I have been a stay at home mom for 10 years this December. I have made choices in life that make me unhireable. These choices I would not change. The sad part to me is I have a MA in elementary education and I can not get a job in the classroom. I started to write my resume last weekend. It really is a joke and if I was an employer I would toss it in file 13. I wouldn't hire me.
I will have to do a lot to get back into teaching. I had a horrible day last Thursday when I was trying to figure this all out. I think it all troubles steam from pride. I am proud to be the first to graduate college in my family with not one, but two degrees. You would think that would be enough to get a job. Not so.
Thursday morning I was going to sign up for one of the tests I need to take but my heart was racing. I decided to call the Department of Education in Montgomery to double check my facts. The website is horrendous and the the employee at the certification office in Montgomery is not nice. I am not sure if she is just tired of her job or what the problem is but whenever I call her I feel like I am an inch big. She implied I don't ask the right questions. I might not ask the right questions but getting certified to teach is not rocket science or is it? Then she said to me, "you just can't take a couple of tests and be a teacher." This is where my conversation with her ended but before I got off the phone with her I said, "I understand that, I do have a master's degree in teaching." She acted as if I was a high school graduate just wanting to take a few tests and teach. My pride or just government red tape? I am not sure which gets me all flustered.
Then I realized I chose the wrong profession for me. I am not sure if it is because it is a government job, my personality or my pride but this shouldn't be so hard. There are too many checks and balances and it varies state to state. Which is frustrating to me in 100 different ways. Once I got off the phone with her and started to see what it is I can find out online.
If I understand this correctly, first I have to be reinstated in the state of Florida. Alabama will not even look at my application of certification unless I reinstate my Florida license. I will have to take 6 semester hours of education classes and take the $250 Florida test plus $75 application fee to be reinstated. Deep breath......okay this will cost thousands and I already gone to school for 6 years! This would be what I would have to do in order to teach in Florida again. (Which I never plan on doing.......ever!) Another cake topper is I would have to drive about an 1.5 to take the Florida test. I just don't understand the why behind this requirement.
Oh but that is not all. I then have to take a basic skills test for Alabama ($100) which I am pretty sure I could pass with one eye open (even though I have taken the GRE and have a couple degrees). How many times must a person show they are competent? This might be my pride again. Anyway, I would also would have to take the Praxis 2 test ($200) because the Florida test is different and they don't just reciprocate licenses. Reciprocate means to match or interchange. It is not reciprocated it is required. I also would need to be finger printed again. With Florida's application this is part of the process and fee. Alabama makes you pay separate from your application. Another $70. Then I would have to apply here in Alabama $35 application fee with my reinstated license from Florida.
We are talking $1000's of dollars and I am not even sure I want to go back into the classroom. (Insert a heavy sigh.) This is when I started to look at alternatives to teaching. I found a local publishing company job which I applied for but I know it will be a miracle if they even call me for an interview. It is all kind of depressing.
All that to say is it looks like if I want to get the kind of job and pay I am looking for I will have to go back to school (insert another heavy sigh). If I am going back I think a career change might be in order. I am going to call the local college and see if I can get an appointment with an advisor. I can't believe I have a masters degree and have to go back to school in order to get a job. Life is a box of chocolates, my box right now has been left out in the sun and is gooey and no one likes that kind of box of chocolates.
I will have to do a lot to get back into teaching. I had a horrible day last Thursday when I was trying to figure this all out. I think it all troubles steam from pride. I am proud to be the first to graduate college in my family with not one, but two degrees. You would think that would be enough to get a job. Not so.
Thursday morning I was going to sign up for one of the tests I need to take but my heart was racing. I decided to call the Department of Education in Montgomery to double check my facts. The website is horrendous and the the employee at the certification office in Montgomery is not nice. I am not sure if she is just tired of her job or what the problem is but whenever I call her I feel like I am an inch big. She implied I don't ask the right questions. I might not ask the right questions but getting certified to teach is not rocket science or is it? Then she said to me, "you just can't take a couple of tests and be a teacher." This is where my conversation with her ended but before I got off the phone with her I said, "I understand that, I do have a master's degree in teaching." She acted as if I was a high school graduate just wanting to take a few tests and teach. My pride or just government red tape? I am not sure which gets me all flustered.
Then I realized I chose the wrong profession for me. I am not sure if it is because it is a government job, my personality or my pride but this shouldn't be so hard. There are too many checks and balances and it varies state to state. Which is frustrating to me in 100 different ways. Once I got off the phone with her and started to see what it is I can find out online.
If I understand this correctly, first I have to be reinstated in the state of Florida. Alabama will not even look at my application of certification unless I reinstate my Florida license. I will have to take 6 semester hours of education classes and take the $250 Florida test plus $75 application fee to be reinstated. Deep breath......okay this will cost thousands and I already gone to school for 6 years! This would be what I would have to do in order to teach in Florida again. (Which I never plan on doing.......ever!) Another cake topper is I would have to drive about an 1.5 to take the Florida test. I just don't understand the why behind this requirement.
Oh but that is not all. I then have to take a basic skills test for Alabama ($100) which I am pretty sure I could pass with one eye open (even though I have taken the GRE and have a couple degrees). How many times must a person show they are competent? This might be my pride again. Anyway, I would also would have to take the Praxis 2 test ($200) because the Florida test is different and they don't just reciprocate licenses. Reciprocate means to match or interchange. It is not reciprocated it is required. I also would need to be finger printed again. With Florida's application this is part of the process and fee. Alabama makes you pay separate from your application. Another $70. Then I would have to apply here in Alabama $35 application fee with my reinstated license from Florida.
We are talking $1000's of dollars and I am not even sure I want to go back into the classroom. (Insert a heavy sigh.) This is when I started to look at alternatives to teaching. I found a local publishing company job which I applied for but I know it will be a miracle if they even call me for an interview. It is all kind of depressing.
All that to say is it looks like if I want to get the kind of job and pay I am looking for I will have to go back to school (insert another heavy sigh). If I am going back I think a career change might be in order. I am going to call the local college and see if I can get an appointment with an advisor. I can't believe I have a masters degree and have to go back to school in order to get a job. Life is a box of chocolates, my box right now has been left out in the sun and is gooey and no one likes that kind of box of chocolates.
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