Teaching opportunity... take or not?

[eleonard]

I have been presented with an opportunity to teach a basic CAD class for this fall / winter semester for a satalite program with a university. I am trying to decide if the money is worth my time or not. The class would be on Saturdays from 10 am to 3 pm. (****** hours if you ask me) and the pay would be about $20 / hour. So when you add it all up it doesn't come up to much before the government takes thier part.
I have 2 small children and a husband that would also be greatly effected by this decision. If placed in this position and with the information presented would it be worth the little money to teach? (This would be my first teaching opportunity)

Just a question?

Emily

[Railrose]

I have been presented with an opportunity to teach a basic CAD class for this fall / winter semester for a satalite program with a university. I am trying to decide if the money is worth my time or not. The class would be on Saturdays from 10 am to 3 pm. (****** hours if you ask me) and the pay would be about $20 / hour. So when you add it all up it doesn't come up to much before the government takes thier part.
I have 2 small children and a husband that would also be greatly effected by this decision. If placed in this position and with the information presented would it be worth the little money to teach? (This would be my first teaching opportunity)

Just a question?

Emily

My advice is first decide if you want that to be your career. If so, use it as a way to get into the system. Otherwise, family time may be more valuable than $20 an hour. If you're really strapped for $$$, it might be better to do side jobs in the evenings where you might be able to work from home & still be with the family.

[madcadder]

My advice is first decide if you want that to be your career. If so, use it as a way to get into the system. Otherwise, family time may be more valuable than $20 an hour. If you're really strapped for $$$, it might be better to do side jobs in the evenings where you might be able to work from home & still be with the family.

I agree exactly. It's what... 100 buck for losing most of a Saturday. No mention of the time required grading papers, preparing a plan, after class instruction, drive time, etc.

[tedg]

As drafter29 wrote, if eventually want to teach as a career, it may be something to cosider. A nice way to get your feet wet an work out a curriculum.

But as madcadder wrote, if its just for extra money, it's probably not worth taking up your family time. I have a wife and two kids too, and I understand the value of family time.

There's "small" work out there for experienced cadders to make some extra money. House plans comes to mind, consulting for other companies if you're equipped to do that.

that's just my take on it.

[Brian Myers]

I agree with the rest of the group, it depends on your own values and what you need, aspire to and value. Just don't do it just because someone ask you to, do it because its the right thing for you. By the way, that's actually about the going rate for that position, so if pay rate is the concern then I can tell you for this type of job in this environment this is about average (I investigated this type of position myself recently)...

[dangrivakis]

I would agree with the others whom have posted. Teaching opportunities can be good things to take up with the provision of it being a door to open a path into a new field. If you are considering teaching as a career then I would say go for it but if it is only to make some extra money I would be hesitant especially with the fact that you have a family. An extra 100 dollars is not worth the burden on your home life that it could be.

[Misteracad]

Since this thread has been reopened, I'll offer my $0.02 as well. I've always had the attitude that you learn something new everyday, and taking my 1st job working for a reseller a few years ago definitely opened my eyes to the satisfaction that I could get sharing what I know w/ others. This venture opened the door for me to start teaching for 2 different community colleges down the road as well. I'll agree that teaching any kind of credited class can be more work than it is worth, although I can say that the 2 schools that I taught for in this area paid between $40-50/hr, which made it much more worthwhile. If you get the opportunity to teach a non-credited class for an ATC perhaps, the amount of work and commitment outside of class time is minimal, and it can pay the same, so it really depends on what kind of opportunities you can find. To that end, taking a part-time job teaching at one school, opened up several others doors to teach elsewhere, both at schools as well as an independent consultant. My advice is to decide what you are hoping to get out of the experience and go for it! There will always be the positives and negatives to compare, but I personally think the positives outweigh the negatives.

Good luck!

[eleonard]

Thank you for all of your responses. At this time, I decided not to take the teaching position. It took too much time away from my family, and it just wasn't worth it. Maybe when my children are a littl older it might work better.

Emily