[Career] Considering a teaching career

Why don't you just continue your accounting degree. Go ahead and do the CPA route (150 hrs, etc.) and get your MBA or an MS in Accounting.

You could work for a bit, and see if you like it. I'm not sure why everyone thinks accounting is stressful. I'm working for one of the largest firms in Houston and have been there for over 8 months, and havent felt stressed yet. Thats even going through busy season.

But, if you don't like it after that, you'll have enough to get teacher certification, or teach at a community college or small university and make more money and still get breaks.

Also, if you go the CPA route, and pass that test, you'll have plenty of opportunities to do lots of other things too.

 

I actually work as an accountant during the day and teach medical coding and billing at a night vocational school.

If you have never taught before you might consider taking this route. Teaching is really different from any other job I have ever had. It can be stressful especially teaching adults, much more stressful then punching numbers at my desk all day.

To teach vocational like I do you don't need a degree though a certification may be and experience will be required. To teach community college I believe you at least need a masters.

Point is before you embark on a teaching degree program you can teach vocational and see how you feel about lecturing, creating lesson plans, and just being in front of a large group of people 24/7.

If you like it then pursue it if not then you haven't wasted several years of study. You can also keep your day job while you try this experiment out. I work 7 am - 4pm and teach 5:45 - 9:45 pm.

Just a thought.

 

I don't know much about how to get to be a teacher but first you should get a degree in a field you want to teach like you stated Spanish. Then find a college near you that has a course or a program for educating for high school or which ever type of school, then you might want to be a student teacher then grad with a Bachelor's in Education. Getting a Masters will help get some more money and higher chances of getting hired. That'll probably the way I'd go if I wanted to be a teacher.

 

teaching is becoming SO popular

literally 50% of the people i know in my age range (25) from high school and college are teachers or are now in the process of becoming teachers.

I think growing up we just became so addicted to having summers off and long holidays. Ya you could make 10 or 20 more thousand at an accounting job, but is it really worth all of the long hours and no vacations? And what are you going to do with that extra 10 or 20 thousand anyways? probably nothing meaningful, maybe drive Acuras instead of Hondas.

Work Life Balance is #1 for my generation and becoming a teacher seems like a good way to get that.

 

Becoming a teacher just because you want summers off is not the right reason for becoming a teacher. I'd rather work year round in a job I love and take paid vacation for a few weeks per year.

Now, if I loved TEACHING, then I'd become a teacher.

 

I don't view teaching as a stressful job, rather an mind numbingly boring career. I mean you teach the same subject year after year to a bunch of people who aren't appreciative of what they are learning (assuming you are teaching high school). Like once you set your teaching curriculum you really don't have to adjust it. Isn't it also very hard to be fired as a teacher? I don't know, I could be wrong in the above statements. Possibly so, but that is just the way I view teaching. Someone illuminate me to the error in this logic.

 

If you don't like kids or don't think you can handle a class full of them, then don't even think about teaching. There is definitely a lot of stress involved, and if your heart is not in the right place, you'll burn out pretty quickly. I teach K-5 PE and I get plenty stressed myself from time to time; I can't imagine the pressures the classroom teachers face!

But I love what I do.

Decent pay. Job security (although no profession is recession proof). Holidays. Long vacations. Making differences in children's lives.

 

There is some repetition. But when I find myself getting bored teaching a particular lesson, or doing the same routine, I'll try something new to achieve the same goals. Your curriculum might be set, but your lesson plans can and will change from year to year. And I'd say it's a pretty exciting time for teachers as they can incorporate new technologies into the classroom more than ever, to create much more engaging lessons.

 

Ah... look what I have started... I agree.

 

You are completely wrong. I teach high school history and media studies. Only an idiot would not adjust the curriculum. You are dealing with different dynamics every year and different students have different learning styles. It is a constant process of reappraisal of your teaching practice. That is an intrinsic part of being an effective teacher. I will get off my soapbox now.

 

Dude, you are 20. No one knows what they want to do at 20. Keep going to school, keep doing what you are doing, and eventually you will come to grips with what you are supposed to do. It doesn't sound like you really have this hunger to be a teacher.

 

Question for you. I'm in a five-year MBA program with a concentration in Accounting, and right now I'm interning with KPMG.. And I really don't think I'm gonna want to go into public accounting when I graduate.

I think I'd much rather do internal audit or managerial, something like that. With that in mind, after getting the MBA and having the 150 hours anyway, should I just suck it up and take the CPA exam? I was just sort of wondering how necessary it would be if I'm not gonna be in public (though I guess I might change my stance on this).

 

Exactly.

If you think teaching is boring, that just means you're a boring teacher and your kids probably hate you.

 

My gf started teaching (6th grade math) this past year, and there were several times when she came home frustrated to the point of tears. She teaches some really economically disadvantaged kids, so I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. But while it was really tough for her at times, she had many rewarding days as well. For example, her TAKS scores were even higher than her mentor's scores, so she got a great deal of satisfaction out of that.

As for the pay, it's really not that bad when you break it down. Skimming over the HISD calendar from this year, teachers got/get 78 days off (not counting weekends) in the calendar year. That equates to 15 weeks (in business days) off. The average worker gets 2 weeks paid vacation. That means that the average worker puts in 50 weeks and the teacher works 37. So a first year teacher making 42k in 37 weeks is the equivalent to making 57k in a full year. The caveat is that the teacher's true earning is still only 42k, so they have to supplement that somehow in the summer, either through a part time job or teaching summer school. Still, it's nice that it's optional.

Have you ever seen this? My gf discovered it late this year, tested it out a couple of days, and has decided to implement it next year.

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/eBeWEgvGm2Y&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/eBeWEgvGm2Y&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XroJtR9gQc8&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XroJtR9gQc8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

 

don't think your job ends when the bell rings. you'll be taking your work home every night.

 

My sister in law taught in DISD for about 3 years right out of college and she hated it. I had considered it coming out of college but like many have said already the workload is huge and you'd be bringing home your work all the time and weekends.

That doesn't include dealing with the kids and their parents, the rest of the faculty.

Also, from what I've heard it's not like you can choose what subjects you can teach, the schools or districts will put you where there is a need.

As for the job security, here in Dallas, not too long ago they laid off a massive amount of teachers. Like someone mentioned as well, when there are budget cuts education is usually one of the first things to go.

 

I thought about becoming a teacher to teach sign language in high school but the idea of teaching high school kids scares me.

If i chose to work for education, it would be in an admin position such as a school psychologist.

 

Been teaching English and coaching basketball for 16 years. I admit there used to be times when I wanted out, but I am happy where I am now. Boring? Sure, subjects can be boring. This isn't a carnival, but the atmoshphere and what you do with a lesson is a reflection of the teacher and their rapport with the students. Do I teach the same curriculum every year? Yes. Do I use the same strategies? If they work, why not?

Don't become a teacher for the vacation time. Do it because you love it, or you will possible be dissapointed. There is acccountability in teaching. You'd be surprised at how many "smart" people are piss poor teachers.

BTW, 95% TAKS passing rate for my students tested in my subject area...and as for basketball, (JV Light team) 20-2, 4-peat district champs.