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Out of work, gettin math degree
Narom
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hey everybody, I need some help and/or advice.
I've been working for a year as an Accounts Payable Clerk, but the organization has shut it's doors. So, since I'm going to be on unemployment for a while, I thought now might be an opportune time to finish my Bachelor's in math (I have two Associate's Degrees, one in accounting and one in math). So, I was hoping to get someone else's perspective/advice on a few things.
I want to do something with math, obviously, and I was thinking that teaching would be cool. Thing is, I hear that the job market for teachers may not be that good. I know math and science are generally more in demand, but I don't know how much more. So, does that sound like a good career choice? If not, are there other careers I should consider? For what it's worth I'm located in upstate NY, if that affects things.
I've been working for a year as an Accounts Payable Clerk, but the organization has shut it's doors. So, since I'm going to be on unemployment for a while, I thought now might be an opportune time to finish my Bachelor's in math (I have two Associate's Degrees, one in accounting and one in math). So, I was hoping to get someone else's perspective/advice on a few things.
I want to do something with math, obviously, and I was thinking that teaching would be cool. Thing is, I hear that the job market for teachers may not be that good. I know math and science are generally more in demand, but I don't know how much more. So, does that sound like a good career choice? If not, are there other careers I should consider? For what it's worth I'm located in upstate NY, if that affects things.
<cursive>Narom</cursive>
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I can't speak for upstate New York, but I'm a recent graduate with a History Degree and went through my Uni's teaching program as part of my degree plan and I've been looking for jobs and all the past year and a half or so. (thankfully I recently got hired on full time at a great school)
To the best of my knowledge, and in my experience, it's been harder to find a good teaching job lately than it has been in the recent past. Harder, not impossible by any means. There are a ton of schools out there who really need teachers.
The problem is, the schools that typically really need teachers, are lacking teachers for a reason. Reasons could be that they live in a really rural area that outsiders aren't exactly flocking to because most young college age people don't want to live in Farmtown, USA. Or maybe that school has a really weak administration and discipline is a big problem. You can have great classroom management skills, but if every other teacher there sucks and the administration doesn't care about you, then it does make it a lot more difficult to have a smooth running classroom when your students get to your class. It varies a lot.
If you can help it, (and not everyone can) I'd always recommend holding out for a teaching job at a successful school district rather than trying to kill yourself (especially starting out) at a district with a lot of problems.
I wouldn't be dissuaded by the job market though. (compensation maybe, it's enough for me though) Teachers are always going to have a place, but it does have peaks and valleys like anything else. For instance, the school district I really wanted to work for had almost NOTHING available last year. This year, they had 20 new openings in just the high school and middle school and I was able to get on at the school I graduated from, working now with some of my former teachers, teaching exactly what I wanted to teach. I couldn't ask for a better scenario.
You are right that math and science are typically the more needed of subjects. There's just typically more career options for someone gifted in those areas, rather than someone like me gifted in the language arts. I absolutely love teaching though. It gets easier the more you do it, it can be really fun, rewarding and challenging enough to keep you stimulated. It's not for everyone, but nothing really is.
Since you're going to finish your bachelors I'd suggest looking into a Uni's teaching program. Like at my university I could have majored in History, or I could major in History with a Class A Teaching License. (they had this for all the core subjects) The difference is that the last year and a half or so of my program involved education courses and a semester student teaching. Can't tell you how much of a difference that can make. I learned how to be a teacher, rather than just learning more and more content.
Content comes second, it's a lot more important to learn how to teach and learn how to build a good functional classroom than it is to just fill your head with more content. (content which would almost only be taught at a high university level anyhow)
Also, if you decide to go forward with teaching. In most states (not sure about NY) you have to take some sort of teachers exam (PRAXIS series tests in my case) as part of your certification in different subjects. I'd recommend getting certified to teach as many subjects as possible because it makes you a lot, lot more marketable. In my case, I had to take the social studies Praxis exam to go with my history degree in order to get my teaching license. Then at any time later I could sign up to take like the English or Biology praxis test and get additional endorsements allowing me to teach those subjects as well.