New to Teaching? Try These Lifestyle and Career Hacks

If you’re relatively new to the teaching profession and still feel the need to make a few financial, lifestyle, and career adjustments, check out the suggestions below. While you might not be able to put all of them into practice, chances are a few will give you a leg up when it comes to saving more money, advancing to more responsible assignments, and more. A prime example is a perk that most districts offer in the form of low-cost college and grad school tuition. Another move that can make life easier as you settle into a fresh vocation is to refinance old education loans as a way of minimizing monthly expenses.

When faced with multiple weeks of vacation, plan to either work part-time or take planned trips with groups for maximum savings power. One activity to make the most of time off is volunteering for community tutoring projects. Two final suggestions for modern educators are to explore the field of special education as a possible future career path and to be prudent with social media accounts. Luckily, teaching is a flexible career choice and offers all hard-working people excellent benefits and multiple choices. Here are details about a few of the most effective ways to enhance your classroom-based job.

Take Advantage of Discounted Tuition

Each district has its own policies, as do individual states, but most offer a version of discounted college or graduate school tuition for active teaching personnel. In other words, if you take full advantage of night, weekend, or online classes offered at a low rate or for free, it’s possible to accumulate many credit hours of education at a bargain rate. In districts where there are shortages of math, science, or special ed instructors, administrators sometimes offer to cover the entire cost of earning enough hours to get certified in one of those areas.

Refinance Your Student Loans

When you choose to refinance student loan debt from your college and graduate school days, it’s a chance to totally revamp the monthly budget for the better. That’s because by refinancing current loans into brand-new ones, it’s possible to reduce cash outflow by a significant amount and have more money to spend on other things. Teaching professionals who refinance student loans with NaviRefi can access more favorable terms all around, including advantageous repayment periods and interest rates. It’s a fact that starting salaries in education can place a certain amount of financial stress on those new to the profession. For that reason alone, it makes sense to review all the options available for reorganizing all types of debt on your personal balance sheet, particularly any amounts owed for college or grad programs.

Use Long Vacations Wisely

Most who instruct students for a living get one or more longish vacation periods each year. Time off ranges from three to 12 weeks, depending on where you’re employed. What’s the best way to benefit from such large chunks of free time? Two of the most popular ways are to take a part-time job to earn extra money and to enjoy extended time away from home. A generation ago, when the vast majority of schools operated on a nine-month curriculum, teaching professionals were fond of working full-time during the off-season or venturing off on 90-day long journeys to Europe, Mexico, and elsewhere.

Broaden Your Horizons by Volunteering

For some people, the lure of volunteering to help the disadvantaged is irresistible. For them, the most productive way to use weekend or vacation time is to serve as volunteer tutors at local libraries, community centers, and special schools. If you hold official certification as an education professional, there are dozens of agencies that can use your talents for remedial classes and even online instructional courses.

Explore Special Ed Opportunities

Every year, large numbers of educators choose to take on the challenge of earning certification as special ed instructors. Most states have fast-tracked programs that can get you up and running within about one year from the time you decide on this vocation. It helps to already have one or two years of classroom experience in a mainstream setting before moving into special ed.

Be Careful with Social Media

In the field of classroom education, pay close attention to your social media posts. They will be scrutinized closely by administrators, coworkers, and students. If you make comments, post content, or otherwise engage in language or behavior that can be misinterpreted, then your job could be in jeopardy. Many otherwise excellent teachers have gotten into serious career trouble by carelessness on social media.