One of the hardest parts of leaving teaching after five years was telling my favorite students I wouldn’t be coming back.
I had just “looped” with most of the class from third to fourth grade, and a few students had voiced their hopes that’d I’d follow them to fifth, too.
But for multiple reasons, I knew it was time to quit teaching, at least in this capacity.
As difficult as it was to leave the career I’d chased and dedicated myself, martyr-style, to for almost a decade, it was a comfort knowing I’d still be able to experience one the best joys of teaching: connecting with the students.
If you’re on your way out the classroom door but worry about losing those meaningful– positive, silly, pensive, thought-provoking– interactions with kids, I’m here to offer some encouragement. Though your day-to-day will look vastly different apart from classroom teaching, there are still plenty of ways to experience the “best of both worlds.” Here’s how I do it:
Volunteer with students in an organization you’re passionate about
Chances are that one of the main reasons you became a teacher stemmed from altuism: a bright-eyed conviction to help and instruct and encourage younger people.
Luckily, these outcomes aren’t limited to the teaching profession.
There are numerous opportunities to make a difference in the lives of children if you look for them. Start your search, and you’ll find chances popping up everywhere, like fliers fluttering on every street post. Like wildflowers springing up in the dingiest of ditches.
The ways you can serve the youth of today are many.
If you get involved in a church, you’ll begin to see dozens of examples paraded by you just from sitting through morning announcements.
Schools have all kinds of volunteer opportunities, too (if you are fine with returning to a campus).
Libraries and community centers are almost always surefire places to find ways to give back. You just have to start looking for an opportunity you think you’d be well-suited for.
Personally, I teach and volunteer with children at my church. I find that teaching for a short burst once or twice a week is just the medicine I need– I get to connect with an age group of kids I really enjoy. I get to wade into my “old” teaching skills, like pulling on a well-worn but steady gardening outfit or something.
This small chance to give back allows me to still feel a part of it– to feel like I’m using my skills to help young people navigate life.
Tutor, lead sports or music programs, or lead summer camp
You don’t have to volunteer your time and skills to feel like you’re making a difference.
Maybe full-time teaching is too much for you right now, but you’re happy to take on coaching, tutoring, or summer camp counseling. Those hours, schedules and work load may work better in your life situation.
In any case, this can be a real game changer, especially if you’re passionate about the subject at hand.
Maybe teaching isn’t in the cards for you now, but giving private guitar lessons for a few hours a week really sparks hope and energy in you– and you pass on that positivity to your students.
I find that sharing my passions with others, in an instructional environment, is one of my favorite things ever. You’re not limited to teaching just kids, either. Somehow I find a way to communicate my passions and hobbies through teaching them.
Bread baking class with my closest girl friends? It’s a thing I do, apparently.
I may not be a classroom teacher any more, but my excitement for imparting skills to others just can’t help but show through.
Consider substitute teaching
Alright, I’m leaving an obvious but often ignored option: Substitute teach to gain personal fulfillment even after quitting teaching.
I can see the shaking heads now… substitute teach? After being a “real” teacher? Why subject myself to this punishment?
Okay, first: Substitutes are the realest of real teachers…or at least good ones, I should say. They have to deal with stepping into total mystery rooms and keeping a class together for a whole day.
But even despite the hardship, the sheer randomness, and the disrespect from students and sometimes fellow staff, I still love substitute teaching on the whole. I get to handpick my schedule, my school, and my classes I teach in. I don’t have to work a lot, but a day here and there really fulfills my compulsion to use my teaching skills, to connect with students and share in those random, insightful, weird and funny moments that inevitably spill out in a schoolday.
Try substitute teaching. It may just surprise you in all the right ways.
Leaving the teacher career while holding onto some of its most rewarding aspects
Most things in life don’t have to be all or nothing, teaching included.
If you make the decision to leave the profession, there are still plenty of ways to feel connected to your teaching skills and moral motivations for teaching.
There are dozens of ways to scatch the “helping the next generation” itch.
Ways to stay relevant.
Ways to connect with families over learning.
Ways to know the youth’s lingo, like how, for example, when something “slaps” it is not a negative, but a positive term. As of publishing date.
There are people who can use your help all around, if you take the time to look. From reading stories to kids at the library to substitute teaching to teaching art summer camps to creative eight-year-olds, there are ways to make positive differences in young people’s lives. It doesn’t even have to be someone else’s kids– you can be a positive force in your kids’ lives.
So be encouraged! Even without the formal title of Teacher, you can be a teacher.
Former teacher friends: Do you find you need to scratch that teaching and helping itch? Are there ways you do this? Let me know in the comments below!
