some answers

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Home : 2003 : August : 25

some answers
By Former Teacher

"Do the benefits of teaching (ie, time off, rewarding job) make up for the low salary?"

Well...That depends. I'll let someone else answer this one.

"Is it easy to do other activities in the school to make extra money
(coaching, ticket sales, etc)."
This really depends on the school. Some do pay stipends for extra activities, but some do not. Generally it is not much, though. You could probably make more doing something else in the evenings and/or on the weekends. But then again, you would probably burn out, too.
"Do most of you work in the summer as well?"
I didn't. Many people do. And

usually teaching summer school is an option, especially in a high school.

"Do you get paid more for teaching more classes or does everyone have the same number?"

Again, this probably depends on the school. In my experience, pay did depend somewhat on teaching hours. Positions are listed as 1 FTE (full time), 0.5 FTE (half time), etc. Some schools may not allow teachers to take on more than a full-time load, but if they do, there is probably going to be a stipend.

"Are there a lot of stupid rules that you have to follow or are you free to be somewhat creative to help your students learn?"

This depends entirely on the school. I generally was fortunate to have considerable freedom (middle school language arts). High schools may be a bit more stringent because of college prep requirements, but there is a big difference between content and method.

If you really think you might be interested in pursuing a teaching career, start by looking at the Web sites of schools in your area. You often can find out a lot this way. Find people in your community whose children attend the high schools in the area. What do they have to say about their teachers' methods? Call the school and ask them questions about their curriculum, methods, policies, etc. Pretend to be a potential parent if you want.

Good luck to you as you make a decision. Remember, you will always have your Chem. E degree. You can always go back if you find that teaching does not work out for you.