I am officially hired as a substitute teacher with SLO Coastal Unified. What??? I still have my “day job” working for The Land Conservancy, but I am slowly getting my feet wet again with teaching.
It’s been 5 years since I set foot in a classroom, so why
the sudden change of heart? Well, lots of reasons, really. First of all, having
a child without family close by and not being a stay-at-home-mom makes it
difficult to juggle a work schedule. Now that our child is approaching
school-age and witnessing a colleague at work trying to juggle her schedule
with her children’s school schedule and a newborn, it seems to make more sense
for me to go back to teaching and be on the same schedule as P. Ideally, I’d
love to be able to teach at the same school where she is attending or vice
versa.
Secondly, my husband has been so unhappy with his job. There’s
really nothing out there for him in this area. The real issue is that we are
reluctant for him to lose the benefits with Fish & Wildlife (namely the
medical benefits with my health history!), so if I can get back to a school
district with great bennies, then he can pursue something that will make him
happier and less stressed out!
Lastly, if in the next couple of years, if there is a possibility
of him teaching full-time at the college or maybe even pursuing a teaching
credential for high school biology, then wouldn’t be awesome if WE ALL were on
the same schedule and have summers off together???
There have been lots of “signs” that keep pointing me into
the direction of teaching. Personality tests and strengths quizzes all say that
teaching is an ideal field for me. For
whatever reason, I kept being drawn into what’s going on in the teaching realm.
Maybe it was being around my daughter’s preschool and seeing all the creative
and fun learning that they were doing. As I glanced around their bulletin
boards and saw their lesson plan overview, I wondered how I would be as a
teacher, now that I’m a parent and viewing it from the other side. I also
talked to some teachers in this area, and they really encouraged me to apply. “They”
like to hire teachers with experience. Try subbing first to get your foot in
the door.
I had let my credential expire, now going on 2 years. I
figured it would be pretty difficult to try to renew it, or at the very least,
I’d have to take those newer comprehensive tests that new teachers have to pass
these days. But, all I had to do was pay the $72 and I’m in like Flynn.
Then, I saw a job posting for SLOCUSD substitute teachers.
They NEVER advertise for subs, as they have lots of overqualified folks
applying for sub jobs. But, I threw in my application (baby steps), got a call
for an interview last week and they hired me on the spot! Crazy thing is that I’ve
been waiting for sub jobs but there aren’t any!! My work is being really
flexible and basically allowing me to sub and make up my days on the weekend.
So, this is where it stands. Hopefully, something will pan
out. I am excited to go back to teaching. It’ll be interesting once I do get a
sub job, how that will go and if I will still feel excited about going back.
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