I recently got an email from a reader who found my blog and is looking at moving into the teaching field. This individual has been in the business world for over two decades and has recently been laid off.
Last month I was laid off from my position with a multi-billion dollar company as a national recruiting manager. I have a friend that went through iteachtexas.com last year and is finishing her first year as a middle school teacher [in Texas]. Talking to her has really made me think hard about teaching. In almost every job I have held, I have found a way to teach someone something. I have taught martial arts and have over a decade of experience working with teens in church. I love young people and I enjoy the teaching experiences I have had.
My issue, as you can imagine, is money. Now, when I mention this to most people, they dismiss me immediately by saying, “you’re not going to get rich teaching”, as if this is new information to me. I do realize that I will have to take a cut, but what I am interested in is learning how to minimalize that cut. Finding salary structures for local IDSs is easy. What is hard is learning about the other opportunities that are available for teachers to earn extra money. Things like summer school, tutoring, after and before school programs, etc.
Do you have any resources that would help me determine what I might be able to earn extra as a first year teacher? Do you know of any averages that work here in Texas? These resources are hard to find and I was hoping you could help.
While I’ve never been inclined to teach summer school (and my 6-12 music certification isn’t the best for summer school anyway), I know there are a lot of teachers out there who do it. Other options I can think of off the top of my head include:
- Turotials/private music (or art) lessons
- Pizza delivery
- Computer tech/repair stuff
- Web design
I don’t have much experience with any of these besides private music lessons and a little bit of tinkering with web design. With nearly 1,000 RSS subscribers, I’m sure a handful of you have some experience with these things. What kinds of rates do you set? What are some things I’ve left off?
I wrote about this back in my first month of full-fledged blogging: Creating Additional Income While Teaching
