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Big Career Decision

Echo

Veteran

Ugh, I need some advice, despite knowing that no one else can answer this question for me.

I teach, and I have been a primarily K-5 reading instructor for a number of years (I do occasionally work with Middle School students). I work with students in groups of no more than six students at a time. However, I have been interested in getting back to my ELA roots and have been taking PD classes to expand my classroom certification to the HS level. Now my district has called, asking me to teach English 10 and English 12/college prep on a provisional license next year. They are desperate to fill the position and haven't been able to find a candidate they like so far, so they are willing to increase my salary substantially.

I am parlayzed with indecision. It is the end of July, so I would need to rely on the previous instructor's curriculum and lesson plans, as it would be impossible to write plans for the year for two to three classes in a month. I also haven't been in a classroom (with the exception of occasionally substituting when the district had no one else) for years, let alone with high school students. Will I be able to establish control in the classroom? Will I be able to ignite students' passions for literature in reality the way I could in my imagination? Will I regret this and hate my life?

I will need to show progress toward HS certification in order to extend my provisional license after this year, meaning I will have to take at least one or two courses in addition to teaching. Additionally, my mum is undergoing radiation after having a mastectomy in May, so there is that on my plate as well. I am concerned that by taking the position I will be overwhelmed, and I am concerned that by not taking the position I will regret it or stagnate as an educator. Will administration be disappointed in me as a teacher if I don't step up, and/or will I miss out on other opportunities? I feel like if things go well I would regret it if I didn't, but if things go poorly, I would regret it even more. I am well aware that the first years in a classroom are the worst for ANY teacher, and while I have been in a classroom before, it has never been with teens. I am generally regarded well by HS students, though. They like to joke that Mrs. ____ (rhymes with scary) is scary, although students who had me as fifth graders dispute that!

So if you have read this novella, please advise on how you make big decisions in your life and/or professional life. I can make a chart listing positives and negatives, but it is impossible to know how heavily each of those will weigh before committing one way or the other.

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23 replies

Latest reply was from Echo

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Following with interest. My gut instinct is “go for it”. I’ve lost that lately, have been mired in indecision and stymied for years. But your hesitation has solid reasons. Looking forward to the replies you get.

PS, I want to amplify what Bijoux said about why you got the offer. I have given the same advice to a friend considering new roles or a grad program. If you are selected, it is because they think you belong there and believe in you/your abilities. If you believe they are wise and worthy of your respect, then trust their judgement and do not question your abilities in the post.

Bijou

Veteran

I have taken leaps of faith career wise into new roles - most recently establishing my own practice with a colleague. My approach is if it doesn't work out I know what my other options are. Much like jumping out of a plane with a parachute and reserve.

So far, I have not needed the safety net of a back-up plan and that has made me bolder in the career risks I have been prepared to take because I am better at listening to my intuition about what is the right course of action for me. I declined an amazing promotion opportunity to relocate from Australia to London because it was not the right life decision for me (my son was only 1 at the time and I had critically ill parents to look after). There are no regrets, not accepting that role was the right decision for me as a person and other exciting professional opportunities have arisen subsequently when I had capacity to take them up.

Living your best life is a balancing act. My career is important to me and I enjoy the work I do but not at the cost of spending time with friends and family and doing things that are important to me.

I never second guess myself about my ability and I think that is important. You have been offered the role because you have the skills and respect of your colleagues and students. The real issue is do you have time to do this, given the other things you are dealing with. Is the timing of this offer right for you and if not, how can you keep that opportunity open for the future.

My husband is a high school teacher and his view is that the worst year to teach is Y9 as all the students are still quite immature and going through puberty. This is his assessment regarding the students:

Yr 7 - students are nice and still young and generally helpful
Yr 8 - 50% young and nice / 50% have hit puberty and are surly
Yr 9 - 100% have hit puberty and are the worst year to teach
Yr 10 - 50% still going through puberty / 50% now mature and good to teach
Yr 11 & 12 - they are older and responsible, nice to teach

Congratulations on being offered this role and good luck in making the right decision for you.

Jenni NZ

Veteran

It is not really possible to give you actual advice, just share our own experiences I suppose.
I think I have been a mixture of brave and stagnant in my career. I achieved what I wanted (a practice of my own) at age 30, 6 months after having my first baby. That was a big year! When that child was 13 I took on the first of 3 big “side” jobs, each one for about 6 years each ( 2 overlapped so I had 3 jobs for 2 years ages 53-55) and that stretched me professionally while still keeping the basic structure intact. When to leave each one has been mostly done on gut or heart feel. I think of Aragorn’s question to Gandalf “What does your heart tell you?” and usually figure it out that way. ( Gandalf says “That Frodo is alive!”)
Before giving up each of the side jobs in turn and moving to another, there has always been a period of dissatisfaction with the current state, and even unhappiness. Helps me to realise I need to move on.

Anonymous

Ymmv, but I personally have had to cut way back on work to help my mom. I just don't have the mental energy for both, and take care of my own health too. That said, I don't consider my job a "career" and am not interested in advancement anymore, so there's that.

Jules

Veteran

It sounds like the more positive outcomes (igniting passion!) have the potential to fill your personal energy bank such that taking the courses, etc, might be easier than it would be otherwise. You are not going into this naive about teenagers/high school classrooms. How would you feel if classroom management is challenging, and only say 1/4 of the students are getting a lot out of class? That could actually be a great, if imperfect, outcome. I would visualize different scenarios to see how my gut reacts to eg. 75% jaded jerks vs. 25% lit lovers. How would you feel about the opportunity if there were no or only a token salary increase? Can you let them know your personal situation and negotiate taking only one course, or putting off the coursework for a year?

Kathie

Veteran

First, congratulations! My husband is a high school teacher, and from what he's said, "generally well regarded by HS students" is one of the most important criteria. I'm nodding along with Jules, regarding your coursework. Is that negotiable? Some other thoughts- grading and assignments? Is that manageable for you? Colleagues? Are there other ELA teachers at the school who could form an informal professional development group with you, at least for the first year?

As for the "how to make decisions," I'm personally at a bit of crossroads, with both elder care responsibilities and children at a difficult age to move. (Kids and husband moved for my career seven years ago, and we have a VERY high bar for moving again before they finish HS.) I have politely turned down a few opportunities, while letting people know that I'll be available in a few years, and still working on expanding my skills and experience.

I truly don't think you can make a wrong decision. Good luck, and know that we'll be cheering for you, no matter what.

Runcarla

Veteran

I don’t know where you are in your career, but DH and I both switched jobs 4 years before retirement. DH applied for and won a ‘dream job’ and I transferred to a new office, but soon after arrival ended up on a specialty team. In both our cases the new work invigorated those final years of our careers. It almost changed DH’s mind about retirement. My mother required a lot of intervention the year before I retired, and I was training extra hard over a 1 year period of time for a special sporting event and did get pretty run down by the time I retired - but I have zero regrets.

*On a purely practical note (and I’m not sure this applies to you) retirement pensions are often based on last x# of years earnings. If you are close to retirement, higher earnings in the last years of your service can boost your income in retirement.

SarahD8

Veteran

A consideration I haven't seen mentioning in the thread yet is how being in the classroom may affect your risk of contracting COVID and how that would in turn affect your ability to care for your mum and your risk of passing it along to her. Not sure where you are or what mitigation measures are in place there, but how you feel about those risks seems worth folding in to your decision.

Anonymous

I take long walks when I make big decisions. I clear my mind then slowly go through pros/cons, plans and back-up plans.

Is there someone at the school and in the department that you can contact? That person may be able to give you the vibe for the building and work environment. Good luck.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Congratulations! It's an honour to be invited, whether or not you decide to take this position now.

As a former high school teacher of English and history at that age level, I can attest that your concerns are valid -- classroom management can be extremely challenging and the workload is intense, especially in the first few years. There is a great deal of grading in these subject areas, and the classes are required (not optional) so not every student is delighted to be there. (To say the least).

However, working with high school students is stimulating and can be a great joy, as well, and the thrill of learning and growing is yours, too, as you prepare for and deliver an entirely new program. I discovered that last year when I was unexpectedly called to teach at the University of Victoria, with zero prep time and no materials to draw on -- it was a steep learning curve for me but also an invigorating challenge.

I think Bijou has really given you some good advice here -- it's all a balancing act and you need to consider your other obligations and demands -- care of your mother and so on.

Here's an article on point that I came across yesterday. I'm not sure it will help much but he does lay out the problem pretty clearly!

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/0.....sions.html

Echo

Veteran

Nikki, regarding the school and work environment, I already work in the building. We are a very small district and are all in one building K-12. Realistically, if there is a "safe" place to try teaching in a HS room, it is here. Class sizes aren't huge, I know many of the kids already, and I am familiar with all my coworkers.

I would not have taken the position, had it been offered, last year because of the administration in the HS portion of the building. However, both the Super and the HS principal moved to other districts, and we have a new principal. While I have not met her, I understand her specialty is curriculum. I have no guarantee she will be a good administrator to work under, but I do know that we lost a number of really good teachers because of the last principal, so it is doubtful someone new could be worse! It was the elementary principal who called me, as she is my current administrator. She is excellent and I've been very happy with her leadership.

Gaylene

Veteran

Lots of teachers in our family—kindergarten to post graduate/PhD candidates. I taught grades 7-12 before switching to college/university students after getting my post graduate degrees.

Classroom teaching is different than small group instruction/tutorial sessions—different but not necessarily harder. Bijou’s husband nicely nailed the difference between the grades in junior/senior high school. I actually enjoyed the quirkiness of those youngsters trying to navigate puberty but it is an acquired taste for many of my colleagues. Grades 11 and 12 academic prep students are usually quite serious about grades and academic performance so are generally cooperative in a classroom setting if they view you as someone who can help them achieve their goals. Classroom control is usually not much of an issue unless you seriously tick off several influencers in the group.

While we all would like to be that teacher who ignites a flame/arouses a passion, the reality of teaching can be bit more mundane, I’m afraid. Maybe thinking of yourself as someone who can help the group of students accomplish some important goals might be a more realistic target for your first year of high school classroom teaching. If you put your energy towards helping your students overcome obstacles which impede their progress towards accomplishing their goals, you’ll earn their respect. Classroom control is much easier when the students know you are on their side.

The biggest obstacle you will face is just the sheer amount of time you’ll spend on figuring out ways to help your students understand the material and the important concepts; that, and the marking, will eat up your hours. Another teacher’s lesson plans and teaching aids will be helpful but you’ll find that you’ll be doing a lot of adapting and modifying to fit the individuals who will be sitting in those desks. Your satisfaction, though, will be enormous whenever a student says “hey, thanks; I think I’ve finally got it!” You’ll also find your own PD course work will take on new meaning when you bring your classroom experience into the mix.

And, by the way, I don’t think the first years of classroom teaching are necessarily any harder than other years. If you like helping kids learn, your students will be happy to be in your class and you’ll look forward to seeing them every time you enter the classroom; if your goals and thoughts are somewhere else, your students will pick up on your lack of interest and resent being sidelined—and both parties will be counting the hours and days until they can quit the relationship.

Good luck with your decision—it’s a big one!

kkards

Veteran

I’ve enjoyed this thread and just wanted to say I’ve been out of school more years than I want to admit, but there are many teachers I look back on to this day and remember what they thought me, and almost none of is about the actual subject
There was the 1st year English teacher in 9th grade, who assigned a paper I didn’t understand & it turned out none of us understood. And my dad telling him that during parents night. Me being embarrassed that my dad told him. But then the teacher apologizing in class for not asking if we understood the assignment. Lessons that stayed with me to this day, 1) there is nothing wrong with admitting to a mistake at work 2)ask for clarification when you don’t understand, don’t assume you’re the only one who does understand 3)always ask, don’t assume that people understand what your asking them to do.
The high school teacher who picked on me in Spanish class because I was dyslexic & they told her that she couldn’t grade me solely on my written tests. Lesson learned some people have reputations for being nice but nice is subjective and some people substitute being nice for being good at their job.

The social studies teachers who took a group of 12 kids to model UN in nyc in the 70s. Lesson learned for some people a job is a job, for others it’s a calling. I’m not a teacher and I’m not saying my job is a calling, but I will say that I’ve always given my jobs my all, and I’ve spent a lot of time training and developing the people who work for and with me
I also remember my reading tutor. Who had the unbelievably difficult job of tutoring 3 kids together who where at vastly different levels but somehow lumped together, probably because of schedules. And somehow she taught me to read, and to become a good enough student that I graduated college with honors

All of this is to say, I think what ever you do and what ever you decide, you are making a difference and leaving a lasting impact. Thank you

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Class sizes aren't huge, I know many of the kids already, and I am familiar with all my coworkers.

This is crucial information . . . knowing the physical territory and your colleagues and even some of the kids would give you an advantage.

I wanted to report also on a close friend who did the opposite to this -- for years she was a high school classroom teacher (art and some English). Then she was asked at short notice to teach kindergarten! This presented a steep learning curve for her and she did not find it easy, but she loved it. She took this position for 2 years and then moved back into the high school setting. Overall, it was a big success for her, and she was also dealing with some challenging family situations when she took it on. She found the work with little children more physically tiring and sometimes more emotionally taxing than her work with teens.

Not an answer but food for thought.

Jules

Veteran

Sorry I see the coursework is required for the license, so probably not something you can negotiate with your own admin.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I learned a lot from this thread! Fascinating.

Echo, I have no words of wisdom, but wanted to say CONGRATS! It's a fab feather in your cap! And wish you luck with the decision making process. I'm sure you will do the right thing, whichever way you go.

Echo

Veteran

Regarding SF and Bijou's comments, a big part of this could be that I've suffered from imposter syndrome my entire life. I know my qualifications, and I know that my administrator likes what she's seen, but I still secretly feel like a kid inside pretending to be a grown-up. While this has never happened (yet), I fear that taking a position like this will bring down the entire house of cards and that everyone will realize that I have no idea what I'm doing or how I got here. I feel like I've been "faking it" my entire life.

Clearly this is a personal problem that I probably should have addressed years ago. I've always risen to the occasion, and I'd like to think I can do the same here. We have an individual in an administrative position who is clearly NOT qualified to do what he's doing, yet he walks around like he owns the place and people seem to love him. Why can't I have that kind of confidence?

Firecracker (Sharan)

Veteran

When making a big decision, I find a decision matrix helpful. Here's a page that describes the process well. It may look complicated, but even just going through the process of setting up the matrix can force me to think through all the emotion-laden parts of the problem. Being able to weight the criteria allows a lot of customization. It's a very methodical approach, and not my usual mode of operating, as I am much more intuitive in decision-making usually. But for tough decisions that I'm stymied on, the matrix can help. Also, if the matrix suggests a certain outcome, and you find yourself second-guessing it, you can either go back and change the matrix, OR you can read that hesitation as part of your answer.

As to imposter syndrome, sometimes I think about switching places with my best friend. What would she say to me about my abilities, based on the evidence of what I've done?

Jenni NZ

Veteran

I was also affected by imposter syndrome previously. I am not sure how old you are, but somewhere in my 40s I managed to banish it to a large degree. Knowing what it was helped when I first learned about it. A book written by an acquaintance (partner of an extended family member) was helpful- Harold Hillman, a high-ranking US executive who moved to NZ.
Spelt differently: title is “The Impostor Syndrome”
Sounds like you absolutely deserve to be offered this!

Jenni NZ

Veteran

PS: if you take the job, and the salary is quite a lot higher, perhaps when the first year or so of extra study and mother’s illness is behind you consider a psychologist? I saw one for about 6 sessions back in the day and received so much help. Helped me to really understand my perfectionist tendencies.

Sal

Veteran

A really interesting thread.

Congrats on the opportunity - it's wonderful to be considered.

I think you have had wise advice to date - I can't add any more. I tend to mull over things, do the matrix, pros and cons, and come to a conclusion.

All the best!!

Jules

Veteran

I don’t want to assume your problematic admin’s race, and I am white myself to be clear, but ‘oh to have the self confidence of a middle aged white man’ is a phrase I saw somewhere that continues to resonate. It can be applied to so many public figures as well (politicians etc).

At age 48 I am finally getting some ambition myself to climb a step on the ladder and into a leadership role and a big part of it is observing all the people around me who have already done it and are not impressive!

Echo

Veteran

Ha! Jules, without getting into it and possibly offending anyone, all I will say is that you're not wrong!