It's time to make teaching work for you.
You're not ready to leave the classroom, but you can experiment with ways to improve your teaching experience.
Your quiz results indicate that you think teaching is a pretty good fit for who you are, what you have to offer, and what you want for the next phase of your life. It’s not perfect but it still has the potential to make you happy, perhaps with a few tweaks.
It might bring you some relief that this quiz result affirms what you already know to be true. Or, it might make you feel trapped in a job you’re not actually so sure about.
Whatever you're feeling, remember that only you can decide whether you want to leave teaching. This quiz just offers you another perspective on the question that you've been struggling to answer on your own.
Your Next Steps
You’d like to be able to stay in the classroom but improve your teaching experience so that it’s more enjoyable, fulfilling, and sustainable for the long-term.
In order to do this, you need to bring your work into greater alignment with who you are, what you enjoy, what's important to you, and what you have to offer.
1. Your first step is to become more mindful of your every day teaching experience.
Notice the following:
Which parts of teaching bring you down or zap your energy?
Which parts bring you joy or give you energy?
When is your body tense? Relaxed?
When is teaching easy? Hard?
Observing your experience more intentionally will give you clues about what types of changes you could make.
2. Your second step is to take stock of your strengths, skills, values, personality, and what brings you joy?
When's the last time you invested time and energy into your own personal growth and self-awareness?!
The more you know about yourself at this phase of your life, the more you'll be able to approach teaching in a way that works for you.
3. Your third step is to try out 1-2 changes with all of the new information you've discovered about yourself and what you want from steps 1 & 2.
You have the power to try something new, do things a different way, say yes or no to certain opportunities/obligations, and choose who you hang out with in the teachers lounge (e.g. avoid the haters).
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To Sum It Up...
You can make changes in your work so that it better aligns with who you are.
I'd love to support you as you try to improve your work experience!
Hi, I'm Laura!
I’m a career coach for teachers.
I help teachers at a career crossroads explore possibilities beyond the classroom so that they can make a confident choice about what's next.
I'm a coach and educator with 13+ years of guiding people through a process of growth and change. I’ve been a classroom teacher, an urban bicycling instructor, a study abroad program director, a higher education professional, and a career coach.
I believe it's possible for you to find new work that brings you joy, gives you a sense of purpose, and contributes to the kind of life you want to live.