I want to resign from my doe teaching position in January and pivot to subbing. What should I be doing to prepare?
I want to resign from my doe teaching position in January and pivot to subbing. What should I be doing to prepare?
TLDR: Maybe I'm just not cut out for the doe. Maybe I'm burnt out. Maybe I can try again next year and be more intentional about the schools I'm willing to work in.
For context: I feel like I gave it a really solid try. I wanted to make it to April for open market but I'm so miserable at my school. I am a first year doe elementary grade teacher who has 5+ years teaching experience with 3k/Pre-K. I used to love teaching but after the last 3 months I sometimes think about never setting foot in a classroom again.
Maybe I need to go back to teaching preschool. Maybe I need to find a doe school that severs a different demographic. Maybe I need to switch to a school with a better principal. These are all very possible but I am genuinely afraid that if I stick it out and finish the year at my current school, I will loose everything I liked about being an educator. I used to love teaching. I enjoyed interacting with my students and got excited about my lessons and seeing when kids made connections with the content. I haven't felt any of that passion and enthusiasm since the first week of September. I feel like I'm failing my students and I'm putting 50% of the blame on myself for struggling because the first year is just hard and 50% of the blame on by admin for being unsupportive and chaotic.
I'm thinking that if I pivot subbing, I could do 4 days a week which would help with the intense burnout I'm feeling and it would give me a chance to get familiar with more schools in my district so that maybe next September I can make a more informed decision about where I apply and what schools might be a better fit for me.
For more seasoned teachers, what would you suggest of your daughter or son was in this position?
Posted Dec 10, 2025, 3:04 AM UTC