Hi from KY! Need some advice.

Hello everyone! I've been reading these forums for a while, and have finally decided to sign on, say hello, and ask for a bit of advice.

I'm thinking of getting into trucking and looking for some feedback on the decision.

Currently I am a high school English teacher with a few years experience. I make about 34k, but I've found that money is pretty much irrelevant--I'm too frugal and never have time to spend it anyway. I'll usually return home at about 4 p.m. on weekdays, check my email, and go to bed, then wake up around 1 or 2 o'clock, get breakfast, and head back in to nail down all of the plans and finish the paperwork for the following day.

On an average weekday, I read and grade about two hundred pages worth of material and have one to two hours of legal documentation to complete to prove standards compliance, adherence to students' individual plans, and alignment with the curriculum. One day of my weekend is entirely mine, and the other is mostly grading papers, projects, and completing more required paperwork/documentation. On average, I'll work roughly sixty hours a week in-building and an additional ten at home.

All in all, this schedule is fine, and while staring down a class of thirty teenagers is always a challenge (I've had experiences with students arriving armed and even high on meth), it's one I am capable of handling calmly. After having plenty of time to reflect on it, though, my problem is simply the public school system in general. I don't agree with what I'm doing.

You'll have to forgive a rant, but it seems the standard response to anyone wanting to leave teaching into any other career is always, "We need good teachers" (I don't disagree) and "You'd be crazy to leave teaching for such and such profession." Let me explain.

I'm tired of consistently throwing bright kids with futures under the bus because helping them in any way is mathematically impossible given the inordinate amount of time mandated for "closing the gaps." I'm tired of there being more minders than teachers, and a greater focus being placed on whether I dotted my I's and crossed my T's on every required document than whether or not I'm actually teaching well and helping kids. I'm tired of being informed that we'll have to establish our own faculty funds to keep ink in the printers and paper in the copiers, only to have legions of suits with iPads and expensive pens make incessant surprise visits to ensure our papers are in order. I'm sick of the double-speak and political correctness, the fake smiles, the fact that I could find myself out of a job or even in court just for having an opinion or being myself, even in my free time.

Where it is could be considered bad enough, but where it's going is what truly puts fear in me.

That said, I'll be leaving on good terms at the end of this year, regardless. I've promised myself that, so there's really no point in encouraging me to stay.

I'm attracted to trucking because I've always been something of an introvert and enjoyed spending my time alone. As it is, I'll only come "home" and see my family and friends once every 2-4 weeks anyway, and I have no problem with that. I'm young, single, have no kids, no pets, no debt (surprisingly), and no obligations of any form. I love to drive, I love to camp, and I love (I never fully appreciated this before going into education) to just be myself. I may not always like the instructions I'm given, but I don't waste time complaining and getting belligerent because life is short and so much more enjoyable when calm.

All in all, I think it might be a good fit. Of course, I've only ridden in a truck a couple of times and only slept in one once, so there's a ton left to learn. That's why I'm here.

Might it work? What other qualities are necessary in a person to be satisfied in this career? Thanks in advance.

 

Diversity, indeed--it's one of the most popular buzzwords we have in there right now. You know I'm required to document how I'm teaching diversity in each one of my lesson plans? Even if I'm just teaching the difference between phrases and clauses, there's a diversity section. I've found that being an English teacher really only requires teaching English about 5-10% of the time.

Whatever happened to just telling them to just be polite and don't make assumptions about people? Or to form their own opinions in a fair way?

Thanks for the support, everyone! It is much appreciated.