Feel so down about teaching

amother

Brown

Thu, Nov 30 2017, 7:47 pm

This is just a vent/maybe someone has something to say that can make me feel better.

I used to love teaching but now I really feel like I'm reaching the end... Thank G-d have my own family and small children to care for now and I don't have the energy to put into teaching emotionally or the time to prepare lessons. Also with the rising expenses of having my own family I'm feeling so so resentful of a profession that doesn't pay well.

Dh is a teacher too and we just don't see how the finances are going to ever work as our kids get bigger. Even with the tuition discount I may get for my kids we're making so little. How can we make ends meet?

just feeling so resentful of this situation and feeling so burnt out from teaching.

amother

Amethyst

Thu, Nov 30 2017, 8:01 pm

I'm sorry you feel so down about your job but I must say teachers get payed pretty well considering their lack of training (most of the time) and the hours they work. As a teacher I get payed 21K a year and work 15 hours a week 10 months a year + the tuition discount. After doing the numbers that's about 40$ an hour. Its a sweet deal. The most I could get elsewhere with my lack of training is 16/hr working in an office. I am off for the many yomim tovim and on my kids schedules. The kids and parents and staff express their gratitude and it is a great atmosphere to work in. The job provides a feeling of community if nothing else. These are the reasons I think teaching is a great profession. Why do you feel so poorly compensated? Are you qualified to be making more?

amother

Slategray

Thu, Nov 30 2017, 8:19 pm

I am sorry you feel down. I am extremely appreciative and thankful that both my schoolage kids have great teachers and are doing well. Honestly I cant imagine being with kids the whole day.and then going home and being a good mother to my kids.

That being said I went to college and got a degree. If I leave my job they are not going to be able to take a seminary grad to replace me. Teaching in the frums schools is not a skilled profession, obviously you need talent, but as long as schools are taking fresh sem grads its not going to be a well paying job.

I have a few sister in laws that teach. They are forever complaing about their pay. It really grates on my nerves. They are working extremely part time, they are off yom tov summer etc. When was the last time you had to find a babysitter chol hamoed??? Teaching is probably actually the best paying unskilled job out there.

cnc

Thu, Nov 30 2017, 8:28 pm

amother wrote:

Do you not put in any hours after school? Preparing projects for younger kids or grading for older kids? Lesson plans and curriculum? Speaking to parents, staff meeting, dealing with classroom issues?

mochacoffee

Thu, Nov 30 2017, 8:37 pm

I totally hear you. I'm in a similar boat - I teach and DH is a Rebbe (in a very small, low paying school) and a teacher. Until this year, I felt like you did. Really resentful that I was putting my heart and soul into my teaching, my students, my materials etc. and for so little pay and little appreciation from the parents and administration. Not to mention the late pay checks.

What changed this year is that even though we are affiliated as yeshivish/normal with internet, I got into a modern orthodox school. The difference is incredible. Everything is efficient. Almost everything is organized. The administration provide feedback and professional training. If you have an issue and speak to an administrator, they actually do something about it. They pay significantly more than yeshivas and the paychecks come on time! Every month! Unfortunately, the yeshivas in my circles were dysfunctional, paid terribly late, and were just miserable places to work.

I think your options are to either switch professions if you're really feeling burnt out or try to get into a modern school. Maybe doing speech therapy or occupational therapy is an option, you can still work in a school without having the pressures of a teacher.
Good luck!

youngishbear

Thu, Nov 30 2017, 8:39 pm

All these points about teachers getting paid well per hour or lucky them they have off for yomtov still don't negate OP's financial difficulties. The pay is not great in total and the benefit of not working on chol hamoed does not cover the electric bill.

OP I'm sorry you're finding teaching less rewarding, both financially and emotionally, than you hoped. What are your other parnassah options?

amother

Brown

Sun, Dec 03 2017, 8:28 pm

amother wrote:

I have to say that I don't think of it as an unskilled profession at all. I have a Master's and go to ongoing professional development courses to keep up to date with the education world. My pay isn't much more than yours, however with a TON of work outside school hours. Do you not have that? Are you a head teacher? It sounds like you are in such a nice work environment with kind people! My school is not relaxed like that at all. Parents are extremely demanding. Where do you live? I wish I worked at a school like yours.

I'm burnt out because I have little children at home so don't want to do any work when I leave school, and also because DH and I are both teachers which really depresses me for what that means for our family financially. He's an accomplished teacher and works so hard and at the end of the day we don't know how we'll make ends meet on our combined incomes.

amother

Firebrick

Sun, Dec 03 2017, 11:46 pm

lovemytwins wrote:

What changed this year is that even though we are affiliated as yeshivish/normal with internet, I got into a modern orthodox school. The difference is incredible. Everything is efficient. Almost everything is organized. The administration provide feedback and professional training. If you have an issue and speak to an administrator, they actually do something about it. They pay significantly more than yeshivas and the paychecks come on time! Every month!

I assume you didn't mean to contrast normal and modern Orthodox.

While I'm glad you were able to make the switch, op might not have the option.

amother

Brown

Tue, Dec 05 2017, 10:35 am

I'm the OP. I didn't think of it as having to do with the school's type. Not sure where my school fits in but I guess it's MO. Maybe my pay is a little higher than in a more yeshivish school but it's still a financial strain. Dh's school is definitely in the MO world so yes pay might be better than a right-wing school but I still don't see how we can make ends meet every year. How are people expected to go into chinuch and sustain themselves financially?

To those calling it an unskilled profession- we're both professionals with graduate degrees, student teaching, etc. I don't think of it as an unskilled profession at all.