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Home : 2001 : July : 13

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By DEW

what am I?

I received my teaching certificate when I was 22 years old, and then taught school for two years. I enjoyed it, but did feel a little burnt out.

When I started having kids I decided I needed a break and took
3 years off; when it was time to go back the only jobs available were substitute teaching positions -- with two kids under 3 (one being a 6 month old!) I figured it would be nearly impossible to get three of us out the door in the morning with very little notice.
But I needed a job! So, I started doing education programs (public and school) for non-profit organizations. So I've kept

my roots -- I spend time designing programs for students and teachers, but just recently decided I wanted to return to the classroom.

I applied for a part-time teaching position in the fall (20%) and will be covering prep time for teachers 1 day/week. I decided to go back slowly, in part to see if it is what I really want to be doing -- and also to absorb some of the financial shock of returning to teaching (I will take a significant cut in pay). I want to be teaching full time in fall 2002.

I feel like a second career teacher - gee, if I had known THEN what I'd known now.......

I'm nervous about being what amounts to a "permananent sub" -- not having my own classroom, etc. I'm 33 now, and my kids are now both in school full time. I worry about being caught in the middle - older than many of the "new" teachers, but not as experienced as those my age. And unlike second career teachers (I am guessing -- but most sound like you did your teacher training recently) I *have* been a teacher all this time, just not using it (why *hasn't* she been teaching).

Any advice?