gonads to put myself out there and aggressively look for another job. But even then I would be going from a corporate environment to another, and I already knew I wasn’t enjoying it, so would it really be a positive change at all?
In 2008, I married the most wonderful man in the world, and my college sweetheart of 5 years. As a US citizen, my husband was able to sponsor me for a greencard (which I finally received in the mail 6 months after we filed for it – oh, and BTW, the card itself is not green at all).
Now that I had proper work authorization, I still did not feel comfortable making a career change. After all, I was only half way through my fully-paid MBA (by the company), and I could not afford quitting and putting myself tens of thousands of dollars in debt.
I will be finishing the MBA this coming year, and I will have no more excuses to make a significant change.
So why not earlier? I had a ball and chain on my foot.
Why now? No more excuses!
Why teaching? I have considered different careers, many of them which included working for myself. The only problem is that I have a bit of a motivation issue: I need validation and external impulses to keep me going. I’m not sure that self-employment would harmonize with my personality. Maybe I could have side-ventures where I can make a little extra money on my own terms, but only as long as it is fun.
As for working for smaller companies, I’ve considered that, too, but my bitterness towards corporate America runs deep. I cringe at the thought of having yet another desk job.
In my eyes, teaching represents freedom. I can do anything in a classroom, be anyone I want to be. There are millions of personality types in teaching: the mean one, the funny one, the easy one, the bad one, the good one. Nobody would ever give me a hard time for setting high expectations, or behaving like an authority figure. My personality can run free, without supervisors asking me to tone it down or to be less direct. It’s just a whole different dynamic, and I can’t wait to give it a shot!
So that’s how I settled on that profession. Yes, the money is FAR less than what I make at my current job. I have discussed this with my husband, and he is concerned, as he should be. But he understands my need for a change and he supports my decisions as long as we are smart about it. So I’m on a tough savings plan. It’s going to be really hard, but if I actually enjoy my job, it will have been worth it.
What are your reasons to consider a career change to teaching?
ina
There are certain things that might conspire against my obtaining my license in the spring:
Anyways, it is possible that I will not be ready or qualified for Fall jobs. In that case, I need a Plan B. I am going to look for jobs in Private schools as well.
There is another limitation to being a specialized teacher: there might not be a need for full-time teachers in those topics. See, core teachers (Math, English, Elementary, etc) are essential full-time workers, and these positions would be the absolute last to cut if the school was in trouble. Specialized subjects may be cut at any time, and may not be needed all day long every day.
If I ended up in part-time assignments, I might end up making less than half than I make now after the change. I might have to find multiple jobs in multiple schools to complete a full-time schedule.
Although it is possible to work for multiple schools at the same time, it is not allowed to work in different school systems at once. For example, I could work in a town’s high school and middle schools, but I can’t work there and in another town’s high school.
This might take more juggling of unwanted jobs than I initially expected, but we won’t know until we try!
ina
This entry focuses solely on what I have found out about the process of becoming a teacher in Massachusetts.
Please note that these requirements are only relevant to teach in the public school system. Private schools do not have these requirements, but they also pay less in salary and benefits.
The best resource is the website of the Department of Education. I have heard that getting somebody on the phone to help you is harder than squeezing a camel through the eye of a needle, so the DoE made it up to you by having all of the information you could possibly need on their website.
The first thing I did was make myself a spreadsheet (of course) of the different subject matters I might be qualified to teach or interested in teaching, and summarized the requirements for each subject. Click here for the list of requirements.
Through this process, I found out about the different licensing types: Preliminary, Initial, Professional and Temporary.
I thought I would naturally fall into the Professional one: I am a professional, after all. Wrong! I am not a Professional teacher. Here is a description of each license available (these are extracted exactly from the requirements page):
Preliminary License – A teacher license issued to a person who holds a bachelor’s degree and has passed the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL) and met other eligibility requirements. (Preliminary Vocational Technical Teacher license is a teacher license issued to a person who has met certain educational, employment experience and for certain areas occupational license/certification requirements and passed a performance test and other required tests).
Initial License – An educator license issued to a person who has completed a bachelor’s degree, passed the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure, completed a professional preparation program approved by the Commissioner, and met other eligibility requirements. (Initial Vocational Technical Administrator license is a license issued to a person who has a bachelor’s degree and another educator license, certain employment experience and who has passed certain tests). (Initial Vocational Technical Cooperative Education Coordinator license is a license issued to a person who has a Vocational Technical Teacher/Administrator license or certain business/industry experience and who has completed an internship and passed a communication and literacy test).
Professional License – An educator license issued to a person who has met the requirements for an Initial license, completed a Performance Assessment Program or an appropriate master’s degree program, and met other requirements. (Professional Vocational Technical Teacher license is license issued to a person who possesses a Preliminary license has completed certain college courses, employment and induction program requirements). (Professional Vocational Technical Administrator and the Cooperative Education Coordinator license is issued to a person who possesses an Initial license and who has completed employment and induction program requirements).
Temporary License – An educator license issued to a person who holds a valid license or certificate of a type comparable to at least an Initial license in Massachusetts from another state or jurisdiction, and who has been employed under such license for a minimum of three years but has not satisfied the Massachusetts testing requirements.
I also found this nifty video where a private industry professional asks questions about career change. It was really helpful!
Now that I know which license applies to me (Preliminary), I can go back to the requirements page and select the subjects and find out the requirements for them. This is what my spreadsheet looks like:
| Requirement | Instructional Technology | Technology/Engineering | Business |
| MTEL Communication and Literacy (01) | x | x | x |
| IT Proficiency | x | ||
| Internet Proficiency | x | ||
| Bachelor’s Degree | x | x | x |
| Ethical and Social Issues Training | x | ||
| Access devices | x | ||
| Classroom support through technology | x | ||
| Selection of Technology for Classroom use | x | ||
| Prep Course | x | x | |
| MTEL Technology/Engineering (33) | x | ||
| MTEL Business (19) | x |
So it appears that teaching Business is the fastest license to get for me. It doesn’t require credited courses or anything else beyond the corresponding MTEL.
Now let’s talk about the MTEL. The MTEL website is also very helpful. They even have a checklist of things you need to keep in mind. First you must know the requirements for your area. For example, to get my license on the three topics I want to become licensed in, I need to take these tests:
Communications & Literacy (Field 01)
Technology/Engineering (Field 33)
Business (Field 19)
Total cost: $350
The next thing is knowing when the tests are offered. They each take 4 hours to complete. Some are offered only in the morning, others only in the afternoon, so you MIGHT be able to fit two tests in one day, but you might not. The Communications & Literacy test is comprised of two tests: Reading and Writing (4 hours each), so you would take a full day for that test alone (half in the morning, half in the afternoon).
The tests are offered every 2 or 3 months, with the exception of the Communications & Literacy test, which is offered more often, since it’s a requirement for all license types.
The grades are released a month or so after the test, with some pre-announced delays possible.
You might or might not have a requirement to take a teaching/curriculum course/seminar recognized by the DoE to get your license, as it is required for my Instructional Technolody and Engineering licenses. This is a confusing requirement that I have not figured out yet. I found an entire list of credited programs on the DoE site, but these are for obtaining the Initial license so they are 36-credit programs that cost from $5K to $18K and take 18 months or longer to complete. I haven’t found out exactly what the credits/seminar requirement is for the Preliminary, but I’ll let you know when I do. Here’s a place to start.
Once you’ve gathered your requirements, you can go back to the DoE website and create an account on the ELAR system. You can apply for your license there.
If I actually manage to get my license (for any of hte topics) by March/April, I’ll be able to apply for jobs for the fall semester. That’s when the postings start to appear. A good site to look for jobs is SchoolSpring.com. I hear that retiring teachers don’t have a deadline to annoucne whether they are going abck or not the following year, so openings due to retirmenet can appear at any time. Regular teachers who leave due to transfers, moves, or career changes have to announce it in the spring. Keep in mind that schools will look internally first, so jobs might not be easy to get for outsiders.
That’s it for the requirements. I hope you found this helpful an stick around t hear how this actually played out.
ina
Welcome to Teaching Inanutshelll.
I decided to start this blog to chronicle my journey through a career change from an employee in Corporate America to an honorable career as a teacher and shaper of young minds.
My current status: I decided to seriously change careers to teaching a couple of weeks ago, after an extremely distasteful situation at work pushed me over the edge. All I have accomplished in the past couple of weeks has been to do a lot of research on the licensing process in the state of Massachusetts and really think this through, to make sure I am making a positive change in my life.
I will talk to you about my feelings on the salary cut I’m expected to experience (including my husband’s feelings about it), about the entire process beginning-to-end, and anything I learn along the way.
Wish me luck! More to come soon. You can also follow my regular “anything” blog at http://inanutshelll.wordpress.com. Previous postings on my thought process on teaching can be found on these links:
Nov 15, 2009 – On the US Education System
Nov 21, 2009 – Enough is Enough
Nov 23, 2009 – Savings Program
Nov 23, 2009 – Mr Holland’s Opus (1995)
Nov 28, 2009 – Teaching
ina