In this episode, Daphne talks to a former teacher who we will refer to as Jane Doe. We talk all about how Jane went from teaching in a middle school to teaching in a prison, what the actual application process was like, and who this would be or would not be a good fit for.
Listen to the episode in the podcast player below, or find it on Apple Podcast or Spotify.
From Teaching Middle School to Inside of a Prison
Daphne:
Hi Jane. Thank you so much for being here today.
Jane Doe:
Hi. Thanks for having me.
Daphne:
I always start off with asking about your experience in education and what made you want to become a teacher and how long were you teaching for?
Jane Doe:
So I actually always used to tell my students this, I never wanted to be a teacher. My mom was a teacher and I had her as my teacher in middle school because I went to a small school and everyone, she was the teacher that everybody had for the subject she taught. So I never wanted to be a teacher. But then when I got to college, my senior year, my parents would call every week, every Sunday. And my dad, about halfway through my senior year, he was like, so what are you going to do, what are you going to do? And finally I was like, oh my God, I really do like kids, but fine, I’ll be a teacher. And so I kind of fell into it that way and I loved it while I was teaching. And so I got my credential in something totally different from what my mom taught.
I taught for 16 years at the same school, middle school. I loved it. It was a super special thing. And older teachers at the school told me, this is a special place, you won’t find this in other places. And during the pandemic, my family moved to a different part of the state and I got a job in our new place where we were and I hated it. And I don’t know if it was the pandemic, but it was a very different culture, similar sized school, similar-ish demographics. It was teaching the same thing, but I hated it. And so overall, I taught for 19 and a half years in public.
Daphne:
So in the school where you were not happy, you were there for a couple years then?
Jane Doe:
I was there for two and a half years, yeah.
Daphne:
What made you ultimately start thinking about just different careers altogether instead of maybe trying to find a completely different school district?
Jane Doe:
Well, so because I had been in, the district that I originally started in, like I said, I was there for 16 years. It was a very high paying district, and I had been there for 16 years, so I was high up on the pay scale. When I moved the new district would only give credit for five years, so I lost a huge amount of money. And I knew that moving, and I thought it would be fine, and it wasn’t. I couldn’t get over the fact that I was doing the same work as other people who had taught just as long, but I was being paid 30, $40,000 less than them. And I was bitter and I didn’t feel valued.
Daphne:
That would make me feel so wild, yeah, just knowing that just that little move from a school district and that it didn’t transfer over, yeah. And there’s not a lot that you can do. That’s the system itself. It’s not, your admin, even if they loved you, they wouldn’t be able to make that call and change something in the scale for you.
Jane Doe:
Yeah.
Daphne:
But that’s very defeating.
Jane Doe:
When I was offered the position, I told the principal, that principal that hired me, that it was an issue. And I was like, is there any, again, this is in April of 2020, so we’re in the middle of the pandemic, right in the beginning. And I asked if there was any way he could see if HR, because I had heard that some districts will negotiate coming in. He did, and they said no.
But then later I found out that if you had a special ed credential, you got an extra 10 grand or you got an extra five years on the pay scale and all this stuff. And, yeah, I couldn’t get over it. And it really bothered me, and it was a super, super stressful environment. It was a very different, like I said, from where I came from, and I was just incredibly unhappy.
And I had never been unhappy like that with teaching. I mean, of course, there are hard years, you have hard students and hard situations. But it wasn’t an overall just unhappiness. And, again, part of it could have been the isolation of teaching during the pandemic. The district I moved to went back really quickly, so there was a lot of fear and unknowing of everything that was going on. But even though we were back in person, there wasn’t a lot of contact between colleagues, so I didn’t get to know people that quickly. But so it was that.
Jane shares what led her to look into transitioning outside of the classroom
And the first year, so we came back, it was that first, after that initial three months of pandemic, so it was the first year, it was in fall of 2020. I was like, okay, I’m going to give it a chance because it’s the pandemic and it may get better and pandemic has made everything crazy. And so I made it through that first year and it was fine. And then coming back the second year, it was really hard, and I was unhappy. And that was actually when I found Teacher Career Coach. And I started doing the classes and exploring other options and started applying and thinking, okay, I’ve been a teacher for this long, what else can I do?
Daphne:
Yeah. So you ended up finding our resources and you were also inside of the course, correct?
Jane Doe:
Yes. Yeah, I went through the whole course and used, I loved the resume stuff, like the transition resume. And I had people in my family that were in, a lot of resources that were helping, but it was all nice because it was corroborating the stuff in the program.
Daphne:
When you were looking for different careers, one of the things that it sounded like it was really important for you is to find something that was similar in pay to probably that pay scale that you had left behind?
Jane Doe:
Yeah.
Daphne:
Did you find yourself narrowing it down to certain career types based on pay scale? And what did that look like for you?
Jane Doe:
A little bit. I mean, I definitely, I also wanted to find something that I didn’t hate, which was like the main thing. But, yeah, I was definitely looking at the ed tech stuff. I was looking at companies that I had used in the classroom that I really liked and respected.
And I went on, I had several interviews. I had one with one company and I told my husband, I was like, I don’t think I’m going to get it because I liked their program, but I wasn’t going to be all in, and gush about. I thought it was okay and I couldn’t fake it. I realized sales was not a thing for me, because I’m not good at faking it.
But yeah, so I definitely did look at pay. And there were some times where I considered stuff that was a lot less because it was something different, but I was holding out hope that I could find something that was similar in pay. And that is hard because I had 19 years of experience and it’s hard to replicate that.
Daphne:
You ultimately ended up, actually leaving to find a role teaching in a state prison. Is that correct?
Jane Doe:
Yes.
Jane explains how she heard about the possibility of teaching in a prison
Daphne:
How did you find this position and was that something that was even on your radar during the transition process?
Jane Doe:
Not at all. Actually, I think it’s a funny story. I was actually on my state’s, the state union Facebook page, and there was something there. It was during the pandemic, there were layoffs and it was a post about the irony of they’re laying off teachers, but we need teachers. And someone in the comments wrote, if you need a job, come teach at a state prison, we’re always hiring. And I was like, huh, I had no idea there were teachers in prisons. It just was not on my radar.
But I do live fairly close to a state prison and I happen to know someone who’s a clinical psychiatrist in the prison system in my state. And I asked her if she’d ever heard of teachers and she was like, oh yeah, she’s like I’ve met a few and they really like it. I was like this is wild, and so I looked. I just googled on our state jobs page and found it, and then figured out the system for applying and went through with it.
Daphne:
Yeah, and that’s something that probably has not been on that many people’s radar as a potential. My first year teaching, me and my coworkers had the whisper conversations that just kept getting louder and louder in the back of my head until I finally left the classroom altogether. But the whisper conversations were, is this really what we’re going to do for the rest of our life, is this really our forever career? Something else out there has to be similar to this, but a little bit better or higher paying or something that’s going to be a better long-term fit. And one of the positions that she applied for was the exact same position.
And I remember us looking at the salary and this was, we were in a lower paid district. But the difference, it was like $30,000 more immediate increase from having a master’s degree and teaching in an elementary school to going into this program. And I think there are so many similarities, but I know that there’s so many different ways that people probably want to hear reassurances if they’re interested in this position about whether or not it is a good fit, or whether or not you feel unsafe.
Before we get into what your day-to-day looks like and how you actually feel about the role though, I’d love to hear a little bit about the actual application process. Because state positions usually do have, and we talk about this in the course, they have some of the similarities as an education position where they may ask for references. There may be more strenuous background checks than just a regular position, potentially doing drug tests and all of those types of things. I loved to hear what that looked like when you were applying for this position.
Jane Doe:
Sure, yeah. So yes, it’s a bureaucracy. You think school districts are bureaucratic, but a state is a much bigger entity, so it was a process. And I actually, before I found out about this, I had thought, well, I’m going to apply to other state jobs. Because a state job is secure and there’s benefits and stuff. So I was looking, and it is a little bit onerous, the whole, what you have to do.
So yeah, so I found teacher positions. I sort of backtracked and realized that in my state you have to fill out a general application, but then you have to get approved through the state as a teacher. You have to have a teaching credential, and it’s, my state calls it an exam, a quote unquote exam, but it’s not. It’s really like a survey that you fill out.
And this is all on paper. Yes, we’re in the digital age, but you literally had to print a thing and check box, and it’s asking about your experience. And pretty much the only thing that I didn’t have… And it was basically you rated yourself, do you have experienced classroom management? Would you say you have one to three years, three to five years, more than five years? And you check yourself.
So, again, because I taught for a long time, I was like, yep, done that, done that, done that. The only thing I didn’t have experience in was teaching in an alternate setting, but I had always just taught in a regular public school. So that was the only thing. So that was a whole process.
Jane talks about the application process with the state prison system
The way that the state does, they post the job positions and there’s usually a two week filing period. And so I found a job at the prison nearest to me, but then you had to, before you could be considered for the job, you had to have sent this stuff into the state. So I sent my packet to the state, that took six to eight weeks to get approved. But you can still apply even without that, because the hiring process through the prison takes a long time.
I, let’s see, the first time I applied, I was called for an interview, but it was months later, literally. And that’s the thing, state jobs, it can be both. I’ve heard of some people being hired really quickly. For me the first time, I think I applied in March, and I was called for an interview in May, I think in May. So when I interviewed the first time, I had to bring in a lesson, a math lesson. And my background is social studies and English. I had to bring in a math lesson, so I was a little nervous about that, I’m not a math teacher.
The interview is fine. Again, because of the state, they have a list of questions they ask you and they tell you, they’re like, we can’t deviate from this. So the panel is three people. They ask you the questions, they take turns. You’re able to ask questions of them, but it’s not, you don’t get a touchy-feely, it not like a happy, like, oh yeah, I think I got it. It’s very bureaucratic.
And then I asked them at the end, they’re like, you should hear in two to four weeks. And one of the guys on the panel was like, or it could be longer. And I was like, okay. I did not hear anything for two weeks. I didn’t hear anything again in two weeks. I started calling once a week the HR contact, and she kept telling me, no, they’re still deciding, they’re still deciding. Then the interview was in May. I think in August I called because I was starting the new school year. And so in August I called and they had changed the position, and so I had to reapply.
Daphne:
Oh, no.
Jane Doe:
So that was a whole thing. So then I reapplied again and went through the whole process again. This time when I applied, it was a little faster, and then I got called for an interview two weeks later. Within two weeks they contacted me to schedule. I interviewed again, and then this time it was more, they were like, okay, you should hear something in eight weeks. And I did actually hear something in eight weeks.
They offered me the position then, but again, that was contingent on me passing the background check. I had to get a physical. They [inaudible 00:15:05], make sure you can see and hear and stand up and stuff. And then it, probably from the time I was offered the position, I think it was about eight weeks before I started. So it’s not a fast process by any means. And within that time, that was during the school year. So once I was offered the position, I had to wait until I passed the background check, and then I had to request being released from my contract where I was.
Daphne:
So you did end up ultimately leaving midyear?
Jane Doe:
Yes, in the application thing I said, because when you go in, they say, can we contact your current supervisors? And, again, I said, you can contact my supervisor where I worked for 16 years, that’s fine. Please don’t contact my current supervisor, and they did. So that was a fun conversation with my principal at the time. He actually was okay. I mean, he wasn’t thrilled with it, but he wasn’t, I had made it much worse in my head.
Daphne:
And this is one of the worst case scenarios. Usually when they ask you, can we contact your current supervisor? And you say, no, they make note of that and they don’t do it.
Jane Doe:
Yeah.
Daphne:
I would say the percentage of the time that that flies under the radar and they do, 99, and this is a made up statistic with no evidence, but just based off of all the conversations that I’ve had, 99% of the time they’re not going to have this call unless they’re pretty much ready to hire you.
Jane Doe:
Yeah.
Daphne:
And it’s usually just to verify employment.
Jane Doe:
Yeah.
Daphne:
So if your supervisor and you did not have a great rapport, and they do try and say something, I believe that there are laws actually about that type of conversation as well. It’s usually just to confirm whether or not is she telling the truth? Is this where she’s actually working? And they basically have your contract ready to go and it’s very rare that they would call, sabotage your current position, and then not give you the position.
Jane Doe:
Yeah.
Daphne:
But I know that that is something that could potentially happen, so I know that there’s always exceptions to the rule. But usually you can feel very safe when you are putting that “do not contact” because people do not want to go through any sort of lawsuits or just ruining your relationship if they don’t ultimately end up giving you the position. People are pretty mindful of that.
Jane Doe:
Yeah, I think it’s a pretty weird thing. And, for me, yes, it was worst case scenario. It worked out fine, but, yeah, I was not thrilled about it. But, again, it worked out okay. It was a process getting out of my contract, but it wasn’t because of that,
Daphne:
State positions are much more likely to ask for references. The majority of human resources. Like hiring managers at companies, corporations, just your regular ones, even nonprofit agencies, aren’t going to do that strict of a background check. Because they know if you wrote this person down, then they’re just going to give you, I’m going to call you, and that’s going to be the person who’s going to be like, she’s the best because that’s the phone number that you gave, and it’s kind of a waste of everyone’s time. But when it comes to education jobs, state jobs, it is something that they still really do, kind of old school.
Jane shares what it was like for her to prepare for interviews
When you were doing the interview process, do you feel like the Teacher Career Coach Course helped you with preparing for the interviews, even in those other positions, those ed tech positions, especially in this position as well, in order to best stand out for the role? Because it does sound like you did have other people who were applying for the role as well.
Jane Doe:
Yeah, it definitely did. I did a lot of the practice kind of interview stuff. And it’s been a little while now, so I can’t remember specifically. But I still have a whole notebook of all my job search stuff, my Teacher Career Coach stuff, and all this stuff. Because I would write down, one of the things I did, and I think this was from Teacher Career Coach, I would write down, okay, what are my strengths in this thing? Or what are, here are potential interview questions, here are the things.
And one of the things I realized as I did more interviews, and it’s a whole process and it’s not the most fun thing to interview, and not like something or to get rejected or what. But I realized I had to, okay, I got to showcase my stuff. And one of the things that I think Teacher Career Coach helped with a lot was making you reflect on what you did as a teacher, and outside of that role, because so many of us do stuff outside. And okay, I led this thing, and I led this group, and how can I make that appropriate for or into the corporate speech and stuff?
So yeah, for all the interviews I did, I definitely used that on anything that helped me. And it made me get better at doing the interviews. I don’t think anybody likes to interview, maybe some people, but I didn’t love it.
Daphne:
I hate it. I absolutely have never enjoyed it, but I feel confident about it at this point. And you start to get to a point where, as much as interviews take away from your daily routine and it’s hard to schedule it when you’re still working in the classroom as well, but the more your resume is standing out, the more interviews you get.
Jane Doe:
Right.
Daphne:
And many people are struggling with that step of just not getting any interviews because they’re using a resume that’s not really optimized for the positions. But once you start getting all of these interviews, you do get to be a little bit more selective and a little bit more choosy. And it starts to feel like, oh, I am interviewing them on whether or not I like this job.
Jane Doe:
Yeah, for sure.
Daphne:
You get to feel out one or two, where, like you said, this company didn’t have a product that you were necessarily in love with and you could feel that energy. I remember I had one that I applied for and I was like, no, I don’t really see the value in this. It was a video game that just had regular math problems kind of thrown onto a video game.
Jane Doe:
Yeah.
Daphne:
And the video game itself felt very nineties. So it was a tech startup that was really trying to like, oh, we’re going to create this technology based app. But there was just so many other products that were so much better for engagement in math and for students to have their own experience that when I was interviewing, I was like, okay, the pay for this isn’t that great. And then also I don’t feel like I could talk about it very much. But then the ed tech companies that I did end up working for were things I could genuinely feel good talking about and sharing with other people how they were helpful.
Jane explains what she enjoys most about teaching in the prison setting
When you start moving into the world of teaching in a prison, did you automatically connect with the mission of what you would be doing inside of the prison setting? Or was that something that was a little bit challenging for you to wrap your brain around whether or not it was going to be a good fit and intrinsically motivating in the same way?
Jane Doe:
So, for me, when I realized that teaching in a prison was a thing, it felt like a relief to me. Because I was like, oh my god, I could still teach, but it’s just going to be totally different. My husband was less excited about it. He was like, is that really safe? He definitely had more concerns. And I was like, no, no, my friend says it’s fine.
But for me it really, I was like, because the thing is I always loved teaching. I just hated the environment where I was, at the end of my public school teaching. And so to me it was like, oh my God, I could still teach, but it’s not, it’s just going to be different. It’s a totally different environment.
What was really appealing to me is that there were no parents. I don’t have parents calling me about their prison students. You’re not allowed to talk to the parents. After teaching through COVID, that was really, and teaching through COVID was very political, and so that was really nice to me. Like, oh, okay, there’s no parents.
There’s also no afterschool duty. It’s a state job, you work eight hours, so it is, it’s like a straight eight. So the hour, I mean, the technical hours that I have to be at work are a little bit longer than in public school, but I’m not taking anything home. I don’t take stuff home to grade. I don’t, when I’m done if it doesn’t get done at work, I’ll work on it the next day.
Daphne:
So the students that you’re teaching, is there a requirement that they have to take the classes just based on whether or not they finished high school? What is the requirement for them?
Jane Doe:
So that’s been mostly, and I don’t know what kind of, because there’s a lot of higher ups than me. But I don’t know exactly what the policy, but my understanding is that if they don’t have a high school diploma or a GED, they are put into education. I would say for most of my students, they want to be there. There are some that don’t and they’re very clear about that, but generally they come if they don’t want to get written up.
So I have different levels of participation, but, again, these are grown men, they can make their own decisions. So there’s also, another reason that was appealing to me is that I figured discipline would be better in a prison than the public school where I was. That was one of the huge things is discipline did not exist at the school that I came from most recently. It did at my school where I was for 16 years, it did not exist at all where I was. And that was one of my frustrations and I’m much happier at the prison with that.
Daphne:
So you actually feel a little bit more safe and supported in this environment?
Jane Doe:
Both, and way more respected, honestly, as a teacher. Even the students that don’t want to be there, they’re polite, they know it’s not me. I haven’t assigned them, they’ve been put in my class, they’re there. I don’t have kids arguing with me. They just do what they’re supposed to do.
Daphne:
There’s no like power struggles or?
Jane Doe:
No.
Daphne:
I know I’m going to be able to push your buttons and do this because there’s not anything you can do about it, which is what so many teachers struggle with in the traditional setting. Are you also having moments where you’re really breaking through with some of your students and having really great connecting moments, and moments that you’re really excited about and happy with the progress that you’re making?
Jane Doe:
Yes. Yeah, definitely. So in one sense, and I don’t know how much we want to get into this. But in one sense, if you’ve read anything about prison reform movements or the justice system in the United States, if you really dig down into why some of these people are in prison, it’s kind of sad. They didn’t finish school for various reasons, maybe of their own, maybe their parents.
So I was teaching one class where a student was real weak on fractions. And so I was doing kind of, and I try to approach it, and I tell my students, my background is not math. Math, I always did fine in math, but it took me a lot. And so I tell them, because a lot of them, again, these are grown men, some of them have been out of school for 20, 30, 40 years. They haven’t had a lot of fractions. And so I tell him, we’re going to get it. We’ll do it. We’ll take as long as it takes and we’ll get it.
And so I had done a lesson, I had one guy that really wasn’t, he needed more review with fractions. So I sat down with him and he was a little frustrated. And I was like, it’s fine, we’ll work through it. And I spent an hour and we went through and we practiced reducing fractions. And he just kept at it and he wasn’t giving up. And by the end, he looked at me, he’s like, thank you. He’s like, I was going to give up on myself and you helped me. And now he asks for practice.
And what happens a lot, not with everybody, but he found another guy in his housing block that helps him with math. And so he’s like, can you give me more so that I can practice because so-and-so is helping me? And so to me that’s kind of like, oh, okay, that’s helping him.
And there’s a lot with adult education that if you read any of this stuff, adult minds, even though he needed review with fractions, which we think fractions, you learn that in whatever grade. But because they’re older, we can tie experiences together more. And so he got it really quickly, much faster than if you’re teaching it to whatever age they learn fractions.
Daphne:
Usually about fourth grade, fourth, fifth grade.
Jane Doe:
Yeah, but that kind of stuff where it’s like, oh, okay, I helped them. Yes, I feel good about that.
Daphne:
Even just knowing that there’s groups of them practicing on their own would make me feel, my teacher heart exploded when you said that. Also, some pregnancy hormones maybe kicked in, I teared up a little. But it is still a way to give back, and there still are so many people who want to figure out a way to continue to teach, but in a different environment.
And I do think that this would be a good fit for especially those who are really committed to trying to make a change and to impacting people’s lives and trying to help them turn their lives around for the better. Curious what this looks like for you and your family though. When you come home, are there days where you’re completely stressed and burned out? Are there those same types of feelings that many teachers are struggling with where all they can do is think about work or what they’re going to teach the next day?
Jane Doe:
No, not at all. No, and that has been a huge relief. So the one thing that is different is that, again, it’s eight hours. You can’t have your cell phone, no cell phones in prison, so cell phone stays in the car. So that is hard because I am not reachable by text during the day. So that was definitely an adjustment.
My kids are a little bit older. I could see if you had little kids that might be more of a problem. I am accessible. I do have an outside phone line in my classroom, so my family knows how to get ahold of me. But I’m not, if my kid calls, I’m not talking to them in front of inmates because you don’t do that. There is definitely a line between what you share with inmates and what you do not.
Jane talks about the potential for lockdowns and the differences in a prison school from a traditional school schedule
Daphne:
And then also there’s a potential, and with younger students this might not, or with younger kids at home, this might be a bad fit, or just with people who feel very anxious about it, but there is a potential for lockdowns, where you would not be able to leave. Is that correct? Would that be the right protocol?
Jane Doe:
Yes. So I have heard, there hasn’t been anything like that since I have been here. But yes, I’ve heard stories from other teachers in the prison that yes, there have been times where you are not able to leave. It happens pretty rarely these days, but yes, that could happen. My family is aware of that.
And the schedule, is not, it’s not super flexible. However, I can, next week I have an appointment, and so my principal approved my time off and I just, I’m leaving early, so I’m not teaching one of my classes. But as far as stress, no, I don’t. The thing that one of my admin has told me in the prison, because in the prison there is still, it’s like an adult school within the prison, and so I still have a principal and a vice principal. But my vice principal is, the priorities are safety, paperwork, and then teaching. So it’s like teaching is not the priority.
And so, as a teacher, that I’m not used to. Okay, well, teaching, I got to do the curriculum. But there is, today I had to do a bunch of paperwork. But, again, it’s just not that, there’s not stress. I do get prep time during the day, between classes. I don’t have a traditional summer like the public school. We do get time off, but it is definitely, I work more days in the year and I wasn’t sure how that was going to be.
This last summer it was a little sad that I wasn’t off with my kids when they were off, but, again, mine are older, so they’re fine by themselves. But I didn’t have any of the dread that I usually have at the end of the summer about like, oh my god, I have to go back to school, what do I do? Wasn’t any of that. It was like, okay, just going back, it’s not a big deal.
Daphne:
And then I’m assuming you still do have traditional holidays off?
Jane Doe:
Yeah, yeah.
Daphne:
And is there room for growth? Is there regular salary increases? What does this look like for a long-term potential for you?
Jane Doe:
So that’s a good question. That was another thing. So where I am, when I came in, I got credit for, and this kind of goes back to what you were saying earlier. I was given credit for 10 years experience, but even just with 10 years, it was a $30,000 jump from what I was making in the public school that I just left.
There are salary increases, you can go into admin. I have, again, zero, I never had interest while I was a public school teacher. I have zero interest in the prison. But there are other positions within education in the prison. Different prisons are set up differently. And, again, only knowing some of the prisons in my state, I don’t know all of them, I don’t know how their state run, but there’s different administrative support positions that you have to be a credentialed teacher.
They’re also at the state level, there are other positions. So, yeah, there’s definitely differences. For me, as much as regular public school teaching is different every day, I mean, it’s kind of the same thing in the prison. Sometimes we don’t run because something has happened or there’s staffing issues and so we’re not running. Or there’s an emergency.
And once I was teaching and they were testing, and something happened on another part of the prison, and so they were all called back to their housing. So one thing that you, if you’re someone who likes to make a plan, it might not be for you because it’s-
Daphne:
I don’t think any teachers are necessarily used to all their plans going smoothly, so.
Jane Doe:
I have this same, I’ve used the same plan book for 20 years now. I have the same plan book. I use it way less in the prison. I have a general idea of what I want to cover, but it’s like, oh, we may not teach today, so we’ll get to it next week. Or, someone’s called out for something, so you have to be okay with the flexibility, which was a little bit of an adjustment for me. I’m like, okay, that’s fine. I’m not being held.
The thing that for me was the biggest thing is there’s no, we have curriculum, there are resources that we use. There is no pacing guide. You are not expected to cover certain things by certain times. The student enrollment is, they call it rolling, someone could be, come in or out at any time. So you just recycle things and go through it. There is a lot of differentiation. So within my class, I might have some people working on this, some people working on this. So again, lots of similarities, but really different too.
Jane shares what she learned about herself through the transition process
Daphne:
It sounds, and I know you’ve said it before, even when you’re signing up to join us on the podcast. But it does sound like you found somewhere that was unexpected, but it is a better fit for you. I am curious, it’s one of my favorite questions to ask former teachers, but I’m curious what you learned about yourself during this process? Because leaving is not easy and it brings out aha moments about our own personal characteristics that we did not realize.
Jane Doe:
Yeah, that’s a really good question. I realized, I mean, I was so unhappy. Again, loved teaching for 16 years, loved it. That’s what I was going to do my entire life. And then in this other school where I was, was so unhappy, and to the point where my husband’s like, we got to do something. You have to get away from this.
Breaking my contract midyear was incredibly terrifying because it was like, oh my god, what if they don’t let me? What if I lose this opportunity? So I realized I can do that. I was able to get through that. My stress levels were, I think when I was going through that, I was getting rashes. And I was like, oh my God, I think I’m so stressed out my body is manifesting this stuff.
So to do that, and then that it’s okay to try new things and even be terrified. And, I mean, walking onto the prison the first day. Because, honestly, when I interviewed, I interviewed at the prison, but I wasn’t inside the walls of the prison. It was at an admin building outside. And so to go onto the grounds of the prison the first time, and it’s really weird.
You walk around and you’re like, oh, I’m at a prison. It’s not a warm and fuzzy place like schools can be, it’s a prison. There’s a lot of concrete. It’s real loud. There’s all sorts of things going on at all times. You see some crazy stuff. And, again, I taught middle school for a long time. I thought I saw some crazy stuff then. But teaching at a prison, it’s more.
So I guess I realized that, I mean, I knew I was flexible, but it’s just, I don’t know, it’s a whole new thing. And so to be, have done one thing for 20 years and then do something, yes, related, but totally different. Like, oh, okay, I can do this, this is okay. I can make a change and be okay. And I think my family noticed it too. I mean, my kids, my own children are asking me, did anything happen today at the prison? But they see that I’m happier and that I’m not hating stuff. I don’t hate going into work. Nobody likes getting up early, but I don’t mind going in, it’s fine.
Daphne:
Well, I’m so happy that you were able to find something that continues to allow you to help other people and continue to teach. Because it sounds like you’ve said that over and over in this interview that teaching was something that you actually enjoyed. And I’m just excited to see where you go if you continue to stay in this position. And I’m just so grateful that you came on the podcast and taught us a little bit more about this type of path. So thank you so much, Jane, for being here.
Jane Doe:
Thank you for having me.
Mentioned in the episode:
- Our career path quiz at www.teachercareercoach.com/quiz
- Explore the course that has helped thousands of teachers successfully transition out of the classroom and into new careers: The Teacher Career Coach Course (If you are a Teacher Career Coach Course member, you can also sign up for our one-on-one Career Clarity calls.)
