7 mistakes I've made teaching — Don’t make these 7 mistakes

We’ve all made mistakes in teaching. The longer you stay in teaching, the likelihood of a feeling of regret or that you’d do something different is bound to happen. About a year ago on my other YouTube channel, I made a video called 10 Mistakes I’ve Made Teaching. I wanted to update the list after reflecting on a year of teaching online and also letting things go. If we’re not learning from our mistakes, how can we be growing? I think it’s helpful to see mistakes other teachers have made so you don’t feel like you’re the only one. I hope that after you read my mistakes, you’ll avoid them and also not feel so alone if you’ve made any similar mistakes!

I wish I had started my tutoring business sooner

On this blog, I don’t focus on tutoring. On my other blog, I focus on how to start and grow a successful online tutoring business as a teacher. If you’re looking for the perfect teacher side hustle, then check that blog out because I talk all about multiple streams of income and growing a sustainable teaching business while remaining in the classroom. The reason I wish I had started my tutoring business sooner is because of the obvious fact that teachers don’t make a lot of money. I spent a lot of time taking graduate courses and while that did give me a bump on the pay scale, I could have been making more money sooner. I paid off my car a year early once I started my tutoring business. When I first started teaching, I also was a Les Mills Body Step instructor which paid close to nothing, was a huge time commitment and killed my love of taking the class. If I had been a Tutorpreneur®, I wouldn’t have wasted all that time and paid off my car sooner!

Switching schools helped my teacher burnout

I should have switched schools sooner

I’ve talked about this one before because I think it’s important for other teachers to know it’s okay to want to leave your current school. There’s so much stigma behind leaving your school and I don’t think there should be. I talked in great detail about this on this blog post: How to Switch Schools as a Teacher. When I finally left my last school, I regretted not leaving sooner. Sure, I was headed to a school where I knew no one and was terrified, but change is good and I learned a lot over the next four years.

Don't be afraid to speak up as a teacher

Being afraid to speak up

At my first school, I was afraid to speak up. I didn’t have tenure yet and there were a lot of teachers with the mindset “Well, we’ve always done it that way.” So, many times I wouldn’t say anything and I regretted being quiet. Now that I have tenure, I’m older, and I’ve been teaching longer, I speak up when something isn’t right. I’ve learned that if no one speaks up, it’s my job to do something about it.

Stop worrying about what other teachers think

Worrying about what other people think

I could write a whole book on this topic. I wasted so much time in my 20’s caring what other people think. It’s hard when you work in a school and there’s other teachers that pull your kids. Especially a Title One school where first graders are constantly pulled for reading intervention. I’ve learned that if they’re not in the regular classroom anymore and they have an opinion about the way something is done, it’s not my job to try and convince them. If I had a dollar for every time I heard “I’d never go back in the regular classroom” from non classroom teachers, I’d be rich. If a teacher has an opinion about something, I’ve trained myself to only worry about it if my principal has the same opinion. Stop worrying about what other teachers think and do what’s best for your students and your classroom.

Eating lunch with your teacher team is a game changer

Not eating lunch everyday with my team

Eating lunch with my team everyday has been a game changer for me. At my first school, I was always working on graduate course homework and even my elementary school counseling practicum hours on my lunch and plan time. I wish I had eaten lunch more often with 2 of my friends at that school. When I moved schools, I started a PhD program and found myself doing the same thing. Eating alone. One of my teacher friends who is retired and volunteered in my class, gave me this advice: “Next year, eat lunch with your team everyday.” I’m so glad I took her advice because the following year I ate lunch everyday with my new team and we became the best of friends. I still eat lunch with at least one of my teammates to this day.

Instead of so much graduate school, I should have started my online tutoring business

Thinking I needed to continually go to grad school

As teachers, one of the ways we make more money is by graduate course hours. In my school district, you can max out on the pay scale by earning 2 masters degrees. So, that’s what I did. As if that wasn’t enough, I decided to start a PhD program in my 6th year of teaching. After one semester, I realized that it wasn’t for me. Unless I wanted to become a college professor (something I was already doing!) then I didn’t need to waste the time and money on a doctorate. The program I was in kept pushing me to quit my teaching job, take a $35,000 a year pay cut, and go full-time with them as a doctoral student. In my last class that semester, we were talking about what we do on the side and the professor asked to see my website. Once it was pulled up, she said “You know, Molly, you don’t need a doctorate to run your tutoring business.” That’s when it clicked. I could make money tutoring kids and remain in the classroom, or I could take a huge pay cut and sell my soul to the doctorate world. I chose the former and I’m so glad I did. Later that year, I paid off my car with tutoring money.

Not starting my TpT store sooner

When I first started teaching, I didn’t even know what Teachers Pay Teachers was! I wish I had started my TPT store sooner. Once I started creating my own resources, I realized I loved the creative outlet it afforded me to have. So many teachers I’ve worked with are creative and don’t know how to use their gifts. My best advice to you is to stop overthinking starting a TPT store, and just do it! You can learn how to create resources that sell inside of From Zero To Cha-Ching.

So there you have it. 7 mistakes I’ve made teaching. I’d love to know if you’ve made any of the mistakes I’ve made in the comments below!

7 Mistakes I’ve Made Teaching