Many of my readers have left comments or sent emails asking me if I have more information about transitioning from teaching to another field. Unfortunately the answer for them is simply that I don’t. But I think I can finally refer you somewhere that should help out. If you stick with teaching (which is sometrhing I highly encourage you to do), you can at least perhaps see what it’s like vicariously.

I was somewhat confused this morning when I opened up Twitter and started reading some disconcerting comments to @ddmeyer referring  to him leaving teaching. I tracked back, and found it.

So that’s that. This year was far and away the most fun I’ve had in a classroom, which definitely complicated my decision to leave teaching.

I hopped over to his blog dy/dan and read his latest post entitled What Just Happened? In it, he outlines some of what he plans to do in the future, and I think it will be a positive experience for him.

The reason I even point all this is out because he isn’t leaving because he’s fed up with teaching. He’s not leaving because he doesn’t know how to teach. He’s not leaving for any of the common reasons that teachers leave teaching. As I see it, he wants to help other teachers more and sees that his teaching responsibilities get in the way of doing that as effectively as he would like.

I applaud Mr. Meyer on his decision!

Ever since I found his blog back in ’07, I was impressed by his eye for design and his passion for just flat out being a math nerd. If I had gone into math teaching (which was a serios consideration for me my until I met Mr. Calculus and had to really start working), I have no question that I would have turned out pretty much like he has. In fact, I have considered taking some courses at the local college here to become a certified School Administrator. Hopefully following Dan’s journey will help me decide if it’s a step I want to take…

Teacher Burnout: A Sad Story
Help: Should I Become A Teacher?
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Joel Wagner

Joel Wagner (@sywtt) began teaching band in 2002. Though he had a lot of information, his classes were out of control. He found himself tired, frustrated, disrespected by students, lonely, and on the brink of quitting.

See also  Invalid Reasons Teachers Quit

He had had enough. He resigned from his school district right before spring break of his second year and made it his personal mission to learn to be a great teacher. So You Want To Teach? is the ongoing story of that quest for educational excellence.