What should I dooooooooo

[meganew]

So there's an opening at a college lab school for a master preschool/kindergarten teacher and I think I'm going to apply. I'm going to write out some pros/cons and then I need you all to tell me what to do. lol. 

Pros: Possible free or reduced child care, free tuition to get my masters, I agree with the curriculum, it is definitely more my style of teaching, my end goal is to work at a college in exactly a school like this, longer summer breaks

Cons: I LOVE my coworkers, I love my students, I love the families at my school, it would be an hour commute each way

I don't really agree with the curriculum where I teach now (no play), and they don't pay anything for furthering education. But I love the school as a whole and I feel like we have a great community. Urgh. 

If you have a long commute, how much does it suck? My commute now is about 45 minutes, but when our new school is built it will only be 15 minutes. A 15 minute commute does sound kind of beautiful. And that hour commute is if there's no traffic... which, lol. 

This could all be for nothing. I haven't even applied. There's a 98% chance they wouldn't even give my resume a second glance.

[game blouses]

If the only real con to the job is the drive, I'd do it, depending on if that's an hour in traffic or not. I did an hour commute for a while and did tons of audiobooks. It's kind of nice to decompress.

[catwithspots]

You had me at switching until the commute. This is a toughy...
I would apply and start the process to explore then drive the actually drive (time, various days, different routes) to know whatthe commute really would feel or be like to do on a daily basis.

Is there a time pressure to be home area by a certain time? School pick-up? Pets? Etc? If you are have flexibility and not hard time to be home, the position sounds a long term mean for you to advance personally and professional! G/L!

[mrsukyankee]

You also have the think about the commute for the future if your kid(s) go there too...and want to do sports, have friends, etc. That's a long way away to be if you want to make good friends.

[balletofangels]

As a Kindergarten teacher, I would jump at the chance in a heart beat. While we still do have a small play time (rationalized as oral language and problem solving development), I would give anything to work in a developmentally appropriate environment!

[meganew]

Jun 25, 2013 9:50:28 GMT -5 @astrid said:

Is a car pool situation an option?

Oddly enough, I have a friend who lives 2 blocks away that works 10 minutes from the university. We talked about it and we would be able to carpool a few days a week. Her schedule doesn't line up with mine, but it's more flexible. 

[meganew]

Jun 25, 2013 10:02:05 GMT -5 balletofangels said:

As a Kindergarten teacher, I would jump at the chance in a heart beat. While we still do have a small play time (rationalized as oral language and problem solving development), I would give anything to work in a developmentally appropriate environment!

This is such a huge part of it. I mean, I love teaching where I teach- but I don't agree with it. I don't think 5 year olds should be all work for 7 hours a day, 5 days a week. I'm lucky that my principal now kind of looks the other way when I take time out of our literacy block to have the kids watercolor or plant flowers or put on a puppet play.

[calledout]

There is no way I'd sign up for an hour commute. That's 2 hours (at least!) of your life - every single day. I also wouldn't deal w/ a 45 minute commute either, so maybe the extra 15 min. wouldn't bother you? I would only consider the position if moving closer was a possibility.