Over the past ten months, I interviewed thirteen teachers about what it’s like working in education today. All of the participants work in public schools in Texas: three in elementary, six in middle school, and four in high school. Each teacher gave honest, thoughtful, often eye-opening, sometimes hilarious insights into the day-to-day life of a teacher. I am grateful to them, not just for taking the time to complete my survey and for sharing the truth of their job with the world, but also for doing this job in the first place, for being there for the kids and showing up despite the many difficulties.
As summer starts and schools shut down and pools reopen, teachers everywhere are heading out into the sunlight for a couple of months. Some will relax and go on exciting vacations and read stacks of books. Some will work a second job to save up some money or try to make ends meet. Some will switch out of teacher mode into parent mode, spending June and July chauffeuring kids to camps and sports or keeping their little ones at home to save money on daycare. Others will spend the summer attending workshops, creating lesson plans, and redesigning their classrooms, looking forward to the school doors opening in August again. Whatever the summer has in store for teachers, I hope it also brings time to breathe and rest and rejuvenate.
Before my thirteen interviewees closed their classroom doors for the year, I asked them one more question. Are you going to teach again next year? Why or why not? Some of their answers surprised me.
Of the thirteen teachers interviewed, eleven will be returning to the classroom next year, although some are headed to different classrooms or different schools. Their reasons for staying vary, but there are a couple of common themes: the love for the kids and a sense of duty. Here are some of their answers about why they will still teach.
Mr. D’Elia: “Because I love the students.”
Mr. W: “I love teaching and I look forward to leading my floor in the same way that it was led during the best years. I believe it can be done.”
Ms. B: “Someone’s gotta do it, and I’d rather it be someone with genuine love for the kids.”
Mr. L: “This year was awful, but I have to find out if every year in education will be comparable to my first year. If they will be, I have to leave teaching, but the only way to find out if this year was the norm is to hang around for another year!”
Ms. S: “Because I enjoy it. (And someone has to.)”
Ms. C: “Because no one else will and I just can’t not.”
Ms. L: “I enjoy introducing new information to students, watching them learn and grow both academically and socially.”
S.S: “When I think about leaving teaching I feel a little sad. There are many things about teaching I enjoy, especially the students. It’s still a stressful, fast-pased job. More than money, I wish I had more planning time during the day and a teacher aide to help with grades and lab set-up and take-down. I also wish we had more effective ways to help struggling students and those with discipline problems. “
The two teachers who will not be returning to the classroom next year are “Math Teacher” and Ms. A.
Math Teacher‘s main reason for leaving teaching is the STAAR test, Texas’s standardized state assessment. “If I had to just be with my kids and help them fall back in love with LEARNING and actually knowing why, not how, I would stay forever. But the academic demands were already proven to be above grade level material, and on top of that… just trying to help these kids heal. It was too much and I didn’t want to spend the rest of my career boiled down to test results.”
Ms. A‘s reason for leaving is more personal. She and her partner are moving to an area that doesn’t offer her subject in schools, and she wants to be able to travel more, not just in the weeks when school is out.
I wish Math Teacher and Ms. A the best in whatever they choose to do. I know they will be missed and will probably find themselves missing their kids and coworkers, but I’m proud of them for realizing when it was time to move on. And I’m still sending all the love and good vibes to the teachers returning this fall. Thank you again for all you do.
As for me, it’s been a year now since I left the classroom. There are definitely things I miss about the job. Mostly the people. I miss the people. But I know I made the right choice for me. I don’t feel a pull back to that career anymore. I’m enjoying my time writing books and learning how to do this whole self-employed author thing. That doesn’t mean I’m totally done with schools, though. I hope to spend some time this fall doing author visits and teaching writing workshops and talking to kids about ghost stories and poetry and the writing life. So if you know an elementary or middle school teacher or librarian who would like to hire me, let me know or send them a link to my Visits page.
And now, let summer begin. 😎
Carie Juettner 
I just finished an interim teaching position in a middle school setting. Although I retired in 2010, I have done nearly twenty interim positions since that point in time. I think I’m reaching near the end of my time in the classroom. Forty-three years may be my limit, but I’ve enjoyed it all.
Thank you for devoting so much of your life to teaching!