Engineer to teacher, need advice (long)

In My Humble Opinion
1

I have been considering teaching for awhile now and would like to weigh the good, bad and ugly before I apply to get a teaching certificate.

As a background, I currently have a degree in engineering and am eligible to sit for the Principles and Practice exam (PE)* (I haven’t taken the exam yet). I have a little bit of teaching experience; the first time was as a teaching assistant for College for Kids (for intro-engineering, flight and photography) when I was in high school and the second was as an adjunct instructor teaching AutoCAD for ITT.

Part of my reasoning for not taking the exam is because I have no intention of staying in engineering. It’s not that I don’t like it, I just feel like I would be more useful in another field. Part of the reason I went into engineering in the first place was because I was interested in animatronics and working for Disney where I could talk to kids about engineering, science and math. Well, while in college my plan became sidetracked with my hatred of mechanical engineering (specifically, thermo) and I went into civil engineering, where I got involved with an organization that would talk to entering freshman and high school students about entering math, science and engineering. Then when I graduated I became a mentor to some engineering students in Seattle and Vancouver. Since moving back to Texas I haven’t had much involvement with the local universities because I’ve been involved with construction projects that take me out of town for several months. Well, from my experience, I enjoy this aspect of engineering more than actual engineering (the talking to kids and college students about engineering).

As any good wife would, I talked to my husband about this and he seems hesitant to support the decision for a couple different reasons. First, engineers make more money than teachers and since he’s returning to college this next fall to get his PhD he’s hesitant to be fully supportive because of the instability both of us being in school would cause. Second, he taught high school for a year in Dallas and hated the experience. I personally think that has a lot more to do with the school he was teaching in (which I will not name), rather than teaching in general. Part of the problem was with the parents (complete lack of discipline), another part was the inflexibility of the curriculum and another had to do with the fact that another teacher was tutoring my husbands’ students (for money) and giving them the answers to upcoming tests. It didn’t help matters that when my husband found out they were being given the answers by this other teacher he changed the wording of the tests so if they didn’t read it carefully they would get them all wrong (and when that worked the other teacher got super angry at him). Third, he thinks the reason I have a problem with engineering is due to the people I’ve worked with and believes if I obtained the PE license and changed companies that I would find another company where I enjoy going to work better (I’ve had 2 jobs since graduating and haven’t really liked either. I periodically like things I do at work; I just find the majority of it extremely boring. I sit around all day running computer models, blah! And while I like permitting and design, in the grand scheme of life it seems like I’m not helping to make the world a better place**).

I don’t know, I feel as though this would be a good direction for me to go in, but I’m afraid I have this delusion of how much of an impact I could have on children, that I see teaching as “the grass is greener on the other side,” that my expectations are unrealistic, and that I would be really bad at it or that I wouldn’t like it anymore than I like engineering.

So, my questions are:
Was his experience representative of teaching junior high and high school?

What has your experience teaching been like?

Are there any Dopers out there that are teachers that used to be engineers?

Am I just crazy (whiner) and my husband is right, and I would like engineering better as a Professional Engineer? Should I give engineering more time, or at least until my husband has his PhD (4-5 years)?

  • The Principles and Practice exam is an 8 hour exam that engineers must take to become licensed engineers in their state.
    ** I’m a Coastal Engineer and a lot of what we do is engineering studies. Periodically we renourish a beach or something, but it just seems like there’s no meaning to it. I mean, we have protected some homes from hurricanes but due to the cost of beach renourishment projects we are really only buying then time before they have to do it again (only a 5-year design life).
2

What level are you interested in teaching? I teach at a middle school level, and like it very much most days. A guy who worked here last year moved to the high school and really loves teaching the older kids. He said he didn’t realize when he was here how limiting it is to be in a middle school environment. Anyway, I like teaching, the money’s okay, the kids are fun, the job is NEVER boring, I get to make my own decisions on what to teach, and how to teach it…the list goes on. It’s a good profession. There are political aspects to the job which can be depressing, like when teachers are made out to be the root of all evil in the media, responsible for high taxes, potential child molesters, and slackers who only want “three months off.” All in all though, I like what I do. The bell just rang, and I must go.

3

A colleague took voluntary redundancy and is now enjoying teaching, but he’s in his 50s. If you were to start teaching, would you lose your eligibility for the PPE? If so, I suggest you take your PPE, then tell your employer to find you something more interesting.

You say that your husband disliked teaching. You think it’s because he was at a bad school: how do you know you won’t be teaching at a bad school?

4

Huh, I’m an EIT in Austin, I wonder if I’ve met you. Don’t think I know many coastal engineers tho’. (I’m a civil, structural)

Anyway, one of my good friends I graduated from UT with did the engineering to teacher thing. She had twins right after graduating and thought engineering was boring and too time demanding. They moved to Houston and she got a job in a local school (I’m unclear about the grade but I think it was high school).

She lasted three months. Since she was a new teacher, she didn’t have a years worth of lessons plans and found it took her waaaay more effort and time than engineering did. Now she’s back in engineering with a much more flexible schedule and she is really appreciating the income.

I can also say, it does make a hige difference who you work with and what you do. I was so miserable at my last company I was contemplating leaving engineering all together. But I like my current job. Plus, in this job I’ve had opportunities for different types of work that I’ve really enjoyed. My current boss is great about getting the young engineers out to meet with the client and I’ve discovered I like that a lot more than just sitting in my cube by myself working on drawings.

I’d say, try another company and see if you like it there more. Get your PE if you’re close so if you decide to go to teaching, you can fall back on engineering. Plus, usually companies want to groom PE’s to become PM’s and so youll have a more active role in the projects beyond number crunching. If you decide to stick with engineering while your husband is at school, you’ll have a more comfrotable lifestyle plus you may decide you like engineering after all.

5

[QUOTE=mailman]
What level are you interested in teaching?

[QUOTE]

I’m interested in teaching science around the middle school level. Of course, I’ve only done minimal research on the material that is taught in this age range, but from what I gather I’d have more of a range of subjects to cover compared to, say, high school physics.

How much time do you spend making lesson plans, etc?

[QUOTE=Quartz]
If you were to start teaching, would you lose your eligibility for the PPE?

[QUOTE]

To take the PPE I would need to have 3 references from current Professional Engineers - I think that would be the thing I would lose (I couldn’t imagine that my current employer would write me a recommendation if I were to leave the company).

tremorviolet, do you know what subject your friend was teaching?

I do have clients that I talk to on a regular basis and I’ve been the PM on several projects, so that’s not the problem. I tend to think that my problem is related to feeling as though there isn’t much meaning to what I do.

I’ve seriously considered changing companies though, but Austin, Texas isn’t the best place to be a Coastal Engineer (no ocean). :slight_smile:

6

Didn’t you tell me once that your husband taught at ITT and liked it ok?

7

Yes, but I’m talking about middle school (maybe high school) here. :slight_smile:

I liked teaching at ITT; my class was super small, the students regularly attended class, but typically to teach at a junior college you need a masters degree, something I don’t have. I’m not really interested in teaching (only) AutoCAD for the rest of my life, so while I could get a masters degree to teach something else, I could get a teaching certificate a lot faster than I could get a masters degree (and if stability is an issue, faster is better).

Part of me is interested in getting to kids when they’re young (not too young) because I have this theory that they won’t be completely brainwashed into already believing math and science suck (of course I could be delusional). That, and, being a big kid myself I think I could create some interesting lesson plans that kids would apperciate more than adults would.

8

Actually, a lot of engineers really like to see young engineers advance and usually won’t hold grudges. I bet your current boss would unless he’s relaly petty.

It was either math or science but I’m not totally sure which.

Yeah, I feel like that sometimes too. Like I’m helping getting the world paved over. But I’ve wound up doing a lot of stuff outside work (like volunteer tutoring, coaching ,m etc.) to kinda compensate. And I figure engineering is a relatively easy job compared to others that lets me have time to do the stuff I like.

Anyway, if you do decide to go the teacher route, a woman at my office (a planner) recently quit to do that. If you want more information about getting your teaching certificate and programs in Austin, I can probably hook you up.

9

I don’t really have anything to add to the teaching question, although I very much understand your frustration with engineering. It’s just that I never imagined the words that I bolded above would be strung together in that particular order…

One thing that I think really helped me when I felt the way you did was moving to a pretty small company. My company doesn’t have enough engineers for each of us to fall into a rut with one particular piece of a project; instead, we all work on all the various phases of our projects. Not having to do the same thing day in and day out has kept me much more interested in work than I used to be.

10

To the OP,

I assume you’d want to teach something related to engineering, right? LIke math or science?

Seems to me you’d have a good pick of teaching jobs because you would be so well qualified.

11

My best teacher ever (I almost rewrote that but I refuse to) changed careers to go from Analytical Chemistry into teaching. He teaches what would be 10th-11th grade Chem and Physics, plus 12th grade Chem.

I’m ChemE, guess who I blame? Mostly Nacho, both for making Chemistry interesting and for making Analytical Chemistry sound like the dullest thing ever (it pretty much is, at least at the tech level - makes computer models absolute fun). Of course, the fact that my Junior High Science teacher was also extremely good didn’t hurt: Vicente had sort of paved the way for Nacho’s impact.

He tutors after school as well; there are college students who come down to my little town from as much as 3 hours away every weekend to get his tutoring.

Every teacher has a bad day; every teacher has bad students; every teacher gets questions like “but WHY do I have to learn thermo? what does thermo have to do with motors anyway?”; but yes a teacher can change a student’s life forever. And while there are bad days in ANY profession, I’ve spent the last 15 years convincing people to take the profession they want and not the one they’re told they “should” - you’re going to be much better at your job and much happier if what you do is what you want to do!

12

Holy cow, I’m in much the same situation as the OP!

My bachelor’s degree was in chemical engineering. While in the Navy, I was assigned to a teaching job at a military prep school. I ended up staying there for 7 years teaching chemistry and physics, and absolutely loved it.

I knew it would eventually come to an end, so I simultaneously completed a master’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering as a part-time student at the local university.

I got out of the Navy and got a job as a consulting engineer. After a few months in the job, I took the EIT and passed it. I’m now due to take the PE exam.

Here’s the problem: I absolutely hate my job, and I’m constantly thinking I should back to teaching.

The downside is that I would presumably be teaching high school, and my teaching load would probably be double that of when I was in the Navy. Also, I know full well what goes into class preps, and that the first year through a curriculum is pretty hellish. I’d also have to either get certified, or get a waiver and then get certified. Finally, I’d be doing all this for much less pay than I’m getting now.

I don’t know what to do. Before I even think about leaving engineering, though, I’ll get my PE, just in case I have to go back to it.

13

“How much time do you spend making lesson plans, etc?”

Hey gooftroopag,

I have been teaching for about 15 years now, and honestly I don’t have to think about lesson planning much anymore. When I first started, I tended to agonize over details that I really didn’t need to worry about at all, while things that were important to be ready for just didn’t occur to me until it was the middle of the class. Lesson plans are frustrating, because as soon as the bell rings, all those carefully laid plans become useless when the actual students enter the fray. You learn to deal with this aspect of teaching one way or another. Me, I like flying by the seat of my pants a bit, but then as an English teacher I can do that. I can come in with an article out of the morning paper for example, and spend some time in discussion, and then have the kids write about it–that sort of thing. Teaching a hard science must be very different, but I still believe that once you’ve been at it a while, the lesson planning will just not be a big issue. The real meat of the job is those 45 minutes of face time, and figuring out how to make it count. Add in the fact that each kid is a universe of challenges and surprises, and that no two days are anything alike–no two HOURS are anything alike–and, well sometimes it seems like the prepared “lesson” is pretty secondary.

14

Based on my experience in teaching, I definitely think that this is more the case for an English class than a hard science. Don’t get me wrong, by my third year teaching chemistry, I had my lesson plans and overheads down so cold that I could walk into class with my materials and think, “I wonder what I’m teaching today?” :wink: However, the effort I put into coming up with those lesson plans, quizzes, exams, etc. the first year was tremendous. And I was reminded of this all over again when I switched subjects to physics. During my first year teaching each subject, I was routinely up until midnight every night in order to keep up with the lesson plans and overheads. (I spent most of the actual work day in the classroom and grading.)

15

Definitely. The University of Texas has a program called UTEACH that has a Composite Science Certification program that I’m interested in. I’d want my primary subject to be geology and the secondary physics (and I could teach both).

tremorviolet and robby, I think your argument/discussion concerning the PE (combined with my husband’s) is enough to encourage me to at least take the exam this fall, something I’m really not looking forward to. :frowning: You’re right, there’s the added benefit that if I don’t enjoy teaching I could always return to engineering; and, if I don’t stay in engineering I still get to keep the stamp, right?

Nava, that’s really funny that you mention that because my high school chemistry teacher had been a Chemical Engineer for an oil company before becoming a teacher. He was definitely one of the best teachers I had and I loved thermo when he taught it (my problem with thermo was when we got into statistical thermo)! Actually, I thought he was such a great teacher I stuck around for AP Chem II. :slight_smile:

Does anyone know how teaching middle school (or high school) compares to teaching at the college level?

How much time do you spend grading? (My husband would save a lot of it for right before the exam and would convince me to help him grade at the last minute; but if you keep up with it, how bad does it get?)

How many courses/preps do they give middle school teachers?

16

So much will depend on the administration of the school you are assigned to. Your school can be in any neighborhood, and if the administration is professional and focused upon the well-being of the students rather than on making things look good on paper, teaching can be enormously rewarding.

No matter where you teach there will be long hours – sixty hours a week is not unusual. There is a lot of paper work aside from just grading papers and making out lesson plans. You may have perfect plans developed only to have them interrupted by announcements, fire drills, new students, parents demanding immediate attention, assemblies and other surprise requirements. “Smoothness” is unheard of.

On the other hand, no two days are ever the same. You will indeed have constant opportunities to make differences in the lives of young ones. There will be those days when you see “the light go on.” That is heady stuff. It is what you live for. You will carry those moments with you a long, long time.

Teaching is a lot like being in love and getting married. You can get hurt and you risk a lot. You have to work through the hard times. You may ask yourself a thousand times if it’s worth it. You are the only one that can answer. It certainly isn’t for everyone.

I’m glad that I was a teacher, but it took me a long time to remember that after I quit teaching. You really have to keep your heart alive, and I went beyond my ability to endure.

17

I’m a degreed engineer and a PE in Illinois (well, I was; I just let my license lapse). There’s no harm in taking the exam, and then changing fields. It will be much, much harder to pick up the PE license later should you return to the engineering discipline.

Be aware that Texas (along with Illinois) has just enacted continuing education requirements for license renewal, so you’ll need to plan that into your budget. If you get your PE and then go into teaching, you’ll still need to find continuing ed. courses to maintain licensure. Hopefully you can find courses which would also enhance your teaching credentials, but I wouldn’t count on it.

I got my PE basically to just say I had it. I’m a mechanical engineer, and having a PE is not so essential as in the civil engineering fields. I let it lapse because: a. I’m retired, b. Illinois enacted continuing ed. requirements that I have not fulfilled and, c. were I to return to work I would not really need the license. In fact, the only thing I ever stamped when I was working was the inside of my reference books so nobody would steal them.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.