S/O Certified teachers-Are you a former or current teacher?

[Desert Strawberry]

It seems from  reading through that thread that a lot of people have experience teaching in a classroom. 

 

How many are you?

[alisoncooks]

I taught public school, first grade, for 5 years before having oldest DD.

 

ETA: I have not kept my certification current. I'm not opposed to returning to the public schools, but not as a teacher. Maybe as a reading specialist but that'd require some additional schooling, maybe my master's.

Edited June 5, 2017 by alisoncooks

[Guest]

Nope. I've had nothing to do with the education establishment.

[Guest]

It'd be fascinating to hear how many former teachers are currently homeschooling, or homeschooled their kids at some point. I've been shocked at the number of homeschoolers I've come across who are former public school teachers. At least what I've seen locally, they're hands down the predominant former profession of homeschooling Moms in my circles. 

[Hilltopmom]

Not working currently, but still certified in special Ed k- 12.

 

Have taught preschool special Ed, early intervention, elementary- high school public school.

 

Just dusting off my resume to go back to EI :)

 

A large portion of local homeschoolers are former teachers, or their spouse is a teacher, either public school or college professors.

[DawnM]

Classroom teacher 13 years

School counselor 5 years

 

All public school

[Dmmetler]

Public school for a decade, followed by 7 years teaching teachers. Mostly in music, which makes it easier to shut the door and teach, but I am also certified for ECED, ELED, and have a math endorsement. I'm keeping my licenses active.

 

I still miss it. Not the test pressure or the BS, but I miss the kids and I miss knowing I was making a difference. But ultimately, DD needed me more.

Edited June 5, 2017 by dmmetler

[Dmmetler]

BTW, in DD's Bio class of 7 kids, three of them had parents who were former PS teachers-and two of us taught at the same school at the same time :).

[zoobie]

I student taught but never had my own classroom. I did get my certifications just in case. I also TA'ed in grad school, but I didn't need certs for that.

[freesia]

I was--7 years in pubic school; 2 years in the middle in a private international school.

 

My best homeschooling friend is also and I know a number of former teachers who homeschool.

Edited June 6, 2017 by freesia

[FaithManor]

I used to hold a Michigan teaching license. I let it expire after I began homeschooling again when my son had a serious health crisis. I couldn't manage his health, homeschooling, and continuing education credits nor the march towards a master's degree which was required all at the same time.

[Junie]

I taught high school English in a fairly large private school for one year.  It was a disaster, as I was very young and I had little training in classroom management.

 

Then I taught elementary school in a small private school for two years before ds16 was born.  (I was not certified to teach elementary, but I had a degree.)

 

 

[Artichoke]

I'm a former high school teacher.  I taught almost ten years in inner city and rural schools and currently substitute teach a few days a month.  My certificate is current.  Two of my teaching years saw me teaching outside my subject area on a waiver.   It wasn't uncommon for that to happen.  

[purpleowl]

Private school, 9 years.

 

I am not state certified. I went to college in Georgia, did everything for certification (including passing the Praxis! ;)) except sending in the paperwork. I didn't send it in because immediately after graduation I was getting married and moving to Florida. Florida had no reciprocity with other states for teaching certification at the time, and they had their own special hoops I'd've had to jump through, so when I got a job at a private school, I didn't bother.

[emmaluv+2more]

I taught in the public school system for 1 horrific year. I absolutely hated it. I've not kept my certification current as I have no intention of ever teaching in any school system ever again.

[Word Nerd]

I was formerly certified in secondary ed but never taught in a classroom and let my certifications expire.

[freeindeed]

I taught public school from 1997-2004. I taught 4th grade for four years, third grade for two years, and second grade for half a year.

[Ottakee]

I had a teaching certificate for K-8 regular Ed and 3-26 special education for cognitively impaired and emotionally impaired students.

 

I taught 2 years in adult special education ...one year with senior citizens and one year with adults in a community program.

 

I then adopted 3 special needs kiddos and stopped teaching.

 

Just the past 18 months I have gone back to subbing in a local regional program for severely impaired students 3-26. I mostly work in SXI rooms where the students are mostly non ambulatory and severely cognitively impaired. Many are at 0-12 month cognitive level even as young adults.

 

I have never taught full time in a regular public school classroom....and have no desire to do so.

[73349]

Public and then private, and tutoring as well. Once DS starts fourth this fall, I will have taught, student-taught and/or tutored every grade from preK through college, but sixth-grade English was my main gig.

 

 

[Noreen Claire]

I have 8 years public school teaching experience; 3 years were in a rural-ish regional vocational school, 1 year was in a well-to-do suburban high school, and 4 in a regional vocation school that was 85% minority. I mainly taught inclusion-level 10th grade math. I spent one year teaching freshman physics out of my certification on a waiver.

 

DH is also a public high school teacher; he teaches physics and astronomy.

 

I have been out of work since DS5 was born. My license will expire this summer, and I am trying to figure out what classes I need to renew. Barring any extenuating circumstances, I would like to stay home for a minimum of two more years (though I *may* have homeschool plans typed out for the next 18  :lol: ). I hope to some day go back to my last voc school - I loved working with those kids. Also, I need 2 more years to be vested in my pension...

[DesertBlossom]

Dh and I were both public school teachers.

[creekland]

I missed the other thread (very limited Hive time lately), but I've been working subbing in our local public high school for 17 years as of this past school year - mostly math and science classes.  With that I've done a handful of long term assignments for maternity leaves, extended illnesses, or military assignments.  Admin has offered me an open invitation for a full time job whenever I want one and each year kids ask me why I don't work full time (too lazy and travel too much!).

 

No certification (except emergency type our state provides) or desire to get one.  No regrets either.

 

It's been nice knowing I have a back up plan for finances if we ever needed one.

 

Not sure if I should go check out the other thread or not... probably not. So many think certification is a MUST.  I think talent and knowledge is a must.

 

I have a bit of work I need to get to outside.  Our travels have allowed weeds to have a heyday in our garden (sigh).  That's more important than reading things the could make my blood boil.   :lol:

[Ali in OR]

Taught public high school math for 4 years. We moved to OR shortly after their Measure 5 cut property taxes and made it almost impossible to get a teaching job, so then I used my engineering degree for a few years, then home raising my kids for 20 years. I am now taking classes to renew my teaching certificate--luckily I went through the work to transfer it from CA to OR when we moved. I have one more class to take this summer (finishing up my second class next week).

 

Incidentally, I didn't homeschool as any kind of reaction against public schools, though I do see many advantages to a home education. I have always loved learning and have really enjoyed learning alongside my kids these past 12 years. Youngest is finishing 8th grade and heading to public school next year, so I'm thinking of heading back to the classroom part time or subbing.

Edited June 6, 2017 by Ali in OR

[Chris in VA]

Still am. Private, currently. 

[TABmom]

I was a teacher before I had kids. I think teaching attracts family oriented people. People who like kids, etc. It's a good job for someone who wants to be a mom- even if they work after their kids are born, they have summers off, work while their kids are at school, stuff like that.

[AHASRADA]

I have an education degree and was certified when I taught straight out of college for 1 1/4 years before my son was born. I never went back after my maternity leave (that was 20 years ago).

 

I still love teaching, hence homeschooling and tutoring after school. What I can't stand is behavior management, which is why I don't see myself ever teaching in a classroom again below grade 11/12 or Jr. college (8th graders were a nightmare!).

Edited June 6, 2017 by AHASRADA

[Lady Florida.]

I was certified K-12 in Exceptional Education and taught developmentally disabled students for 18 years.

 

* 2 years elementary - My first teaching job out of college, in a tiny town in South Georgia.

* 1 year middle school - I hated it but it was the only job available when I moved to the Atlanta area.

* 15 years at the high school level (at my own former high school) - When I moved back to my hometown in Florida it was the only position open. I thought it would be a way to get my foot in the door and planned to apply for an elementary level position as soon as an opening was posted. I ended up loving high school kids and soon stopped even looking at the elementary postings.

 

Last month was 20 years since I left teaching. I was pregnant with ds and finished out the 96-97 school year. He was born that September.

 

 

 

It'd be fascinating to hear how many former teachers are currently homeschooling, or homeschooled their kids at some point. I've been shocked at the number of homeschoolers I've come across who are former public school teachers. At least what I've seen locally, they're hands down the predominant former profession of homeschooling Moms in my circles. 

 

While I didn't intend to homeschool I also didn't intend to send ds to public school. The majority of teachers were very good but I felt our local system had too many problems and was broken beyond repair (it's actually a pretty decent system now, so I was wrong about it being beyond repair). We planned on sending ds to private school and I would go back to teaching public school once he started kindergarten or first grade. Dh flippantly said "maybe we should just homeschool him", I started researching it, and the rest is family history. 

 

When I found a homeschool group that fit and started getting to know the other parents I was surprised to find I wasn't the only former teacher now homeschooling. There were close to a dozen of us in group of several hundred (not all active) members. 

 

I let my certificate expire before I realized I could use it to do homeschool evaluations. By the time I thought of it, taking courses would have been too hard to schedule (in the early 2000s online classes weren't easy to find) and due to the cost I'd have to do an awful lot of evaluations to even get my money back, let alone make a profit. 

 

I loved teaching. If we hadn't homeschooled I definitely would have gone back. However, it's not something I want to do now. If I have to go back to work, it won't be to teach, or even to substitute. After 18 years of classroom teaching and 12 years of homeschooling (including my share of co-op teaching),  I'm over wanting to teach. 

[abacus2]

I am certified to teach math and taught public high school for three years before coming home and having kids. It was too much for me, too much emotional investment, too much work brought home. I should have done something else with my math interest, but I was naive and didn't know my options. I like knowing I have a backup income that we could live on if something happens.

 

Homeschooling doesn't have much to do with my teaching history. My DH is a brilliant man who thought he was dumb until about the middle of college. School was a terrible fit for him. He was missing the big picture explanations and had several instances of being accused of making up words or crazy ideas only to later discover that he was correct. He suggested we homeschool to give our kids an education individualized to them.

[LMD]

No, but there are a lot of ex-teachers in our homeschool group. I know part of that is just demographics, but it does seem like an over representation...

[Zinnia]

No, but my circles also have a lot of ex-teachers. I feel like it impacts stuff like co-op where their expectations of "easy, no big deal" stuff is different than mine. :)

[G5052]

I've been a public college professor for 19 years now. I got into teaching paid homeschool classes so that I could afford classes for my kids and am now a private school teacher. All of my teaching now is online, and I'm the breadwinner of the family. I do have a graduate certificate in instructional design, but I'm not a certified teacher.

 

Frankly I think that education was always my "thing," but it took years to figure that out.

[meena]

I taught in a public school before I got married. Then we moved, and I ended up teaching out of field at a private school for a short time. After our first child was born I left classroom teaching for a literacy job at a library--way less stress, better hours and pay. Unfortunately we moved again, so I had to resign that position. Since then I've worked off/on in various education-related jobs. After we're done homeschooling I have no desire to go back to teaching full-time. I've thought about pursuing a career as a librarian or speech/language pathologist, but I'm not sure it would be worth the money I'd have to spend to go back for my Master's in either field. The job market seems fairly competitive for both of those, so I'd hate to be out the $ and stuck without a job. I'm also worried about marketability as a mid-life career changer.

 

My experiences as a public and private school teacher certainly influenced our decision to homeschool. Before teaching in a private school we thought we would send our future kids to a Christian school. After I worked at one--well, we saw the ins and outs and decided it wasn't for us.  Also, my background in education helped me feel confident and qualified to teach. I know a lot of homeschoolers worry about whether they are equipped. I've never felt like that. I've had experience teaching elementary through high school students, so knew I could handle my classroom of 3 children at different ages and stages. My biggest struggle so far has been teaching reading/beginning spelling, but there are great programs published that have helped fill in my gaps in that area. That said, I know I'm not qualified to teach in all areas, especially as my kids get older, so I'm thankful there are so many ways to outsource and supplement when we need it.

[snickerplum]

My degree is in Family and Consumer Sciences Education (home ec). I took the Praxis and did my student teaching, got pregnant with first dd and never taught. I did not enjoy my time teaching. Sadly, at the school I student taught at FACS was pretty much a joke and I had to work very hard to be taken seriously.

FACS Ed was such a fun major for anyone whose child is looking for one! [emoji4]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[lmrich]

I taught inner-city with 36 kids in my class. I worked there for 5 years until my first baby was born.

 

I also taught at a private school  - 6 students in an advanced English class one year. My last year there I had 12 students in a 2/3 class. 

 

I currently teach at a hybrid school, at a local art center, and at my home. 

 

My college preparation was outstanding. Our program really focused on how children learn. While in school I worked at an after-school program with a pre-kindergarden class. I felt very prepared for my first year of teaching.

I have loved being a teacher and feel lucky to have chosen a career that challenges and rewards me. I would love to return to the classroom full-time, but I would also love to continue to have Fridays off and choose where and what I teach. 

 

[fdrinca]

I voted "other" as I was a professor in a previous life. I wouldn't say it's the same category as a full-time certified teacher, but I hope it counts for something :)

[Carrie12345]

I voted no, but I do feel like co-op teaching is starting to take over my life! 

 

I did want to be a teacher at one point.  There are many teachers in my extended family. There are many former teachers in my homeschool circles. I feel very... teacher-adjacent, lol.

 

If I don't have to seek "gainful employment" once I'm phased out of my current position, I could see myself continuing to teach co-op classes forever.  I would not do well in a traditional classroom.

[AngieW in Texas]

When my youngest was in 10th grade, I started an alternative certification program. I am certified in special education, secondary math, and secondary science. I am currently teaching science. Last year I taught IPC and chemistry. Next year I will be teaching chemistry and forensics.

[Southern Ivy]

I taught 1 year in private, then 5 years in public. I am currently teaching for VIPKID, so still in the teaching field, just in a different capacity. 

[eternalsummer]

I went through 3/4 of a teacher's ed program (after getting my BA) and loathed loathed loathed the actual teaching, mainly due to classroom management.  I was terrible.  

 

The pedagogy of education and all that was fine and enjoyable, but actually dealing with actual kids - no, just no.  No.

[samba]

I taught 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades in both public and private schools over a number of years. Certified K-8 Elementary and 7th-12th English. I also have a Master's degree and taught English at a community college as a part-time instructor while I was teaching at the private school.

 

I loved teaching. Really loved it. But after I had my children I had no desire to teach other people's children; I won't even teach at our co-op. I don't know what I'll do when my homeschooling days are over. 

 

My favorite part of homeschooling has been teaching my children to read and reading to/with them. Maybe I could tutor or work one-on-one with struggling readers but I don't think I could ever go back to the classroom environment. 

Edited June 9, 2017 by samba