Take the Desire to Teach Out of the Teacher, but Can You Take the Teacher Out of The Classroom?

By Marie Folie

I never wanted to be a teacher. Every time I say this aloud, I am met with angry stares, frustrated sighs, eyerolls from moms who are appalled that I was ever allowed in the classroom, and general disdain from all in earshot. Despite the agitation and anger I receive, I must admit that it’s the truth, I NEVER wanted to be a teacher; that’s why I’m trying to leave the profession and advance my career. I never wanted to be a teacher, but that doesn’t mean I didn't do my best every day.

My first job was as a case manager in a school in 2015. I loved my job and working with kids, but the pay was an insult, the hours were long, and there was no real promise of advancement. All the teachers on campus applauded my ability to work with students and help them find success, and they encouraged me to pursue an alternative certification. While I didn’t plan to do it for long, it was double the money, and it offered stability, a decent schedule, and most importantly, an opportunity to move up. So, I did it. I completed my program, and I got a job as a teacher.

I was never one to teach to the test. I always told my students that what mattered was not their ability to understand and pass one test, but to know, understand, and utilize the skills tested, so that they could apply them to their lives forever after. After earning a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Education with a focus on English, I was excited about the employment opportunities that the skills I had learned would offer me. I was ready to set out and approach the “real world” outside of the classroom with fresh eyes and renewed hope.

Imagine my surprise when every job I applied for referred me back to teaching. Just because one is good at a job does not mean one should be doomed to it. I had a strong list of transferable skills, but it seemed once the recruiting manager read the word “Teacher” on the page, I was immediately rejected. I’ve applied to hundreds of jobs, including a couple of teaching ones. I was offered all the teaching positions the same day that I interviewed, a phenomenon I’m accustomed to. I have turned these down as I have a strong drive and desire to leave the classroom.

I have excitedly interviewed for several jobs outside the classroom, but they have led nowhere. Most recently, I had two extremely promising interviews. I explained my desire to leave the classroom, and the hiring managers were thoroughly impressed by my experience and resumé. Despite this, the time for a call back has come and passed, my follow-up messages remain unreturned, and I’m losing hope that I will find a way out of the classroom. It has been a soul-crushing experience, to say the least.

It’s funny because if I had served as a manager at McDonald’s, my ability to manage at Walmart wouldn’t be questioned. I would have the skills to manage, conduct inventory, handle HR decisions, create schedules, etc. WHERE I did the job would pale in comparison to whether or not I could accomplish the assigned tasks. They would look at the skills and trade skill for skill, and the person who is seeking new opportunities could leave the golden arches in their rearview and roll out to Walmart. Why then was I unable to find a job with all the skills I’d amassed? I had 9 years of experience under my belt, 8 of which had been in one particular field, and yet as I approached prospective employers with a long list of skills and abilities, I was met with surprise and a roadmap back to the classroom. It led me to wonder, after 8 years, I know you can take the desire to teach out of the teacher, but can you take the teacher out of the classroom?

I have been analyzing standards and data and using them to create tests and assignments for years. I’ve learned and taught students how to break up questions and statements to better grasp their meaning. I’ve looked at the test results of hundreds of students a year, thousands over my career, and I have been able to identify exactly what skills my students needed help accumulating. I assessed at what level my students were performing, and modified their assignments to enhance their learning, while ensuring they were on level. Because I was able to break down STAAR tests, district assessments, and TELPAS tests to the very basics, I not only learned but was able to show my students how to pass all of their exams easily, quickly, and effectively. They were successful beyond compare. I have used the data to help my students find success. I was known, appreciated, and respected by my administration and my district-level counterparts for what I was able to accomplish in a classroom, and I earned that respect by understanding and utilizing the data.

Throughout my career, my presence has not only been able to garner the attention of over 35 students at a time, often close to 200 students a day, but I would sometimes be used to call to attention entire auditoriums full of students. I could walk into a crowded auditorium or classroom and demand silence, and it was honored. I was brought into parent meetings to help de-escalate situations and help reframe conversations, so the parents and teachers were able to work together FOR the student, not against each other BECAUSE of the student. I was known and respected by the majority of the school population for my treatment of all students, despite not ever formally meeting or having some of these students in my classroom. I hosted meetings, led trainings, and mentored colleagues in my content and others. I was the go-to person for certain groups (elderly teachers) because of my patience, resilience, and my ability to command a room. I was asked on several occasions to create lessons, plan multiple training events, organize leisure or marketing events, and administer tests, as I was the person most likely to know and enforce the common procedures and regulations.

My students obeyed all rules and regulations and understood that while they were safe with me, there was a time and a place for everything, and respect ruled. I have always been and will always be an effective leader, namely because I am always learning and adapting to new situations. I strive to help my team be successful by being supportive, patient, understanding, and determined. I am there to guide them, stand by them, support them, and push them forward. I believe I can only find success when my team does. If I can organize and call to action almost 200 teens ages 13-19 every day, or bring an auditorium of 1000+ unruly students to actively listen and participate in what I have to say, or guide small groups of teachers who have been doing the same thing for 20 years to learn new methods and practice them in their classrooms, or mentor new teachers to be highly successful, then I have full confidence in my ability to manage a team, and hiring managers should too.

I am incredibly organized and utilized a fully color-coded annotation system that made my students excel to the point that an instructional coach who led content conferences across the nation complimented my students' annotation and analytical skills, and said they were among the best she had seen, IN THE COUNTRY.

I am dedicated and hardworking. I learned the standards for all 4 grade levels of English. I learned to break down concepts and grammar rules at a kindergarten level to help my students who didn’t speak the language. I learned Spanish to communicate effectively with my students who were native Spanish speakers, became fluent in just 1 month so that they graduated writing at a collegiate level in English. I also taught their parents in the evenings on Tuesdays and Thursdays and provided English and Citizenship courses. Aside from this, I helped those parents create resumes and find jobs so they could better provide for their households. I showed them how to access community resources and helped them help themselves and their families. I volunteered as a class sponsor, which meant organizing events, fundraisers, chaperoning prom and senior trip, and managing senior sunrise and sunset, along with all other events. I attended mandatory training on managing school finances and understanding how to utilize school funds as a prerequisite to participating in and leading this group and others. I directed a writing club that led to a publication for our students, gave seminars and trainings on how to write poetry and fiction, and advocated for my students and their success daily. I also supervised the after-school detention program on Friday, which led to me building strong relationships with some of the school's roughest students and helping them defy the odds and find success. I provided tutoring for students who were close to meeting National Merit status on their SATs and helped them earn higher grades on retests. I worked closely with the college coordinator to help our students apply for scholarships and work on their admissions essays. Of the students who applied for scholarships and got them, I helped about 90% to achieve their goals. The other 10% never came to me for help.

I taught professional communications, and despite it being my first year in this content, I surpassed expectations with glowing reviews and helped my students not only learn to speak in public but to truly appreciate, respect, understand, and be comfortable with themselves. In a reference letter from my former principal, I “established guidelines and protocols for her (my) classes to establish a classroom climate to minimize classroom behaviors and to provide an environment that is optimal for learning to occur.” I put my all into my students. All of them. For every year I have taught, I have brought every ounce of my will and determination to work.

I stood by my students and their parents without question, but half of the things I did to make me a good teacher had nothing to do with my time in the classroom. My actions were rooted in my ability to adopt the skills needed to succeed. The ability to analyze situations, manage, be organized, show determination, communicate effectively, de-escalate problems, market and organize our events, train staff, create assignments, manage projects, think critically, and develop those I came across into stronger, more efficient, and more creative writers, readers, learners, and people. I know I have what it takes to do this in the corporate world. I know I have the skills and drive necessary to adjust, adapt, and excel in a new environment. It is what I have done my entire life, and I know I can do it anywhere. Why then am I trapped in a corner, with the only exit leading to a classroom? Where is a person to turn when they are undervalued, underpaid, and underappreciated? Why does where I’ve applied my skills automatically disqualify me from their benefits and utilization? I know I am ready for the next stage of my career, but I can’t help but wonder: We know we can take the desire to teach from the teacher, but can we take the teacher out of the classroom?