I have a HS student who has dreamed of being a teacher for over 6 years now. Honestly, he would be fantastic at it. But, at least where we live, teaching is a really difficult profession to make a living at. I feel strongly that doing something you love is more important than making a lot of money, but there does need to be a certain amount of reality. He has a few years left to figure it out, but he brought it up the other day. What other career paths might I toss out there for him to think about for someone who is not a sit at a desk, very bright, wonderful with kids of all ages and abilities (he is especially good with special needs kids), likes to make things fun and interesting (gets very bored when not), competitive, type person. I suggested a nurse or doctor but he isn’t into the medical stuff.
What year in high school is he?
Is he willing to move? In some areas it still is possible to live on a teacher’s salary.
Is he willing to teach one of the areas that traditionally are hard to fill?
I’m thinking secondary math, Physics and Chem specifically. (NOT Bio-- every wannabe doctor who ever washed out of medical school wants to teach Bio.) Not English, not History, not Phys Ed.
For what it’s worth, both my husband and I teach in Catholic schools-- so we’re making less than our public school counterparts. And we somehow manage to eke out a living, go on vacations, and all the rest. (I’m not saying I wouldn’t jump at a LOTTO winnings, merely that we’re not surviving on spaghetti and ketchup.)
But if you’re looking for a career NOT in teaching, how about something in the hospitality industry? Have you looked into Disney’s College program?
My neighborhood has a few couples of two teachers married to each other and they seem to be doing just fine. If teaching is his passion I would not discourage it. My S’s friend is an elementary school teacher and seems to be doing fine. Teaching won’t get a person rich, but there are factors such as (typically) excellent benefits, good pension etc. that are long term positives.
That said, my D is studying to be a speech pathologist which may be a good career option for him (although I’m not sure it pays better than teaching) or perhaps some other allied health fields like an occupational or physical therapist. All of these can work with kids and none will have him tied to a desk.
@thumper1 he will be a sophomore so he has time. @happymomof1 - I’m sure he would be willing to move. I may not like it (tough luck though) but yes, nearby states (or even some not so nearby) do treat their teachers better so that is a possibility. @bjkmom - yes, he could. He’s going to take pre-ap chem this year so we’ll se how it goes 
He works with the special needs program and really enjoys working with them. Now, would he like all the paperwork that comes with being a teacher in that program I don’t know. He is interested in coaching too so he could always supplement that way. I told him not to give up on it if it is something he really wants to do, but also to explore some other possibilities before making decisions.
If he’s from Oklahoma, I get what he’s saying. Did anyone else hear the story on NPR earlier this week about a married couple, both public school educators (one of them Oklahoma’s 2016 Teacher of the Year), who bring home $3,600/month combined? http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/07/02/531911536/teacher-of-the-year-in-oklahoma-moves-to-texas-for-the-money
My daughter is a special education teacher in NOVA. She has a master’s and is paid like a professional. She doesn’t have a lot of disposable income and teaches dance on weekends to augment her income, but she can pay all her bills and save for her future.
If your student truly wants to teach, he’ll have an easier time finding a job if he goes through a teacher training program in the same state where he wants to live.
Hi, I don’t post much but wanted to add some comments here. My sister was an elementary teacher for 20 years, became a principal and now is an administrator. She has always been passionate about her job. My brother currently teaches high school English, and I have several friends who teach or are retired teachers. Yes, you can make a living at teaching (with a nice pension), but I think it depends where you teach. I am in the Philadelphia, PA suburbs where it is quite possible to make a decent living by teaching. It really matters where you get your certification: my sister was originally certified in PA and moved through several southern states (her husband was career military). Her PA certification enabled her to become easily certified in every state she taught in. On the other hand, my daughter attended a southern college and was considering education for a while; she could not have received certification in most northern states with that degree and would have had to take supplementary courses (she did not go into education but that wasn’t why). It’s important to look at all that if he really wants to teach by the time he goes to college.
@frazzled1 - you nailed it … it’s big news here and I think that is where his concern came from.
Occupational therapy? Speech therapy? Child psychology? All of these involve teaching different skills and all are employed in schools.
@gardenstategal - I was thinking along those lines maybe too. They also have opportunities outside of schools which would give him options but he could work with kids if he wanted.
If he likes to teach, he may want to consider as a trainer or a moderator for companies. Someone who wants to be a teacher needs to be able to explain things well, connect with people and patience. We use a moderator sometimes when we are doing planning or strategy. The moderator would keep us focused on topics and make sure we cover everything we set out to do. A trainer could teach topics like technology, compliance, HR (diversity, harassment), etc.
Honestly, your time might better be spent convincing your legislator’s to pay teachers better than trying to discourage this kid from doing the thing he loves. In the long run, he and many others like him will leave OK for better opportunities, and your community will be the worse for it.
For what it’s worth, one of the constant memories of my childhood was my uncle, trying to talk my cousin out of teaching. Every chance he got, he told her it was a bad idea.
She did it anyway, and had a long and fulfilling career.
I’ve been teaching since 1980, and there’s not another career in the world for me. I LOVE what I do.
My dad discouraged my sister from going into teaching, because he knew she was sharp enough to make an excellent attorney, physician, etc. She stuck to her guns and has been an elementary special ed teacher for 30 years. I won’t lie - it’s been tough because her husband has a hard time holding down a job, but she has never regretted her decision.
@lololu and @bjkmom - I would agree that teaching is a great career and I really have no intention of trying to talk him out of it. I think he would be fantastic at it (even if he did decide to go somewhere else). My hope is that he has enough years between now and having to decide that something will change. I firmly believe in doing something you love. I just thought giving him some other ideas to research and think about will help him make an informed decision.
That makes absolute sense. But I would love to see more kids like the son you describe go into teaching. As a mom and a teacher, I’m a bit biased I admit.
Any kind of teaching requires a lot of paperwork. My sister was a lawyer for 30+ years but went back to get a masters and now teaches 4th grade. She usually has a class of 25-30 kids, and half of them have IEPs. She has to keep files and make reports on all kids, and her background of working in business for all those years helps her get through all the paperwork. She does say that a lot of her co-workers struggle with the paperwork.
It’s funny… my 19 year old son is adopted from Korea. When we started the adoption process, we heard horror stories about the mountains of paperwork.
We didn’t struggle with it at all. As one batch would go out, another would come in. Kind of like at school.
I appreciate all the encouragement from those that do teach! I’ve been disappointed the last few years at how many have discouraged him from taking that path. When we was enrolling for highschool we had a one on one with a teacher looking over his choices. She asked what he wanted to do. When he answered he was told “pediatricians work with kids”. I think he should choose wisely, but I also think he should choose something he loves to do.