Brokenhearted to leave teaching -anyone else leave?

amother

Wine ↓

Wed, Oct 25 2017, 6:07 pm

I have been working in education for the last few years. Due to the emotional toll, I am choosing to pursue a different career path. I LOVE teaching and have always wanted to be a teacher. There is nothing like it. The other job I will be going to will not be meaningful, fulfilling, or rewarding the way teaching is. I loved making a lesson fun, making a difference every day.

However, I am leaving because emotionally it leaves me drained. I want to have energy left for my kids and teaching takes a lot out of me. Days when I'm tired, not feeling well, have little energy are tremendously difficult to perform as a teacher. Even just regular classroom management is getting harder as more and more kids seem to have ADHD and other issues.

Maybe one day I'll go back but it is sad to me. I need to do this because I can't keep investing so much in it and it isn't right to have a half-hearted teacher.

For those who left the field, do you regret it? are you sad?

amother

Babyblue

Wed, Oct 25 2017, 6:27 pm

I understand you OP. Teaching is so hard especially with young kids in the house. I relate to your point about emotional toll completely but for me I also would say I don't find it fulfilling the way I used to, it has come to feel so extraordinarily burdensome and I think parents are more demanding than ever.

What career path are you pursuing? I'm desperate for ideas and it's okay with me if not very meaningful but it does need to pay the bills.

amother

Aquamarine

Wed, Oct 25 2017, 6:30 pm

I left because I realized I wasn't cut out for it. I had a lot of difficulty with classroom management and I tried everything and eventually concluded that it wasn't meant to be. I still haven't found a new career, which is frustrating, but I still don't regret leaving teaching. It was clearly not working me and like you said, the kids deserve a teacher who wants to be there.
There are lots of things you can do that still have meaning and make a difference. The kinds of jobs I'm trying to get are non-profit (particularly in education related organizations) and shul youth departments and the like. IYH whenever I get to launch my new career, it will be something I find meaning in.

amother

↑ Wine ↓

Wed, Oct 25 2017, 6:39 pm

amother wrote:

legal assistant (you do need to be trained but some lawyers will train you if you don't want to pay for course). It is about the same pay as a teacher after a few years of experience. Starting out is $15-$18/hour but eventually you can make $25/hour. I plan that in a few years I can be at a top firm. Teaching is comparable.

amother

Burgundy ↓

Wed, Oct 25 2017, 8:01 pm

I left teaching and yes on the one hand it was hard. Up until that point teaching was very much part of my identity so felt like I was kind of losing myself. And besides the actual job satisfaction and fulfillment you are very much involved in the community when you teach and that was nice. On the other hand I really like my new job now and the salary is much better which was why I left to begin with. So....life goes on I guess

amother

↑ Wine

Wed, Oct 25 2017, 9:19 pm

amother wrote:

What job do you do now?

amother

Royalblue

Wed, Oct 25 2017, 10:56 pm

Yes, teaching takes a huge emotional toll. Especially when you really care about your students, and when your goodness is paid back with bad from either parents or upper staff.

amother

Aubergine ↓

Wed, Oct 25 2017, 11:06 pm

Oy, I'm in this position right now.
I love teaching - it is my passion, my calling, my everything.

But maybe, I should use past tense now. Lately, I've been feeling so burnt out. I put my life into my students but my own family is BH growing and I feel the classes are getting bigger and harder, parents are terribly demanding, and more and more is expected of the morahs with paltry monetary compensation.

Teaching has recently become a huge stress for me and I'm slowly beginning to wonder what my next step should be.

I wish the schools could do something to keep their best teachers happy.

amother

Natural ↓

Wed, Oct 25 2017, 11:49 pm

amother wrote:

I am in a similar position and feel the same way.

amother

Bronze

Thu, Oct 26 2017, 12:08 am

I teach, too, and I love so many aspects of it. I love my students, I love sharing knowledge, teaching skills, and impacting lives. I hope that 20 years from now they'll remember me fondly and be able to recall many of my lessons.
I find it very hard to separate work and home. Firstly, and quite obviously, there's preparation for class which is done at home. But student issues are always on my mind, too. It keeps me from focusing on my family and home as I should. I'm constantly busy with school, school, school.
I fall asleep at night thinking about the girls and what they need...
Do any of you have this, too? It's really bothering some of my family members.

amother

↑ Aubergine

Thu, Oct 26 2017, 12:11 am

amother wrote:

I teach, too, and I love so many aspects of it. I love my students, I love sharing knowledge, teaching skills, and impacting lives. I hope that 20 years from now they'll remember me fondly and be able to recall many of my lessons.
I find it very hard to separate work and home. Firstly, and quite obviously, there's preparation for class which is done at home. But student issues are always on my mind, too. It keeps me from focusing on my family and home as I should. I'm constantly busy with school, school, school.
I fall asleep at night thinking about the girls and what they need...
Do any of you have this, to
o? It's really bothering some of my family members.

no I don't have this because I refuse to put my students before my husband and kids. But that definitely makes me less of a teacher.
I'm also forced to work abother very intense job in order to survive financially. I'm feeling pulled in too many directions and I believe the onus is on schools and parents to raise salaries and do what needs to be done to keep the good teachers teaching.

amother

↑ Natural

Thu, Oct 26 2017, 1:15 am

amother wrote:

Yes, I feel this way too. There is so much work that needs to be done at home, and it is the type of work that requires focus and mental energy (and often emotional energy too). It is really wearing me out.

amother

Olive

Thu, Oct 26 2017, 7:22 am

I agree with all above. The hardest thing is so much prep/grading at home needed. Another thing is classroom management. Kids' behaviors are getting worse, and there are no consequences from schools,it is all on the teacher.

But, I dont know what other job to do. Wine, what type of job do you have?

Also, what type of work do legal assistants do? What knowledge do you need for legal assistant jobs?

amother

↑ Burgundy

Thu, Oct 26 2017, 1:00 pm

I am a pediatric nurse. I went back to school at nights and then took two years off to finish a program. hardest thing I've done but worth it. I still get to nurture kids and their families albeit in a different way.