I contacted my former p. about writing a reference for me. He has moved to a district over an hour away. He asked me if I would be interested in teaching at his school, as he has an opening. Now you know when a p. asks you that, you stand a pretty darned good chance of getting the job! Plus I loved working for this guy. One of those rare admins. who hasn't forgotten what it is like to teach. It is over an hour away, though, through a very congested area with heavy traffic. So looking at more like a 1.5 hour commute sometimes. And I have young children to consider. But...ouch. This type of irony really bites!
Why not go for an interview just to see...I travel 45 mins with my son and its hard, but we make it work.
How do you make it work? I think I would need to leave my house at 6:30 a.m. to ensure that I get to work before the students. That is not allowing me any before school prep time. If I stayed an hour after school I wouldn't get home til 5:30 if I were lucky. I would love to do this, I just don't know how it works without getting super tired and stressed from commuting and missing time with my own children....
It's definitely hard to miss time with your children. How young are they? If they are young enough, you could enroll them in daycare near your school. Any option to move closer?
That is tough. I think you should go on the interview and tell him your concerns. Maybe he has a solution, or maybe not, but at least you talked it through. What does your SO say about it?
They are in elementary school. So I would be seeing them for about 2.5 hours a day during the week. Morning time would be zip. They go to bed at 8, and I'd be leaving practically before they are awake.
He does know my concerns, and he totally understands, because one reason he left our old district was to shorten his commute. My DH was distinctly intrigued and immediately sat down to check Mapquest as I had done. There is no way around it, it is a one hour commute in a perfect world, but as it goes through a very snarly traffic area it is more like 1.5 hours. It is one of those can't get there from here locations, if you follow.
Relocating isnt really an option. We love our house, neighborhood, and town. My husband has a great teaching job, and our kids will be going to the school that he works at in a few years when they hit middle school. So it is really ideal where we live. Thanks though for the ideas.
What about taking the kids with you to that school? In my state, a teacher's kids can attend the scho they work at even if they don't live in the district. It would be a lot of car time, but you can have good conversation, sing silly songs, etc. to make it enjoyable.
I would go on the interview and gain some valuable experience. If offered the position, make the commitment for the year... get your foot in the door, gain additional teaching experience, and "know" truly what the pros/cons are of the position & travel. Good luck!
If you really want a teaching job, I would go on the interview. Sometimes that job near where you live happens but mostly a person has to work elsewhere before it happens.
My son is still young, so he goes with me to an in-home sitter a few minutes from my work. I drop him off in the morning...we leave around 7:15-7:30 and I'm at school by 8:35ish...doesn't leave a lot of time for me in the morning, as morning duty starts at 8:45am. But I use my time wisely during the day...I work through my lunch (but eat too! ), make a daily to do list of things that must get accomplished that day, and I stay after for 45 mins...I take work home with me too. I pick up Nicholas, make the drive home, and get home around 6pm. Dh makes dinner for us every night because he gets home much earlier than us. That gives me 2 hours with Nicholas each night after we get home, as his bedtime is 8pm. We play, take a bath, etc. I put him to bed every night. After he goes to sleep, I pull out a bit of school work to do and give myself a set amount of time to work on things...I need some "me" time during the night! Then I go to sleep, wake up, and do it all over again. It can be stressful, especially when there is an accident or major traffic on the highway I drive most of the way to work. But I love my job and my school and my dh works with me to help out.
Good advice! And having a supportive P is one of the biggest pros you can have. They are few and far between these days!
Thanks everyone. I appreciate all the advice. It's good advice but in our case I don't think this would work. Bottom line I am not willing to bundle my kids into the car at 6:30 every morning to go to a new school. What happens when I have to work late, or one of us gets sick? They love their neighborhood school, which is 5 min. from our home. I need to find a job where I can balance things with my family. If I were childless I would apply in a heartbeat. Thanks for the ideas, hopefully something else will come up. I will have to take my chances. Thanks again.
While difficult I did this for 2 years. I made my lunch a working lunch. I left at 5:40am and arrived home about 4:30. Sometimes you do what you have to. I am stressed and exhausted but made it.
Thanks. He just emailed me the most awesome letter of reference ever...just uploaded it to all my online apps. Thanks again for your ideas.
I agree. I think that committing to that type of commute every day would be too hard & too time consuming. Always put your family first-no matter what.
I'm glad you got an awesome letter of rec! I would call and talk with him. Explain your reasons and then ask him to keep his ears open for a job that might come available closer to you. Ps talk to other Ps so they sometimes have inside information.
