Hi everyone! I am a 21 year old performing arts teacher that has left their teaching job for a non profit program coordinator job. I’m so excited for this new role, but I am feeling guilty about leaving mid year and so abruptly.

I think it’s going to take some time to heal from my time teaching.

I am currently a middle school science teacher/Team lead for my campus. I am about to complete my 5th year of teaching. I have a bachelor's in interdisciplinary studies, and am halfway through a master's in science education. I want out of the classroom, out of education as a whole. The system is falling apart and I can't take it anymore. I feel like I'm above average intelligence and a very hard worker, but I am at a loss of what we'll paying career I can get hired into without needing more school. The only reason I am getting my masters in science Ed is because I got a scholarship for it and I thought any masters degree would make me more employable. What do I do?

I have been offered an interview for an account management job.

Does anyone here have experience moving out of the classroom and into this role? Or a sales type role?

Thanks for any insight!

Hi everyone!

Literally just got off the phone with the company I interviewed with yesterday for an official offer! It’s a bit of a pay cut… but it has benefits and work from home!!! Plus I already know from my contact there that it’s low stress with a chill team!!!

Now to hear back from my union about breaking contract cause crap. A friend suggested trying to take a leave which I’ll do if needed. Been having panic attacks and anxiety all year.

I asked two of my supervisors, who are more senior teachers in my department, for a reference for a new job (I clarified that I was casting as wide a net as possible and thus just a generic short one would be great) for my job search. I wasn’t expecting a glowing poetic ode but they just flat-out refused with no further questions. They essentially said “I don’t believe we can say anything positive so we won’t.” I respect that and didn’t say anything but i’m also burnt out, desperate, and discouraged.

The past 2 years hasn’t been perfect, but nothing bad or unprofessional happened. The main criticism was that I didn’t seem engaged or motivated, rather than about my content or my work ethic. My students didn’t have great rapport with me, let’s say we weren’t chatting it up about our weekends and if we were in the US they wouldn’t be asking me to sign their yearbooks. We got through the material and many did well but they complained to my colleagues that I seemed distant, cold and standoffish. In reality I was going through a LOT including the growing desire to leave teaching.

I did try to improve content things that admin mentioned in evals, but it’s like they were only there to give negative feedback and didn’t bother checking up to see if i’d addressed it. I was very transparent about how I wished to transition and was trying to reorient myself into a different field. A work reference, even if not the most positive ever, would have helped a lot both in my search for a new job and my applications to return to grad school (in my country it’s ok to just have a pdf from your boss to send out to people, they don’t bother contacting your boss directly) if only to show that i was on good terms with my current job. I’m old so it’s not like I can go back and ask my former uni professors, i’m not even sure they’re alive.

Anyway i’m going to keep applying with just a dusty old reference from 2021 and hope something sticks, but it really does sting knowing that you can work for someone for several years, do your best, and still they won’t help you. It’s not like I’m trying to stay in teaching, I’m trying to get out. I thought they might even be happy that I was voluntarily leaving.

I’ve taught high school for the past 5 years but my god am I done.

My dream role just posted a summer internship about an hour ago and I got my application in immediately.

I hope I get it even though I’m not in college for six years.

Fingers crossed.

I’m actively searching for a job outside of teaching. Every night applying to jobs which is a tedious process and I’ve been at this for a month. I haven’t heard back from anything, but I’m trying to decide if I should end my teaching contract. Our deadline to do so without penalty is Friday. The penalty for breaking your contract after that date is $1000 and possibly your teaching license. I know that I don’t want to teach next year, but I’m so stressed about the idea of not having a job. I took a year off last year and worked retail because I couldn’t find another job, DRAINING my savings in the process. I’m not compromising on my salary in my next position so doing that again isn’t an option.

To be honest, I don’t know if I care about a $ penalty and/or my teaching license. I don’t really want to teach again so not a huge deal. I know my parents would say don’t leave until you have another job and my significant other would say break it now because he knows how bummed I am teaching. I want to know others thoughts!

I think today was the last straw… A parent complained to me as well as to upper management about my leave and its impact on the student’s learning. I had MAJOR surgery. Really disgusted. I don’t get paid enough to put up with the politics, workload and abuse from students. Even when you put your heart and effort into your work - it’s just feels like a slap in the face

I’ve been applying since January for any summer internships involved education/edtech/marketing. Specifically in customer success or curriculum writing roles. I’ve done the full teacher career coach course and updated my resume to be more edtech applicable. I apply for things daily with absolutely no luck. I was even rejected from an unpaid volunteer library position. I’ve put tons of time into cold networking with people on LinkedIn or via email and no luck. I do not know what else to do at this point. Are there any classes or certifications that make me a better candidate that I can complete this summer?

For those hired in the last year for something besides teaching in the classroom, what do you think was a main reason for getting the job?

Title.

I posted a rant/vent about my own journey and struggle to figure out what I want to do after teaching so I'm curious as to how you guys decided on a path or new career after teaching. Was it something that you had previous experience with or had considered prior to teaching? Interested to hear different responses!

Severe* mental health issues dammit Reddit won't let me edit my post title 🙃

I really want to make this my last year. I've been teaching five years and 4/5 have been awful, some worse than others. I'm at a "better" school this year (no student behavioral issues, decent admin) and it's still too much of a workload, and I can't resort to the usual tips of working contract hours or cutting back on grading because grading isn't an issue (ESL teacher) and I have mandatory work that just can't get done during work hours (and it is time consuming work that requires a lot of focus).

Every year aside from my first year teaching I have had some kind of breakdown. I have taken meds in the past and have tapered off of them due to side effects, only to have work trigger issues again and have to go back to taking meds. When I've been away from work, whether it's due to a brief mental health leave (went to a psych ward), or due to medical issues, I felt like a human again and my mood stabilized. As soon as I returned to work it all went downhill mood wise.

And this year I'm fantasizing hard about su**ide because I'm in my 30's and have student loan debt and a car payment and am single, and feel trapped and don't want to have to start my life over living with my mom who has public housing assistance and working min. wage jobs. I already graduated college much later than the average and started my career later. Now I'd be starting from almost zero again and maybe taking on more debt for school if I can't get a job upskilling more affordably.

However, I can't imagine returning to teaching next year, even if it does mean moving in with my mom, possibly having to rehome my cats, and even having to withdraw my pension which is a huge no no but would be necessary.

I got very close to taking a large amount of a prescription I have last week. If it comes to su**ide/severe mental health issues vs. feeling better but working min wage jobs while I try to transition, surely the latter is the least worse option?? 😅😅 I've seen people on here saying they regret doing that same thing despite the mental health struggle because now they have financial stress. Well, I don't know what else to do. Rock and a hard place. Going back to teaching next year means more seemingly unending misery and possibly worse. After 5 different schools in 5 years I think I can say it's not going to be any better.

I am a 1st year teacher who will likely be out of teaching within the next 1-2 years provided all the other things I’m working on fall into place.

However, I’m not sure if anyone else feels this way, but this job makes me feel like I have lost any semblance of intelligence college gave me. I try to read old papers I wrote or textbooks and it feels like pulling teeth. Maybe I sound ridiculous & this is more of a me issue, but I feel like being around the kids & their general speak compounded with the fact that I have to often make the material less complicated (read: there is a severe lack of basic vocabulary & world knowledge from my kids) AND my lack of daily lengthy adult conversation, I am bringing my own brain capacity down lol.

Does anyone else feel this way? Is this a sign I am a bad teacher? How can I make the classroom/teaching something that will not further make me feel like my brain cells are flying into never never land?

*** edit: I teach middle school social studies in a Title I school, if that adds any context

Hello all, I'm trying to transition into ed-tech jobs specifically eyeing education counselor, academic advisor roles. My question is how do I prepare for it? What kind of background work I need to do before applying? How to tailor my resume for this?

If they ask me, why I'm quiting teaching how should I answer this question?

Hi!

I'm currently rounding off my fifth year of SPED teaching. I have wanted to step out of the classroom and into a district-level position since the end of last year, but I stayed for one more year because my admin team really needed the support. I ultimately want to move into higher education, gain a PhD, and become a university professor. Teaching teachers has been such a fun opportunity with the leadership roles I've already taken on for the past three years, and this is what I want to do going forward.

So here's the dilemma! I've been applying for district jobs and was offered a position that's exactly what I've been hoping for. Essentially, I'll be a SPED instructional coach and IEP compliance coach. The interviewing team was amazing, the assistant I've spoken with on the phone back and forth has been so sweet and accommodating, and the ladies in the front office who welcomed me in for my interview literally made my eyes well up with happy tears with the pep talk they gave me before my interview started.

I was offered the position at a salary of $3,000 less than what I'll be making in the next school year if I remain where I'm at. Also, factoring in the stipends I receive for my leadership positions in the district, I'd be losing out on about another $7,000. This new district is also 50 minutes away from home instead of my normal 10-minute commute.

I'm kind of at a loss. On one hand, I'm tired of being a teacher. My heart isn't in it the way it used to be. Everything makes me irritated. Working alongside general education teachers can be amazing for the few stellar teachers we do have, but a letdown with the other teachers who are completely hands-off with our kids and the entire IEP process. Likewise, supervising paraprofessionals feels the same way between the stellar ones we have, and the "bad eggs" that I have to either coach or always complain about to admin while also having to uphold my responsibilities. Behaviors are at an all-time high, and though I have really strong relationships with nearly all of my students, it's incredibly draining dealing with the lack of willingness to learn, and the immediate negative behaviors that escalate like never before when some students are in need of any type of redirection for their behaviors. I'm tired and burnt out beyond belief when it comes to being a teacher and dealing with the insane workload that SPED is capable of bringing you. I started off my school year with a caseload of 62 kids, for perspective (hiring issues...relatable, anyone? 😂).

On the other hand, I adore all of my supervisors, administrators, and district support staff. I've built such strong connections with everyone here and I've been extended incredible letters of recommendation from each of them, along with genuine requests for me to remain where I am with promises that I'll have opportunities for growth if I stay at least another year.

When it comes to this new district, if I'm moving up into a district level position and adding an extra 40 minutes to my drive each morning (and at least another hour each afternoon), I don't really know if an almost $10,000 pay cut is worth it. However, this position is the exact stepping stone I was hoping to transition into for the experience. Couple that with the immediate positivity and encouragement I felt as soon as I stepped into their district office for that interview, I literally left that interview telling myself that I would accept their offer if they extended one to me. Their district is over three times as big as my current district, their SPED department is super advanced and established, and I've heard nothing but good things about them and how they treat their students and staff.

I'm confused about what my next steps should be. I do plan on negotiating my pay, but I don't know where to start or how to ask. Any advice on this?

Also, what would any of you do if you were in this predicament? I need all the insight and feedback I can get! Thank you ❤️

Edit: spelling errors!

I broke my contract in the fall for a job outside of teaching. Now my husband’s employer wants to transfer him to another location within the same state. My previous district threatened to suspend my license but never did. I know teachers who left with no notice and were rehired in neighboring districts the following year. I’m thinking I may want to go back to teaching in the new location for a quick return to work since I only need a few more years, but I read on another Reddit feed that someone’s district suspended their license two years later. Thoughts?

For those of y’all in transition or have made it out on the other side of teaching, how did you deal with the negative feelings about yourself or the guilt?

I’m just trying to push through and get by right now as I hunt for a new job while I finish out my contract. I’m honestly really struggling with feeling guilty for putting in the bare minimum at school and feeling super checked out especially considering that I’m typically someone that strives to be the best at whatever I do but teaching just isn’t that for me.

Hello all, Posted here before a couple times. Been through a hell of a year. Long story short, still presently working at a nightmare title 1 elementary school in NJ. Constant disrespect, violent kids, absentee parents, apathetic admin, whole nine. I’m at my wits end but was trying to do the right thing and stick with it until the end of the year and then leave it in the rear view mirror. I kept my ear to the ground though and just got spontaneously offered a full time with benefits teaching position at a private school in an upper middle class suburb. They want me to start April 8th (maternity leave and then taking the spot of someone who isn’t returning next year). I want to take it (and intend to, especially since my present admin couldn’t care less about me and the kids couldn’t make it any more clear they think I’m a joke and don’t respect me) but I’m scared they’ll report me for breaching my contract and I’ll have my license revoked my first real year of teaching. In NJ you’re supposed to give 60 days notice, in this case it’d be 2 weeks. My union rep he says he’s known this to happen before and no one has had any issues but just looking to see if anyone has experience with this and if I should be really concerned. Thank you all!

This is my last year in K12 and starting to get things together for possible move into a state position over summer. My reference list includes the math coach, a former colleague who was team leader, and another I co-taught with. I just don't feel as comfortable listing current admin as I did with past ones. Past admin are no longer around. Advice?

In my last post, I mentioned I didn't care too much about breaking contracts. However, I'm now plagued with doubt.

I'm leaving education altogether. My state requires 30 days notice. However, most have told me that's only if you leave for another education job and that otherwise, you can give the typical two weeks. Some districts in my state charge a fine. I know a teacher who left one district with only two weeks notice, paid a fine, and is now working in another district with seemingly no other penalties.

I was told that I had to complete the 30 days, which is not a possibility for me as I have to start my new position (a county job) on a specific date.

My contract says nothing about giving notice or breaking contract. It doesn't even say I'm required to give 30 days notice. I literally only know about the 30 days because of what other teachers have told me and what admin told me when I gave my notice.

What possible issues could come up if I leave before the 30 days?

edit:

Nothing at all is stated in my contract, but I found in the district policies where it says I have to give 30 days or they can suspend my license for the remainder of the year and put a note in my file. As I do not have a license, I feel that I will be largely unaffected except for the massive guilt trips and cold shoulders I'm going to get from admin and a handful of teachers.

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This is the area that I'd really like to transition into working in. I've taught for going on 10 years and am super tech savvy and very confident in learning new technologies, but I don't have the money to dedicate to buying and getting training on things like Articulate Storyline. Is it still possible for me to get into this field? Can I show my skills in that area without direct experience with that specific tech?

Hi, I’ve been looking into alternative jobs before I make the transition. I’ve looked into medical coding as a possible option, which I feel a lot of skills teachers have can t stop ransfer into this position.

Does anyone know about making this transition?

I love my content and I love my students. I am finishing up my master's and was originally planning to transition to teaching at a university, but after teaching a freshman composition class, the K-12 public system has destroyed those students so much they are just as apathetic as my high schoolers. e. HOWEVER I just don't think I believe in the education system anymore and I want out.master's

I love my content and I love my students. I am finishing up my masters and was originally planning to transition to teaching at a university, but after teaching a freshman composition class, the K-12 public system has destroyed those students so much they are just as apathetic as my high schoolers.

I'm just sick of being the only person in the room who cares. I'm sick of working so hard to have half of my students failing due to simply not doing the work when they have more than ample class time to do it. I'm sick of that lack of motivation on their part and their abject apathy affecting my perceived effectiveness as a teacher.

I say this to say... would you take the office job or stay WFH?

Luckily I am already transitioned, but for some reason I realized i am still getting newsletterers from my old school in my personal email. In said newsletter were some shout outs. For teachers who have picked up extra duties, stayed after school for tutorials, made extra lesson plans and taught saturday school. No shoutouts for teachers going above and beyond in their classroom. No shoutouts for the work teachers already have in a regular school day. I hate that admin continues to push the idea that the only way to be a “good” teacher, who “truly cares about kids” is to sacrifice even more. These shoutouts where followed by self care tips. LOL. Working in a different field has opened my eyes up about how truly abusive so much of teaching is. Sorry just needed to rant.

Hey everyone! I hope your tax seasons have been better than mine, as I am currently navigating how filing works when having my own LLC.

For those of you who also did tutoring or have a side business, I have a niche question:

Can I just like, file this income under my personal return as independent contractor work? I'm talking like roughly $400 income for the whole year haha

I really want to keep things on the straight and narrow and do it right for filing, but idk if I need to file a seperste return since I have no employees...

Any advice is much appreciated!

What jobs do I look for?

What makes quitting teaching worthwhile?

How do I feel fulfilled from now on?

Recently I have been making big mistakes and my peers are right for calling me out. The problem is, is there a career for me to shift to? I am a literature student, it's my first official job. Have you resigned in the middle of the school year?

I don't want to go to a BPO/Call Center because I can't deal with other people easily.

Recent school years have been really bad for my mental health. I've decided not to return next year. I'm going to look for a new career. I'm not resigning before the end of the year because I would lose my credential and I want to have it as a last resort if I need it. I have more sick days than there are school days left in the year. My doctor can only write a note for two weeks. The psychiatrist I have been seeing can only can only write a note for a short period of time. I need a note for the last two months of the school year. Do you have any advice for finding a doctor who will write a long term note?