So I just had two weeks off from school and during this time I've gotten a lot done around the house and stuff I've wanted to do. Plus it's nice not having to stress about school crap and students problems on a daily basis.

But I dont want to go back to the school and teach the mass of ungrateful, apathetic, and disrespectful trolls that I call my students. Now not all of them are terrible. Maybe about 15-20 out of them all I'd say are decent kids but for the majority. I dislike them all.

I should have spent my two weeks off making lesson plans and lessons but this is my time off that I get to do with what I please.

I'm seriously considering quitting and becoming a statistic of teachers that don't return after the first year. It's honestly not worth my effort to deal with 5 different classes I have to plan for( one being high school credit), to try and teach the students common core crap in addition to my content, to appease the administration and the state inspectors as well as the parents that complain about what their students are learning.

I'm done, I thought that it would be fun teaching students stuff that I enjoyed when I had the class but the school has changed since I had been there and kids these days are incredibly selfish, their behavior is terrible and they don't care. I've called home to parents, written referrals and given alternative assignments with no change. I've told my administration that I have too many students, not enough computers, I need assistance if we are to use the shop.

It's just too much for too little pay. I'm not going to have a heart attack at 25 because of the stress I have gotten since starting the job. My mood has changed so much since starting to teach. Two days before Christmas break I found that some students stole some stuff from me and I flipped my
&$&) so to speak.

Lately I've been thinking about going to the school and learning to weld. I have a BS degree in IT but I don't think I'll ever get hired. I've been sending out resumes and everything since January with no calls. Everyone wants a senior level IT person for an entry level position. And I feel like I don't know jack when it comes to IT stuff. I really don't. I wasted my time in college and should have just went and learned a trade.

But really, there is a tech school by my house and they do welding. Financially I can quit my job and we would have money for bills for 12 months or more. Actually. Yeah. Two years worth of mortgage payments. And more if I sell off crap I own. Plus we have room mates that pay rent. I could get a job at Disney again that would works with a school schedule or somewhere close to my
House.

So I don't know what to do. My wife and I have talked about it and prayed about it. She thinks going to school for welding would be a great idea.


She loves her job and it isn't even a job for her. Sure it's crap pay compared to what others make(10.50 an hour base plus other premiums) but she loves performing and there's nowhere else in the world she can do her job as a full time gig. She could perform in a local theater but she's have to do that as a hobby and get a job to help support. So there's that. Moving far would be pretty hard I think for her to find a job she would love. I don't want to take that away from her.

Anyways....

What to do. What to do....



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I say go for it.

Life is short, and you are clearly not enjoying your job.

I find that my friends who work in a trade generally enjoy it.

Give the welding school a shot.

__________________
Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

Here's my .02 cents. If you enjoy (enjoyed) teaching, have you thought about a private school? Excluding one year for one child, all years for my kids were at Catholic School. I visited the public school and it was a zoo. I deeply regret subjecting my one child to the public school system for that year, and Richland County, S.C. supposedly enjoys some of the best public schools in the nation. IF that is the case, then I really feel bad for the rest of the nation. I can say you will generally not experience a bunch of hellions in private school, and one call to the parents will nip any issue in the bud.

I only teach 1 evening per week at a CCD class as a volunteer so I have nothing to compare against a full time schedule. I have a mix, with half the kids being really respectful, interested, participating, et cet., and the other half just waiting for the bell, with a handful who need to be told to simmer down, be quiet, get on track, et cet. every 10 minutes. Some years are better than others, but overall the same experience give or take.

Teaching is a super tough job IMO, especially in the public school system. Personally, I could not do it since I do not think there is any real enforcment mechanism. I went to a tiny inter-city Catholic school run by nuns who had really clever, almost sadistic methods to enforce the rules. All I can say is thank God for them. Now, I wonder what enforcement the public schools have for those who cannot shut their mouth, listen, and apply themself?

Good luck on teaching.

I am surprised to hear that you've had trouble finding IT work, around here they can't fill positions fast enough -- different markets I guess. I am not surprised to hear about your public school issues though. It's a mixed bag from the teachers I know. Going to trade school sounds like a great choice but do you like IT work? Do you enjoy teaching? A lot of times just a change of venue or companies makes all the difference.


Sent from an abacus

__________________
TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

I think Greazzer's got a great idea there. There's a headhunting company called Carney Sandoe that it may be worth ringing up and doing an informational interview with. From what I know about it (there were a few workshops at my grad school) they look for people with teaching experience, who have wanted to teach for a while/enjoy teaching and show it through the resumι, and sometimes for people who can teach the students other skills or do extracurriculars.

In New England, they're also pretty flexible about area of expertise and you can teach in a whole lot of areas where you have basic competencies. On the university job market I have one defining competency, maybe two. For private schools, I have well over 15. So if you do decide to go that route, list everything you would feel comfortable teaching an intro to after reading up. That you could teach their students about mechanical systems and IT would probably be a bonus.

Most of the schools now go through Carney Sandoe which sort of pre-filters candidates for them and then they do hiring conferences.

Maybe it's worth a shot? Also, pay is multiples of public school pay (at least in NE).

Best of luck with whatever you decide to pursue.

__________________
1983 300TD 240k Thistle Green Auto (Euro) [sold]
1984 300D 240k Petrol Green Auto
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"You know, times are changing. Ladies can do stuff now and you're going to have to learn how to deal with it."
"What? Were you saying something? Look, I don't speak Spanish."

I don't have a teacher certification, I'm working under a temp cert. I have two more tests, a year long course, and some sort of teacher test to take before I get my certification.

I'm not an English or math teacher, I'm industrial arts, a dying elective so its pretty hard to find those positions. Private schools are kind of sketchy to work at, in FL teachers at private schools do not have to be certified, the pay is usually lower, and they can fire you at the drop of the hat. I at least have to be certified and they can't fire me unless I do something incredibly stupid. I joined the union the first day just so I could have the $1 million liability on me since I have a full shop.


I'd like to get back into IT, it usually pays well and there is room to move up, I'd like to do desktop administration over help desk but im having a hard time finding one of those positions in the Orlando area. Orlando is mostly a tourist area and the tech jobs are out by the university or on the coasts, nothing in my immediate area. A friend of mine works for Dell and he works from home, he said they might be hiring soon for his team and he is keeping me in the loop

I don't know how the welding market is in Orlando as well. I should probably look

That sucks about how they treat private school teachers down there. I remember reading something about it a while ago because they treat university professors really badly too. Not too much love for educators.

I don't know anything about the market for welding, but why not keep applying in IT while you do whatever it is you decide? An acquaintance said this one thing to me though that's stuck with me: "You only need one 'yes'." It sounds as apt for IT as for tenure track jobs.

__________________
1983 300TD 240k Thistle Green Auto (Euro) [sold]
1984 300D 240k Petrol Green Auto
——————————————————
"You know, times are changing. Ladies can do stuff now and you're going to have to learn how to deal with it."
"What? Were you saying something? Look, I don't speak Spanish."

I'm applying for IT jobs daily but never get any calls. Honestly, I don't feel like I'm that great with IT when compared to others. I'm really in a funk at the moment. I have 4 lessons I have to make and crap but I can't figure out how to structure it and what I want to do because I don't care anymore. I have too much to do


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No job is perfect.

I'd keep my nose to the grindstone until I had another job for sure.

The perfect job is being born to the right parents, then you can do what you love and not worry about money.

For the rest of us though if we are lucky there is a part of the job that we truly love, the rest we do so we can do that part we love. For me the design work is what I love. For the rest, I developed solid competency over the years. Ratio for me back in the hay day was doing what I loved for 5% of the time, the rest I ground out with competency so I could build innovative designs and get recognized for them.

For any aspiring teacher I suggest as required reading "The Hoosier Schoolmaster". It was written in 1870 or so (I have a first edition of it) and its in a tiny one room school in rural Indiana, but the challenges are similar to what you face.

It is hilarious and readable.

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

If you dont like it, you arent going to start liking it, so good idea to move on.

My BIL just spent the last 8 years teaching at a charter school in harlem. Guy was working 14 hour days for years dealing with everything under the sun. Teaching is a hard job.

Word of warning on welding school, dont lull yourself into thinking it will be sunshine and roses in the job market after you complete it. You will find a job no problem, but it might be a job like repairing used dumpsters ect.
Had a friend who spent 3 years doing that after welding school. He said coming home from work to relax takes on a whole new meaning after spending 8 hours laying in a pool of putrid dumpster water in 100 degree heat repairing part of a hydraulic ram housing.

__________________
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Well, you have 6 months to decide whether you want to quit. It sounds like it is a good idea for you. As others have mentioned, if you hate it now, that won't change any time soon. I think that teaching older kids (I remember you saying you teach 6 or 7th grades IIRC) can be a lot easier than younger kids. Most of them have calmed down by senior year, aren't as immature.

Welding is fun yes... BUT .... for 60 minutes and hour, 8 hour a day, 5/6 days a week for 52 weeks a year ??? Hmmmm....
Private school sure sounds like a better option or digging and networking into IT.

__________________
1985 300D 198K sold
1982 300D 202K
1989 300E 125K
1992 940T

"If you dont have time to do it safely, you dont have time to do it"

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."

Here's something to consider:

Presentation technology is a booming business. It's literally an integral part of higher education, military and the commercial world. I'm not sure what your interest in the industry is but here's some examples of the jobs the people in our company do:

Installer - Just like it says, build racks of equipment, all custom, install equipment in new and old job sites. This job can be done by anyone who has any technical aptitude and who is thorough and detail oriented. Most new hires do this.

Project manager - Oversees projects, interfaces with customers, coordinates labor and equipment resources. Installers who have been around for a while sometimes graduate to PM. These people make pretty good money.

Programmer - Writes control system code. This is actually pretty fun job. You can't go right into this with no experience but you can start as an installer, take the programming classes and then move on to doing the actual programming and control panel design.

IT support - supports the corporate computer systems. Typical small business support, help desk, field support.

Sales - Meet customers, show them cool stuff, sell it to them, make money.

Field service (what I do) - A little install, a little programming. This is a job you have to have some experience for because you're troubleshooting a lot of different systems many of which you have little experience with. Also devise work arounds and temporary repairs to keep systems at least partially functional. In addition to the field work, I fabricate custom enclosures, weld brackets and modify mounts to suit unique installation situations.

QA - check systems out and certify them after installation. This is a good job to have.

It's a great company to work for. If you're bright, you'll be recognized and move up quickly. We just had a guy come in at 22 with no experience (bicycle mechanic at a local store). He worked 2 years on installs (perfect record) and now he's being fast tracked to sales because he has shown a lot of promise and interest in that area.

Let me know if you have any questions.

__________________
-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

That's what I wanted to get into but I'm never getting any calls back. I learned programming but never enjoyed it. I did really enjoy my networking lab. Running cat 5, terminating cables, etc. At my internship I really enjoyed the field work the most over the help desk stuff.


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I got tired of working for employers when quite young. At least most of the time it was on things I did not dislike at least. So I decided with the wifes approval to go on my own.

I was offered a teaching position in electronics at age twenty but did not take it as the average students where so lacking in ability. Possibly even worse today. Electronics where pretty simple back then but the course lengths where too short to teach all that was needed to function well in the field. There was no apprentice period then or now that I am aware of.

Of course many years I put in a lot of time compared to holding a regular job. Looking back today it worked out. Strange component was except for one very short period I never concerned myself with money. There always seemed to be enough.

If nothing else working for yourself teaches you how to spend money productively. Maybe I just had too much self confidence. Good circumstances of course did not hurt either. Had to be something as I never considered myself a rocket scientist.

I can weld but up here in Canada you need to be a union welder to see any money. I never welded for a living . It is just one of many acquired skills I have picked up over the years. As an employee in that field you want a welders inspector/forman type of position.

I was approached by many companies over the years that wanted me to work for them. Last time was about six years ago. A company rep I knew from the past when he was home asked me if I would go out west to service and troubleshoot field equipment for the oil companies. What for as I had retired and we did not need the excess money they paid. To be fair though this is a different age now than even those times.

I have a smart young grandson that I have no ideal of what he will do yet. Worse still is I can offer no suggestions. The world has started to pass my age group by. How do you tell todays younger generation to seek something to be happy in doing? Otherwise work seems to be a servitude type of arrangement. You just work to exist and have enough strength to repeat it the next day. I always thought life should be better than that.