Questions for former public school teachers

[Halftime Hope]

I'm particularly hopeful that someone will have input if they were teaching in K-8, but all answers are welcome.  

 

How much work did you do each day outside of the time you spent in class teaching?  When did you do lesson planning?  How long did it take? What about correcting and grading? Did you have to bring work home, or could you get it done at school?  If at school, did you stay longer after school let out?

 

About public school wages:  would you be able to earn the same/more/less in a private school in your area than what you earned in the public schools?

 

I'm told that here it is much less.  I don't know about in exclusive schools, but in decent private schools, the pay is a pittance, purely supplemental (i.e., they are counting on the spouse making more to be the major wage earner for the family.)  Some of the positions I've looked at on the ASCI website seem to indicate that this is true in different areas of the country.

 

What did you like about teaching and what did you dislike (or dislike most?)

 

Did you feel like you were able to do any good in the lives of children? or were your hands pretty well tied?

 

Did you have any kind of leeway?  in designing lessons? assigning homework? bringing interesting topics/cross-discipline connections/speakers/ideas into the classroom?

 

What were you particularly proud of in your role as a teacher?

 

Did you use the library? how?

 

Thank you so much! 

 

 

 

[DawnM]

Don't have time to answer all of this as I am on vacation and on an iPad, but I LOVED my job and got paid pretty well to do it (in CA, pay is horrible here in NC)

 

I did work in secondary school though, so I didn't have as much planning as an elementary teacher would have.

 

Were my hand tied? I didn't think so, I was able to work with what I was given. It has been many years though and I might feel that way more now.

 

What are you interested in teaching?

 

Dawn

[Halftime Hope]

^{I would have to start and get my first cert in science, either 4-8 (which I think would be an easier test) or 8-12.  That's where I have the underlying degree/enough credit hours.  After I complete that first one and have a valid cert, I can test into other areas even without the specified number of credit hours.  I've been teaching other things in homeschooling that might interest me more than science does, but science would probably be an area in which I could have more fun with labs and experiments, making it easier to engage the kinesthetic learners.}

 

^{When you get time, Dawn, I'd appreciate any further detail you'd like to share.} 

[Halftime Hope]

:lurk5:    Anyone have any input for me?   Pretty, please?   TIA

[G5052]

Before you head this way, be sure to talk to current teachers in your area.

 

In my area, standardization has gutted the profession in the public schools. I considered going back for my teaching certificate some years ago, and I decided that the environment is not one that I would enjoy despite loving teaching in general. The early grades are better because they don't take the state tests until 3rd grade, but I'm not an early grades person.

 

The private schools pay less with less benefits, and aren't hiring because their enrollment is down and their endowments are too.  I know several private school teachers who switched to public primarily for the pay and benefits.

 

I wish it wasn't that way, but I found other ways to teach part-time on a contract basis while homeschooling, and will ramp it up as mine graduate.

 

[msjones]

I'm particularly hopeful that someone will have input if they were teaching in K-8, but all answers are welcome.  

 

How much work did you do each day outside of the time you spent in class teaching?  When did you do lesson planning?  How long did it take? What about correcting and grading? Did you have to bring work home, or could you get it done at school?  If at school, did you stay longer after school let out?

 

I usually arrived at school very early (6:45 am) and did a lot of work then.  I also usually stayed later (until at least 5:00).  I brought work home sometimes -- usually stacks of grading or report cards or prep prior to conferences.  I could never have finished all my work in the time I was paid for (8-4).  I usually came back to school about a week before I was required to, as well.  

 

About public school wages:  would you be able to earn the same/more/less in a private school in your area than what you earned in the public schools?

Private schools that I knew of paid far less.  

 

I'm told that here it is much less.  I don't know about in exclusive schools, but in decent private schools, the pay is a pittance, purely supplemental (i.e., they are counting on the spouse making more to be the major wage earner for the family.)  Some of the positions I've looked at on the ASCI website seem to indicate that this is true in different areas of the country.

Sounds about right to me.  I wouldn't have worked for that little.

 

What did you like about teaching and what did you dislike (or dislike most?)

I love working with kids!  Sounds trite, but that sums it up.  I love helping them along, watching them develop, hearing their ideas, answering their questions.  I loved building a little community of kids each year.  I even liked the 'trouble-makers.'  They were some of my favorites because I had to work so hard with them.

 

Did you feel like you were able to do any good in the lives of children? or were your hands pretty well tied?

Good question. Both.  I was able to create a good learning environment for most of them and help them read and write.  I taught in low SES communities, so that was pretty rewarding.  My hands were certainly tied to a certain point -- they only come to school for a few hours a day.  I was very troubled by many of their home situations.

 

Did you have any kind of leeway?  in designing lessons? assigning homework? bringing interesting topics/cross-discipline connections/speakers/ideas into the classroom?

Yes.  There was plenty of leeway.  But I think that varies from school to school.  

 

What were you particularly proud of in your role as a teacher?

I was quite good with the boys no one else liked dealing with.  I liked those little wiggly guys and enjoyed making the classroom work for them.  I worked hard to help them have a positive school experience.  I was also good at designing lessons that worked for kids at different levels.  My high kids were not bored.  My low kids were not left behind.  I was good at that. 

 

Did you use the library? how?

Not much.  It was booked all day with other classes.  Crowded school.

 

Thank you so much! 

 

[Ali in OR]

I also agree that you would need to talk to current teachers in your area. I think things have probably changed a lot. I taught high school math 20 years ago in CA in a district that provided its own funding independent of the state (local property tax was high enough to do this). Math dept chose its own curriculum, teachers did their own planning--very autonomous. We were the professionals who knew what we were doing and we were in charge (of course I was the new college grad but I had great colleagues who had all been there 25 years and I learned a lot from them!). No standardized testing. I think this is probably NOT the environment most teachers find themselves in today.

 

Some things don't change. There is a lot of planning work, especially if you're in your first few years of teaching. I actually can't imagine teaching a full load and putting in all that time while taking care of a family, but of course some teachers were doing that back when I was teaching. I was at school by 7 doing last minute planning and photocopying. Two of seven periods were planning periods and I was busy the whole time doing lesson planning, photocopying, correcting, or entering grades on the computer. After school I was helping kids or involved in school activities (got a little extra money being the cheerleader advisor--and no I knew nothing about cheerleading!) I always had grading to do at home, or writing tests. When we moved to OR where there were no teaching jobs, I went into engineering (my degree), and I was amazed by the decrease in mental energy and time required. Yes, I worked 8-5, but then I was done. You're never done when you're a teacher. There's always more to do.

 

Private schools paid significantly less than public schools in the bay area of CA. 

 

I loved my teaching job. I sometimes dream that I am back in that school. I love the energy in the school environment. I loved teaching kids who wanted to learn (we had a great school). I like teaching, like making things understandable, like all of the work involved, but I like all of that in the environment I had. It would be very difficult for me to teach in a school where I was told what I had to teach each day, give lots of standardized tests, teach kids who didn't want to be there, teach classes of 40 students, etc. And at this point in my life, I wouldn't want to teach a full load. Teaching 2-3 classes would be perfect. But around here, there aren't teaching jobs anyway. Grads the last few years have not been able to get hired. There's less money from the state each year so districts aren't even replacing teachers that retire. It's just not the same career as it was 20 years ago in CA.

[Erin]

I've been contracted in both country school K-8, one room in the late 90s and in a combined 2,3,4 classroom in the mid 2000s,  so the two are not only very different from one another, but different from a single-grade classroom.  

I've been subbing K-12 in standard classrooms for the past 6 or 7 years.  

 

I'm particularly hopeful that someone will have input if they were teaching in K-8, but all answers are welcome.  

 

How much work did you do each day outside of the time you spent in class teaching?  When did you do lesson planning?  How long did it take? What about correcting and grading? Did you have to bring work home, or could you get it done at school?  If at school, did you stay longer after school let out?  In my experience, only mediocre teachers leave when the kids do.  Good teachers are there a half hour before and AT LEAST a half hour later.  

Usually more like an hour or two later.  But, that means you don't have to bring work home because it's usually done within those couple of hours.  This is the time to lesson plan, grade papers, etc.   Occasionally there will be bigger projects where you have to bring home work to grade in the evening or on weekends.  

 

About public school wages:  would you be able to earn the same/more/less in a private school in your area than what you earned in the public schools?  I've lived in a dozen communities in three states, but never anywhere with private schools.   I have no comparison.

 

I'm told that here it is much less.  I don't know about in exclusive schools, but in decent private schools, the pay is a pittance, purely supplemental (i.e., they are counting on the spouse making more to be the major wage earner for the family.)  Some of the positions I've looked at on the ASCI website seem to indicate that this is true in different areas of the country.

 

What did you like about teaching and what did you dislike (or dislike most?)  Teaching is a work of heart.  You have to love kids first and foremost.  Those who love their subject matter before their students are usually the ones kids don't respond to very well...

i dislike helicopter parents (they are increasing as the years go by) and I dislike testing.  

 

Did you feel like you were able to do any good in the lives of children? or were your hands pretty well tied?  We taught to the standards.  (Most states have had something for a couple of decades).  But standards are pretty open-ended, so I feel like I had a LOT of leeway within that requirement.  

 

Did you have any kind of leeway?  in designing lessons? assigning homework? bringing interesting topics/cross-discipline connections/speakers/ideas into the classroom?  As above.  In elementary, I like to teach via unit studies.  I incorporate the textbooks, but also additional resources.  See above about leeway within the standards.  

 

What were you particularly proud of in your role as a teacher?  I don't know if I'm proud exactly.  I mean, it's just what I do and who I am.  I can't take a whole lot of credit for that.  But I do occasionally have kids tell me I was their favorite teacher, or, better, "You were the only/first teacher who showed me I could ______"  

That gives me a lot of satisfaction.   :)

 

Did you use the library? how?  Of course!  I'm kind of old-fashioned in that I believe a classroom should be overflowing with books.  When kids have downtime, my first suggestion is always,  "And when you're finished, get out your--"  "We know.  Get out our books and READ."    

In country school, Library Day was actually once every two weeks when we'd pile into two vehicles (mine and a parent's) and drive the 35 miles to town to go to the public library.  Our school was too small to have much a library of its own.

 

Thank you so much! 

 

All of this said, my experience in country school, or even a small town-school in rural Nebraska, are going to be very different from what you will find in larger districts...

[Sun]

How much work did you do each day outside of the time you spent in class teaching?  When did you do lesson planning?  How long did it take? What about correcting and grading? Did you have to bring work home, or could you get it done at school?  If at school, did you stay longer after school let out?

I was usually at school from about 6:45 or 7:00 until about 4:30 or 5 (school hours were 9-3). I taught an older grade in elementary; teaching in a younger grade would have required more prep time. When I left at 4:30 or 5, there were always teachers still there. I planned lessons before and after school and during silent-reading time for the kids. I did bring work home, probably 2 or 3 nights per week and always over the weekend. Recesses and prep periods were usually used for break (bathroom, snack, coffee) and photocopying. Grading and developing rubrics for grading projects and papers often took longer than planning, especially when the kids had drafts of papers due.

 

About public school wages:  would you be able to earn the same/more/less in a private school in your area than what you earned in the public schools?

Private schools earn a little less here, but I don't think it's a massive difference. The norm is free or drastically reduced tuition for the faculty's children.

 

What did you like about teaching and what did you dislike (or dislike most?)

It was fun! I loved doing fun things with the kids and developing our own quirky classroom culture. I loved getting to know all the different people in the class. I loved the amazing discussions we could have about different topics (remember, older elementary).

 

I disliked the inconsistency of the kids' preparation--some teachers in the years before my year did amazing jobs of preparing their students to move on; others didn't seem to have done much of anything. This didn't seem to be related to the kids; instead, there was an extremely high correlation between how well prepared students were with who they'd had the year before. Kids from Mr. X's class were strong writers and relatively strong in math. Kids from Ms. Y's class were appallingly bad at both. I also really disliked the math curriculum they'd used in younger years because even the strongest kids were still slow and inefficient at basic arithmetic (thank you, Everyday Math).

 

I hated that teaching was viewed as the refuge of people who couldn't do anything else and who were not very smart. That was sometimes true, but most teachers I knew were dedicated, and I met several who were very, very smart. I also met some who were challenged by second-grade math (and I'm not exaggerating here).

 

I also disliked being tied to the school calendar for my personal life. Teachers' vacations are always taken when everyone else is also on break. I really love the freedom that homeschooling gives us to take trips during the much-less-crowded school year.

 

Did you feel like you were able to do any good in the lives of children? or were your hands pretty well tied?

I had a huge amount of  freedom because I had a very supportive principal. I was able to do what I wanted the way I wanted, which led me to be able to achieve great results. With a different administrator, the situation could have been very different and much less flexible. Also, teaching the oldest grade in a school can be helpful because there aren't teachers from the year ahead complaining that your kids are too advanced in math!

 

Did you have any kind of leeway?  in designing lessons? assigning homework? bringing interesting topics/cross-discipline connections/speakers/ideas into the classroom?

See above. Even now with all the emphasis on testing, it will come down to your administrator. One of the reasons I haven't returned (aside from homeschooling!) is concern about getting a supportive administrator who allows freedom.

 

What were you particularly proud of in your role as a teacher?

I was very proud of the math education I gave my students. I sent them off with a very strong background in arithmetic and pre-algebra, and it showed in their test scores. The average kid in my class gained about three years in math scores over the course of one year in my class.

 

Did you use the library? how?

We didn't use it much other than for weekly visits to get books. Kids could go during other times of the day to get books as well. We occasionally worked with the librarian on reference skills in conjunction with a research paper.

[City Mouse]

I taught in public school in Texas for several years. When i had preschoolers, I would drop my DS off at day care when it opened at 7:00am and leave work in time to pick him up by 5:00 when the daycare closed. It was a district daycare just for employees. I never did much work at home though. Even if I would plan to I never got to it, so I liked staying late better than trying to work at home. I only ev taught pre-k to first and then special Ed, so there wasn't that much grading.

 

Private schools paid much less. I started out teaching at a wonderful private school that I really like, but the people who owned it decided to retire. I made $10,000 more the first year I went to public school. That was around 1996.

 

I liked planning lessons and coming up with new and fun ways to teach a concept, but that was quickly done away with in public school. Our district really wanted each teacher to be doing the same thing as every other teacher in that grade. That was why I first moved to Pre-k where I still had some freedom to plan what I wanted withing the guidelines. Then I moved to special education where there was a bit more freedom to plan activities to meet the child's needs. Eventually, the regulations, paperwork, parents, and fighting the system wore me down and I quit teaching for few years.

 

In working with visually impaired kids, I did feel that I made a real impact on some of the kids. I was able to work with the same kid(s) for several years.

 

After taking a couple of years away from teaching, I lucked into a job with one of the online charter schools. I enjoyed the challenge of learning an entire new system of doing things.

 

As for using the library, I'm not sure what you are asking. The kids had set library times to check out books. When I taught pre-k, the school librarian would pull books for us to use in the classroom that went with our theme for the month.

[Halftime Hope]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate the time each of you put in to answer my questions.  I think the next step will be to ask if I can observe at several schools in my district. 

[Swimtaxi234]

I spoke with a family friend last night that is a high school teacher.  Despite having a master's degree, he feels the new Common Core is going to destroy what was the "norm" for teachers, etc.  He has been given awards in the past for his achievements as a science teacher, but after our conversation, I was left with the opinion that I don't think he will be a teacher much longer.

[FaithManor]

Speaking to wages - starting salary at the three private schools in our county - for recently certified teacher for the A.C.E. school - $13,500.00 per annum, no health care, but a $2500.00 stipend to help buy private insurance which is of course a drop in the bucket to the actual cost. They also do not give the stipend to the teacher if he or she has a spouse with medical insurance that can cover said teacher.

 

Lutheran school - newly certified, $25,000.00 plus health benefits. Catholic school - similar. Both have high deductibles on those policies.

 

Public school - over $30,000.00 starting, very low insurance premium contributions, cadillac dental and optical policies, and very tiny deductibles.

 

If financial considerations are the over riding factor, the public school is definitely the way to go.

 

If work environment is your concern, my years at the Lutheran K-8 were the best teaching years of my life and if there is an opening when my last goes to college, I'll be back there in a heartbeat!

 

My public school teaching was only student teaching and lots of subbing. Sub pay is bizarrely low for the level of responsibility.

[Halftime Hope]

I spoke with a family friend last night that is a high school teacher.  Despite having a master's degree, he feels the new Common Core is going to destroy what was the "norm" for teachers, etc.  He has been given awards in the past for his achievements as a science teacher, but after our conversation, I was left with the opinion that I don't think he will be a teacher much longer.

 

Could you elaborate on CC?  did he explain?  is CC new?  (I thought it was old, since as a new h/sler, I had those books, "What Your x Grader Should know."   (not that I used them much, other than for selected supplementary readings -- I started homeschooling before we had internet, :svengo:  so they were a good resource.)

 

I hate keyword and search engines, so the following is in code.

 

One of the school districts around here is pushing DfourPL  (sub the corresponding numeral into that) and "twenty-first century learning", and sch----lecty framework.  I have no idea what any of that means, but the district lost half its elementary librarians because their new role is to be facilitators of that, helping teachers write lesson plans that are d*pl oriented.    Something to do with doing meaningful work/projects, and learning by connecting to things that are meaningful in students' lives?  and leveraging technology?  

 

Funny thing is a new charter school opened up, with all kinds of hoopla and fanfare, all about learning through...projects.  Same thing my BIL the drop-out prevention teacher did to teach geometry; the students built a house on paper.   Hmm, no proofs, I guess.

 

Anyhoo, I'd still be interested in understanding how CC is going to do what your friends said.  (I'm not disagreeing; I just don't understand yet.)

[ficbot]

Private schools here pay much less. I work in one because the teaching job market is very tight right now and I can't do better. Public schools are very heavily unionized here and it is really hard to break in.

 

The teaching day is from 8:30 to 3:30 and we are expected to be there from 8-4. I can typically get all my prep done during the day. I am a specialist teacher and don't have to deal with drop off and dismissal, so that gives me 1-2 hours of prep time per day. I do have more playground and supervisory duties than I would in a public school. They have union rules about that.

 

There is a lot more leeway though. Public school teachers can only buy resources off approved lists. We can buy whatever we want to. And my principal is very hands-off so I have pretty much total freedom.

 

I actually enjoy my job a lot. I loudly like the job security, union protections and pay scale of the public schools, but as far as the job itself goes, I am pretty happy.

[Farrar]

I taught high school.  I didn't last long.  So then I moved to a private school where I was much happier.  Answers in blue.

How much work did you do each day outside of the time you spent in class teaching?  When did you do lesson planning?  How long did it take? What about correcting and grading? Did you have to bring work home, or could you get it done at school?  If at school, did you stay longer after school let out?

 

I generally didn't stay late or come early.  I wanted out of there and didn't have my own room.  I did spend many hours at home.  I often was grading or lesson planning into the evening and on the weekends.

 

About public school wages:  would you be able to earn the same/more/less in a private school in your area than what you earned in the public schools?

 

I took a pay cut to go to private school.  If you're at a private school around here for many years and it's one of the really upscale ones, you might begin to equal ps wages, but not until then.

 

What did you like about teaching and what did you dislike (or dislike most?)

 

I liked very little about being in the public school.  I was just angry the whole time.  Thus I left.

 

Did you feel like you were able to do any good in the lives of children? or were your hands pretty well tied?

 

Well...  Yes and no.  I don't feel like I made any real difference, but I recently heard from a former ps student for perhaps the first time and she thought my class was very memorable and said she and her friends still thought of me sometimes...  So maybe?  I'm sure I did some good.  And some bad.  It was my first year and I made a lot of mistakes.  And having my hands well tied didn't make for a fun experience for any of us it seemed.

 

Did you have any kind of leeway?  in designing lessons? assigning homework? bringing interesting topics/cross-discipline connections/speakers/ideas into the classroom?

 

I designed our days, but the curriculum was just terrible, as was the text.  And we were supposed to adhere to a certain schedule.  But I did have leeway to do what I wanted most days.

 

What were you particularly proud of in your role as a teacher?

 

I really challenged my honors students to write better and stop being so formulaic and trying to bs everything.  And I made them start doing DBQ's and long answer questions and things someone should have started them on before.

 

Did you use the library? how?

 

I tried.  It was mostly useless.  I think it would have been different if I'd been in elementary school.

 

Thank you so much! 

 

Some questions you didn't ask...  How much of my own money did I end up spending?  Too much.  I will never, ever forget being sent to the teacher who kept the materials budget for our department and her handing me a box of pencils, a box of chalk and a notebook from a closet just stuffed with goodies.  And me saying, "So, when I run out, do I come to you?"  And her laughing and shutting the closet door and saying, "No."  Oh, the corruption!

 

And how about this one...  How much of your time was wasted on piss-poor "teacher development" and how badly did it effect your attitude?  A lot.  And quite badly.  :(

[Farrar]

Could you elaborate on CC?  did he explain?  is CC new?  (I thought it was old, since as a new h/sler, I had those books, "What Your x Grader Should know."   (not that I used them much, other than for selected supplementary readings -- I started homeschooling before we had internet, :svengo:  so they were a good resource.)

 

You're conflating Common Core and Core Knowledge.  I'm sort of convinced they named them to confuse people sometimes.

 

Core Knowledge is the older set of specific knowledge and information that is leveled by grade and in those What Your ___th Grader Needs to Know books.

 

Common Core is the new default "national curriculum" but contains no specific knowledge and is all skill based.

[GSOchristie]

How much work did you do each day outside of the time you spent in class teaching? 

2-3 hours, at least, but i did not have kids and dh was in grad school, my job was my life

 

When did you do lesson planning? 

Private school: during my planning period and on the weekends, public school: my planning time was always taken by meetings, department, staff, IEP, etc, so i did all my planning at night or in the weekend

 

How long did it take?

6th grade: 4-5 hours a week to plan and gather all the materials i needed, copies, etc, 4th grade: 3-4 hours a week

 

What about correcting and grading?

6th grade: 4/5 hours per week, 4th grade: 3-4 hours

 

Did you have to bring work home, or could you get it done at school? 

I always stayed after or brought it home, when I had Asher, it became more of "if I get it done at school it will get done" mentality

 

If at school, did you stay longer after school let out?

Yes, most nights until 6:00 or later, before Asher, after Asher, I left as soon as I was allowed

 

About public school wages:  would you be able to earn the same/more/less in a private school in your area than what you earned in the public schools?

MUCH less at private, like $10,000 a year less

 

 I'm told that here it is much less.  I don't know about in exclusive schools, but in decent private schools, the pay is a pittance, purely supplemental (i.e., they are counting on the spouse making more to be the major wage earner for the family.)  Some of the positions I've looked at on the ASCI website seem to indicate that this is true in different areas of the country.

 

What did you like about teaching and what did you dislike (or dislike most?)

I really loved teaching when the kids were engaged and I was truly imparting knowledge, I really hated dealing with parents who just could not comprehend why I was "picking on" their special snowflake

 

Did you feel like you were able to do any good in the lives of children? or were your hands pretty well tied?

I do, if nothing else, in public school I was a consistent presence who tried to respect them while setting boundaries for them. Some of their lives were so chaotic that I was one of the few constants.

 

Did you have any kind of leeway?  in designing lessons? assigning homework? bringing interesting topics/cross-discipline connections/speakers/ideas into the classroom?

 in both public and private I had a set curriculum and VA SOL's I was expected to meet, but I could bring in any outside sources to achieve those objectives. My principals always encouraged creativity.

What were you particularly proud of in your role as a teacher?

 

Did you use the library? how?

Yes, much like I use it for homeschooling. I would have the librarians pull books on a topic we were studying in class, and I would have them available during DEAR time. I would also pull our test prep reading comp questions from the same books.

 

Thank you so much! 

[Halftime Hope]

You're conflating Common Core and Core Knowledge.  I'm sort of convinced they named them to confuse people sometimes.

 

Core Knowledge is the older set of specific knowledge and information that is leveled by grade and in those What Your ___th Grader Needs to Know books.

 

Common Core is the new default "national curriculum" but contains no specific knowledge and is all skill based.

 

Thank you for that clarification.   You are absolutely right--I did think they were the same thing.  There was a whole plan and structure (he called it cultural literacy, IIRC) behind those books, it wasn't just the grade level books.  I thought CC was the whole framework.   Again, thanks for the correction.

[Kipling]

I'm particularly hopeful that someone will have input if they were teaching in K-8, but all answers are welcome.

I taught 8th grade English for four years (10 years ago) 

 

How much work did you do each day outside of the time you spent in class teaching?  When did you do lesson planning?  How long did it take? What about correcting and grading? Did you have to bring work home, or could you get it done at school?  If at school, did you stay longer after school let out? I did bring work home - especially grading.  Sometimes I would have a student assistant assigned to me during planning who could check some work, but anything that was more subjective (writing assignments, for example) were things I graded at home.  How much time is hard to answer.  It would definitely vary, but I would say maybe on average, two evenings a week were spent planning or grading outside of school hours.

 

About public school wages:  would you be able to earn the same/more/less in a private school in your area than what you earned in the public schools?

 

 Where I was (Florida), the private schools paid less.  Another consideration - I remember interviewing for a private school when I first started and not only was the pay lower, but there were more preps to plan (meaning, when I taught public school, I had to prepare for two classes - one regular and one honors - and I taught 4 regular classes and 2 honors classes.  In the private school, I would have been THE English teacher and I would have had to prepare for a 6th grade regular and a 6th grade honors and a 7th grade regular and a 7th grade honors and an 8th grade regular and an 8th grade honors class - 6 different preps.)

 

What did you like about teaching and what did you dislike (or dislike most?) I enjoyed sharing things I love with kids.  I liked interacting with (most of) the kids.  I did  not like the challenging kids and how difficult it was to change behavior.  Teachers and schools really have very little options to handle difficult children especially if parents are uncooperative/uninterested.

 

Did you feel like you were able to do any good in the lives of children? or were your hands pretty well tied?  I don't know if I had any special effect in the lives of the children.  I don't think I was *that* kind of teacher.  I was allowed a lot of flexibility regarding things I could teach and how to teach them.  Nowadays, I don't believe that would be the case.  As someone else mentioned, the standardization of teaching is really putting teachers in a box.

 

Did you have any kind of leeway?  in designing lessons? assigning homework? bringing interesting topics/cross-discipline connections/speakers/ideas into the classroom?  Yes, at the time, but I think if I were still in the field, I would not be.

 

Did you use the library? how? Not really.

 

Thank you so much! I have continued to watch the profession of teaching from the sidelines for the past ten years.  If for some reason I had to return to work, I would try to find a non-teaching job.  I don't think I could handle the regulations, inflexibility, and challenging parents.