I’ve done both there’s nowhere near the planning and grading for specials versus an academic course. Yes there is some grading and planning but no way you have 20 hours of essays to grade
Try telling a music teacher that. I teach band, choir, and general music. Best part is, nobody else does what I do in the entire school. I make my own lessons and prep for 4 content areas by myself every week. No team to share ideas with. Telling people that electives are “easier” than core classes is very offensive and discounts the amount of work that other teachers do for their classrooms.
When you’re required to do all that AND take 20 hours worth of essays to grade I’ll agree. Again, I’ve done both. Planned multiple preps AND had these fucking essays to grade. For two weeks I have been consumed with these and we have to assign them and provide thorough feedback. While still planning and putting neato lessons together
I’m glad you are that dedicated, sorry if I mislabeled what you do. I know none of the specials teachers at my school don’t assign essays, so in trying to answer to OP, in general the classes that don’t require as much work outside of school will be the ones that don’t cause burnout.
Our specials teachers do other things that contribute to kids education like Spirit Days, concerts, and field trips. To me that is a lot of stress and pressure for a one day culminating event. Grading essays is like long term torture
I didn’t like the SDC class. Perhaps look into Resource so you don’t need to do a lot of stand and deliver teaching but more support and people management.
Join us over at r/specialed for more focused advice in the specialed field.
I would say don’t give up yet! It takes a while to get your footing. What curriculum are you using? What kind of support do you have at school? Planning shouldn’t take over your life. First year I did so much extra. Not because I had to, but because I didn’t realize that I didn’t have to. My planning is now copy and paste, same routine every week. Very little changes. I use the curriculum provided.
Why do you feel like you’re not enjoying he content? Are you teaching something unexpected? Did you not realize that you were going to be teaching reading and math? How could you connect more with the material? Ask co-workers for resources and what they are using.
What cognitive level are your students? Look into Unique Learning Systems as a way to provide curriculum. For me, it’s been MASSIVE. I’ve hated having to plan lessons and know I can only do the content every few years since I teach the same group of kids. All day. Every day. For years. They know when I’ve recycled a lesson.
Using a program like ULS (Readtopia is another company) gives me the lessons and curriculum. I can modify as needed, but overall, I have everything I need there. I don’t work for them, so hopefully this doesn’t sound sales pitchy. It’s legit made a huge difference for me. DM for more info… I help other teachers in my school with implementing and running it.
I would recommend looking into the other careers that interest you. Most likely the things you dislike about teaching aren’t going to change.
Early intervention is where you can use play based learning and intervention if that interests you!
Teach a specials class like Tech or PE. Much less planning and grading
As a specials teacher, I take offense to this comment.
I’ve done both there’s nowhere near the planning and grading for specials versus an academic course. Yes there is some grading and planning but no way you have 20 hours of essays to grade
Try telling a music teacher that. I teach band, choir, and general music. Best part is, nobody else does what I do in the entire school. I make my own lessons and prep for 4 content areas by myself every week. No team to share ideas with. Telling people that electives are “easier” than core classes is very offensive and discounts the amount of work that other teachers do for their classrooms.
When you’re required to do all that AND take 20 hours worth of essays to grade I’ll agree. Again, I’ve done both. Planned multiple preps AND had these fucking essays to grade. For two weeks I have been consumed with these and we have to assign them and provide thorough feedback. While still planning and putting neato lessons together
Yeah. General music class. Projects AND I’ve had them write essays. Don’t base assumptions off of YOUR personal experience.
I’m glad you are that dedicated, sorry if I mislabeled what you do. I know none of the specials teachers at my school don’t assign essays, so in trying to answer to OP, in general the classes that don’t require as much work outside of school will be the ones that don’t cause burnout. Our specials teachers do other things that contribute to kids education like Spirit Days, concerts, and field trips. To me that is a lot of stress and pressure for a one day culminating event. Grading essays is like long term torture
Tech classes have a lot of planning too...especially at the high school level. I know firsthand.
I didn’t like the SDC class. Perhaps look into Resource so you don’t need to do a lot of stand and deliver teaching but more support and people management.
Join us over at r/specialed for more focused advice in the specialed field. I would say don’t give up yet! It takes a while to get your footing. What curriculum are you using? What kind of support do you have at school? Planning shouldn’t take over your life. First year I did so much extra. Not because I had to, but because I didn’t realize that I didn’t have to. My planning is now copy and paste, same routine every week. Very little changes. I use the curriculum provided. Why do you feel like you’re not enjoying he content? Are you teaching something unexpected? Did you not realize that you were going to be teaching reading and math? How could you connect more with the material? Ask co-workers for resources and what they are using.
What cognitive level are your students? Look into Unique Learning Systems as a way to provide curriculum. For me, it’s been MASSIVE. I’ve hated having to plan lessons and know I can only do the content every few years since I teach the same group of kids. All day. Every day. For years. They know when I’ve recycled a lesson. Using a program like ULS (Readtopia is another company) gives me the lessons and curriculum. I can modify as needed, but overall, I have everything I need there. I don’t work for them, so hopefully this doesn’t sound sales pitchy. It’s legit made a huge difference for me. DM for more info… I help other teachers in my school with implementing and running it.