The Ultimate Guide to Leaving Teaching

The title, "The Ultimate Guide to Leaving Teaching" hovering over a background of a scenic outdoor path and a woman walking, her back facing the picture.

Last updated on July 9th, 2023 at 08:07 pm

I have left teaching not once but twice, so let that serve as a testament to my authority on this topic. (Never thought I’d get to brag about the decision that to this day I’m assuming the average person is perplexed by).

I’ve learned a lot. I’ve experienced wins as well as devastating losses. I’ve often been reassured of this decision but also had moments of creeping doubts.

Quitting teaching– or even thinking about it– is like a small hobby/recurring event all its own. Not only does leaving teaching require the work of shifting out of a profession but planning for a new one, or at least a way to configure finances. Allow me to serve as a guide to help you wade through treacherous waters. Here are my favorite guideposts:

My convoluted career story:

Months after I quit teaching (for the second time), I wisely looked to YouTube for some reassurance and typed “I quit teaching” into the search box. What followed was an amazingly cathartic binge-watching session as I clicked through different videos of people sharing details of leaving the classroom. Though they all had varying tales, there was a common, unifying thread, a camaraderie in instructing children in our modern school system. And though I haven’t filmed myself telling my particular story, it is dispersed throughout a handful of blog posts, its etchings evident across this whole site. I provide background and reasonings and methods behind madness. Maybe you can relate?

Teaching or ______________ :

Full-time teaching became so all-ecompassing, I felt like I had to choose teaching or any other life pursuit. I felt the tension between being immersed in this fuller-than-full-time job and having outside aspirations. I decided that as meaningful as teaching was in my life, it wasn’t meant to be the center of it. Teaching took a backseat to dating, working on my health, and eventually having children. In these posts, I outline the goals I wanted to achieve when out of the classroom.

Tips for making the decision:

The decision to leave teaching is a difficult choice to make– otherwise, the revolving door in our education system would snap off its hinge. I’ve written a few posts to help guide teachers through this. You’re probably not the only one thinking these thoughts.

Career alternatives:

To face the facts: Teaching is a source of income, and leaving will stop that particular flow of funds. If you need help planning your switch into a different career, I’ve got you covered with these posts:

You’ve decided to quit: Now what?

Once the decision to exit the classroom is made, there is a sequence of steps to follow in order to make a clean break and best prepare for the new endeavors ahead. Dealing with the transition out of teaching can be hard enough– one of my goals is to provide concrete and applicable information to make the switch as smooth as possible.

Life after K-12 teaching

I write a lot about being a mostly-stay-at-home mom and substitute teacher. If you want to delve into these topics, you can find them on the navigation menu at the top of the page. But be assured, even though I sometimes miss teaching in my own classroom, most of the time my career exit has looked like this:

woman standing on wheat field throwing brown sun hat on the air under white and blue skies
This is not me in the literal sense. It may be me on the occasional metaphorical sense. Photo by Dominika Roseclay on Pexels.com

Teachers often wonder where teachers who leave go, what they end up doing.

The answer is that we have an exclusive club. It’s very cool.

The actual, real answer, just from observation, is that we end up doing a whole host of things. Most teachers have a variety of skills they can employ in other careers or endeavors. Part of the mission of this blog is to be open about my complicated journey in life after teaching, in my alternate careers and endeavors.

I hope this guide helps anyone thinking about making a change like this. From merely considering leaving this profession to actually implementing that decision, I wanted to cover the bases thoroughly so that my experiences could be a resource. Don’t forget– I’m rooting for you!

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