This Is How She Does It: Ontario Teacher Makes $84,000 a Year and Talks Teaching During a Pandemic

Summer and winter holidays, good pay and a robust benefits package, all with a workplace dynamic that primetime TV dramas are made of… These are often the first things to pop into people’s minds when they think of the teaching profession.

But how does reality stack up? We caught up with one Ontario-certified teacher to talk finances, moving for your career and teaching in the midst of a global pandemic.

The interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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What inspired you to go into teaching?

“Well, it was one of my own teachers. I was having a tough go in grade 7 and he was like, ‘Nope — I don’t like the kids you’re hanging out with. You’re going to come in [over lunch], and you’re going to play basketball with a group of other kids.’ And I responded with, ‘No, I don’t like basketball,’ but the teacher persisted. And that simple act and him noticing [that I was having a hard time that year] really changed the trajectory of my life. So that’s why I went back to teaching, in hopes that I can change someone else’s trajectory too. But, of course, it’s also a combination of many reasons. It includes those ‘Aha!’ moments too that students have — that keeps me going, for sure.”

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What’s the teacher education and training process been like for you?

“I first taught abroad, and really liked it. But, back in Ontario, I was worried that as a student, teacher’s college wouldn’t count my overseas experience so I spent a year volunteering [before applying], while working and then getting into Teachers’ College. That was gruelling. I was terrified of debt so I made sure that I had a well-paying job (taking night shifts) while I was going through the full-time teacher education process and meeting those student demands (university courses, projects, etc.). It was a one-year experience of trying to manage work-life balance and I came out on the other end. The experience taught me to organize my life and manage my time in an efficient way.”

Note: Prior to 2015, teacher’s college was a one-year programme. That has since been modified to two-years for a Bachelor of Education. Both programmes require teacher candidates to complete a set number of hours in an unpaid practicum, teaching in classrooms under the mentorship of a host teacher.

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How did you end up teaching in Ontario’s Waterloo region?

"I couldn’t get a job in Toronto [at the time] because it was so competitive. When I finished teachers' college, I was applying to 13 different regions within Southerwestern Ontario. I got very lucky that a principal in [Waterloo] region wanted to take a chance on me because of my extensive volunteering experience and called me for an interview and I ended up here. It can be a very tough career to break into. So I was willing to travel anywhere in Southwestern Ontario, and my partner was willing to follow me, which was amazing."

Once teachers lay their roots in a region, they often stay there, building seniority within their region-specific board and union (for example, Halton District School Board, Toronto District School Board, etc.).

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What are some of the biggest challenges of being a teacher?

"You're using best practices to reach all of your students — and we have such a diverse variety of learners. In a classroom of 25 to 30 children, there are going to be many different styles and approaches, and figuring out how to get those kids to buy into what you’re selling is challenging — and you're selling education. So, I guess meeting all the learners with their different learning styles. And on top of that, I don’t want to say bureaucracy, but like all the educational work that goes along with it; like when you’re trying to advocate for the needs of a particular child.And can I also say waking up in the morning?” *Laughs*

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How has it been teaching during the pandemic?

“Everything has a very thick added layer of things to consider now. And that layer is the social, emotional, health and wellness of my students. [Teaching in-person], I have students in my class whose parents have lost jobs from COVID. I have students in my class who don’t have food in their fridge. I have students in my class that have just moved during COVID because they got kicked out [of their prior residence]. I also have students that are very affluent and COVID has not really affected them greatly. I’ve had other students whose parents divorced because of lockdown and the stressors they were experiencing. And then the toughest one is students who have lost family members, whether locally or internationally. And then you’re still trying to create a safe environment that’s inclusive towards everyone. And on top of that you’re trying to add curriculum, and lots of disinfecting, cleaning and just trying to normalize mask-wearing, keeping your group of children in a single cohort. I didn’t even consider any of this a year ago. My students don’t even know what my smile looks like.”

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What are the hours like for a teacher?

“Like the hours I get paid for?” *Laughs* “So my day is supposed to be from 8:45AM to 3:45PM — those are my official work hours. However, my hours are from 8:00AM to 5:00PM and especially this year because I can’t take anything home with me, due to COVID, or bring it back. During the Individual Education Plan-writing season [for students with exceptionalities] or report card season, we put in another four to six hours over the weekend, about three times a year. If you’re lucky, you’re not being asked to change grades or classrooms [at the end of the school year], but often in the summer you may take a course or some kind of professional development opportunity — something that’s going to make next year easier for you. Or you’re reading all the amazing professional books that your principal had requested that you read throughout the year. You’re usually back to work about two weeks prior to school opening where you’re setting everything up, doing your annual learning plans, looking at the class profile, student records, etc. so those 8 weeks of summer are really more like 5 weeks.” It’s also worth noting that it takes about 7 years to get to a point where you’ve built up enough teaching experience and lesson plans that you’re not having to invest many more personal hours than described here.

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What coping strategies do you tap into when stress levels go up?

“I go for long walks with my dog. It’s been very helpful having a supportive partner who is also understanding of my need to get out of the house and do other healthy things, like go on mini-adventures or just learning about different cultures, or trying new foods, or experiences. That refuels me. And the wine helps too.” *Laughs*

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Any tips and tricks for managing that work-life balance?

“Honestly, there isn’t really a good way that I’ve found so far, personally. I’m still working on it."

Close up of a teacher the kids in the classroom about recycling and saving the environment

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How has remaining child-free impacted your career?

“I have no idea how I would manage my life with a child. I think if you have a child and you’re a teacher, you’re a superhero. I’m hanging on by a thread, and I have a dog. There are families where both parents are teachers, and they have a child with special needs, and they weren’t provided a medical leave [during COVID], for instance. It’s a heavy backpack. I think [being child-free] has allowed me to definitely take more risks than if I had dependents. Moving from one region to another and to seek a job when it was just supply teaching; forcing my significant other to quit their well-paying secure government job with a pension, et cetera, to follow me for uncertainty — never would I have been able to do that if I had children. Also, I had taken on jobs that were more emotionally draining. So just working with behavioural students and families — I don’t think I would have had the capacity or strength to do that if I had my own children.”

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What should would-be teachers consider before pursuing a career in teaching?

“We care about our students probably more than we should. Just because the workday is over, it doesn’t mean that our brains turn off...Teaching is not a career or a job. It’s a lifestyle. It becomes you. It’s really challenging to separate yourself — to separate your personal identity from your work identity.”

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Do you rent or own your home?

“We own a detached house in the Waterloo region.”

What’s your biggest expense? “The mortgage.”

Can you say a bit more about that? “So our price point [when looking for a house several years ago] was $385,000. So the mortgage is like $1,350 monthly. My partner is a [trades] apprentice, and his income significantly varies. And he spent like 10-11 months of the last year unemployed. He did have [Employment Insurance], but we made sure that when we purchased our home, we could carry it on a single income. That was part of our agreement. Like if I’m saying, ‘Hey honey, I’m making you quit your stable job, come and follow my dream,’ then everything we do we have to try to live within our means.”

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Do you and your partner discuss finances?

“Yes. All the time. We’re very transparent. So we can achieve our goals together. We’re also very, very different. I’m a spender and he’s a saver. And we’re both extreme in our notions. But we’re meeting each other in the middle. So I’m saving a whole lot more and he’s spending a whole lot more than the way it used to be.”

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How do you budget?

“We plan. We agreed that having a dog in an apartment or a rental would not be responsible for our landlords or the dog [that we wanted]. So we said, we need a house and we started saving for a house. But we still made sure to have some fun — like a road trip out East. We’ve been to Europe together as well. When you’re working together, you’re able to achieve much greater goals than you would by yourself, or if you were working in secrecy from your partner. So we’re trying to normalize conversations around money.”

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Any other budgeting tips?

“Don’t pay in installments. You’re throwing away hundreds of dollars every year that way. Save for what you want and you’ll enjoy it more when it’s not a burden. If you have home insurance or car insurance, you’re saving yourself so much in interest if you just pay it in full. It sounds like a big chunk. But if you can save for that, you’re saving another $400 in interest. Also as a teacher, you spend about $2,000 a year of your own money on supplies for the classroom and for the students to supplement learning (such as an experiment, prizes for students to motivate engagement, for a party or to make sure they’re fed). I would spend like $20 a week on apples and oranges and bananas [for student snacks].”

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What bit of advice would you give our readers?

“Work hard, gain knowledge and then know your worth. Stand up for yourself and gain confidence in whatever position you’re in. Don’t be afraid to ask for a raise because if you don’t ask, you will never receive it. As women in particular, we think that we’re going to earn promotions or raises through our merit for our hard work — that someone is going to recognize that. But that’s not how it works. So just learning to advocate for yourself and go after your goals.”