A little advice, please!

[Jokko453]

Hi all,

I have wanted to be a High School English teacher for a long time now. Teaching to me is another way to give back, to help try (as best as I can) to influence and push kids in the right direction. I'm aware of the drawbacks..for the most part I guess....but they are worth it to me.

A little more about my situation. I am currently enlisted in the Air Force, and love it. Right now I plan on doing my 20 years and retiring, getting as much of my eduction out of the way that I can while I'm in.

Now no matter what, teaching is my end goal. So now to my question/problem...will it be hard for a 40 year old with no teaching experience outside of a military environment (I will probably be in some sort of teaching position while I'm in) to get a job? Would it be best to get out and start teaching as early as I can? I'm willing to do whatever it takes, I just need to figure out what exactly it WILL take.

Thanks in advance!

[irish223]

So now to my question/problem...will it be hard for a 40 year old with no teaching experience outside of a military environment (I will probably be in some sort of teaching position while I'm in) to get a job?

Absolutely not, in my opinion! I switched careers at 45, and several of my colleagues did the same when they were 40ish. I doubt that you'll have any problem getting a job when you retire from the Air Force.

And thanks for serving!

[jsfowler]

This sounds a lot like the position my great uncle was in. He was in the air force and retired from the military. He wanted to go into teaching and found a position at the Florida Air Academy (I can't remember the exact name of it, but I think this is it). He was there for many years and was eventually President before retiring some years ago. Instead of public school you may want to go this route since you will have obvious connections to the military.

[MissTeach]

We have three teachers who started teaching after 35 years of age. One of these teachers has retired from the military. All three are excellent teachers who experienced less problems with classroom management than most beginning teachers.