Teachers decide to pursue side hustles for many reasons, but often those are related to money. This post isn’t about that. This post is about 5 reasons teachers should have a side hustle that are about self-improvement, happiness, and growth.
Sometimes we need more than one thing
When I was in high school, I decided I really want to be part of the school play. The only problem was that the play was the same season as volleyball, and at the time, volleyball was my everything. So I did what any indecisive high schooler would do, I joined both…and I loved it.
I would go to volleyball practice right after school until 5:30, and then I would walk down the hallway to our theatre where I would participate in rehearsals from 6:00-9:00. Then next day, I would get up, go to school, and do it again.
Both activities got the best of me
This time of my life was very fulfilling. Although I loved volleyball, it could be overwhelming at times, and being able to focus on the play gave me a much-needed mental break from volleyball. Interestingly enough, when my life wasn’t consumed with volleyball, I also enjoyed that sport so much more. Volleyball time was given to volleyball, and play time was given to the play. Each activity got all of me while I was there, but I didn’t have time to dwell on the negatives of either of them.
Since I doubled my after-school workload, I was forced to be more efficient during the day. I didn’t have time to do homework after school, so I made sure that I got it done when time was provided in class, and what didn’t get done, went with me to play practice where I was able to work while our director worked with other people on stage.
Having more than one ‘thing’ made me more focused, more creative, less stressed, and more efficient. My perspective also changed. I learned about many other activities in our school besides volleyball.
I was also hanging out with different people. The people in the play didn’t think and act like my volleyball friends. They liked to talk about movies and musicals and dressing up and playing cards. During the season, my volleyball friends only talked about volleyball. Even the change of conversation was a relief.
To say that going out for that play changed me for the better would be an understatement. About 10 years after choosing to join that play, I became a full-time theatre teacher in one of the biggest school districts in our state. It literally became my career.
That is why I believe teachers NEED a side hustle. They NEED more than one ‘thing.’
1| It’s a ‘good’ kind of challenge
Teaching is challenging, but in a monotonous way. The challenges we face on a daily basis are redundant in both our own classrooms and across the profession. We deal with challenges related to distracted and/or unmotivated students, helicopter parents, an admin who struggles to understand our needs, constantly changing expectations, etc.
Despite those ongoing, redundant challenges, being a teacher can actually be a little dull at times. I know that some people may hate me for saying that, but I taught middle school and high school. Over the years, I read Of Mice and Men out loud to my students over 30 times. I taught over 100 hours of Shakespeare. In one semester, I taught Stage Combat 12 times. Stage Combat is fun, but even the most fun thing gets really old after the 8th time teaching it in a 24 hour period.
I don’t know about you, but I always loved my second year in a new position. The first year, I was dealing with too many changes to really enjoy the teaching process. The new coworkers, students, admin, policies, curriculum, etc. kept me on my toes that first year.
The second year, I loved the challenge because it was the ‘good’ kind of challenge. By that time, I knew my content and core standards, and I could focus on getting creative with how I taught the content and the standards. That was the year that the challenge thrilled me.
That ‘good’ challenge lasted for a few years, but after that, it faded.
When I started side hustling, that ‘good’ kind of challenge returned. My side hustle as a virtual assistant was constantly changing, and I was learning new skills every day. Just when it would start to get dull, I would take on a new client who challenged me in a different way, or I would take a course and learn a new skill.
This takes me to the next reason teachers need a side hustle…
2| Developing new skills
I was in the classroom for over 10 years. During that time, I developed a very long list of both hard and soft skills ranging from conflict management to using a variety of sentence patterns in an essay, and creating efficient processes for assessing student work and skills.
These were skills I began to develop in ‘teacher school’ (the term I lovingly use when talking about teacher education courses with my students). After teacher school, I learned that my skills still needed some fine-tuning during my student teaching experience. The fine-tuning process took several more years until I truly and objectively believe I mastered those skills.
After about 4 years of teaching, my new skill acquisition plateaued. Unless our district was rolling out a new learning management system or yet another grading platform, I didn’t grow much in tactical skills.
When I started virtual assisting, I quickly discovered a bunch of super helpful skills and programs that online businesses use daily that I could implement to make my classes and school better.
After I started virtual assisting, I started using several new programs to run my classes more efficiently and creatively. A few of the programs I use are Canva, Trello, Asana, Adobe DC, Loom, and WeVideo.
3| Get a fresh perspective
In almost every district I’ve ever been a part of, our mission statement has said something about ‘preparing students for success after high school’ or ‘preparing students to be productive, active citizens in the workplace,’ but it wasn’t until I started working in online business that I realized how out-dated a lot of our systems and goals were.
I left teaching to pursue a career in the online space that didn’t even really exist when I was in college. Read more about that decision here.
Many teachers don’t even realize many of these online professions exist, let alone how to prepare students for them.
Taking on a side job and working outside the school system, provides teachers with a really interesting opportunity. They get to experience the types of jobs they are preparing students for.
When I began working as a VA, I knew I needed to change how my students were producing content. I was building funnel systems, writing blog and social media posts, editing video scripts, and building websites with original copy. After learning about these methods for marketing online, I started applying some of these types of writing in my classroom. I was also creating graphics, learning on the go, and actively seeking out new skills, so to simulate this, I introduced more project-based learning in my classes and encouraged students to share information in formats outside the typical poster, PowerPoint, and Google slides route.
Even as a theatre teacher, I gave students the option of creating podcast scripts and producing them using sound design software rather than just writing short plays. They also designed the art for our productions using design software like Canva.
These are skills and programs I didn’t even realize I should be teaching until I took a step away from the confines of my classroom, and invested real time and energy in the world I was preparing my students to be a part of.
4| Have something to look forward to
We all need our thing.
I always said that I wanted to start a “Teacher AND…” movement. “Teacher AND…” is about allowing teachers to engage with their students on a whole new level.
Once a week (I always thought it should be Tuesdays, so we could call them “Teacher AND… Tuesdays“) teachers would wear a shirt that said “Teacher AND…” on the front, and then something else that they loved on the back.
My “Teacher AND…” shirt collection might look like this
- Teacher AND…Entrepreneur
- Teacher AND…College Athlete
- Teacher AND…Farm Girl
- Teacher AND…Published Playwright
Teachers often hide parts of ourselves and become overly invested in being *just* a teacher, but thinking like that leads to burnout.
Wearing our “Teacher AND…” shirts would open up the lines of communication with students as they discover more about their teachers. The AND helps teachers become more than *just* a teacher to their students…they become a person with interests and passions. What a great message to send to students.
You don’t have to be just one thing.
I think taking on a side hustle or side job leads to the same result for teachers.
Taking on a side hustle allows teachers to invest themselves in something else. Sometimes the best way to be happy in the classroom is to take a step away from the classroom and spend time investing in your other interests.
5| Finally, Teachers need a side hustle because…they need to have full creative control over something
Teaching is political.
This is not a judgment or opinion. It is a fact.
And like all things that fall into a political arena, the people within the teaching profession have very little ability to change their circumstances.
When it comes to making changes in my classroom, I always feel like I have to get approval from somebody. If I want to change the book I teach, I have to run it by my department, then by the teachers at the middle school, then by my admins, then by the superintendent, and eventually, it will have to be approved by the school board. If I want to try out a new program, I have to make sure all the same stakeholders are on board.
It reminds me of one of those tire obstacles that football players train with. I am jumping through tire after tire, and at any point I can be tripped up, and all of my efforts will still leave me flat on the ground.
Although my ideas sometimes make it through all the hoops, nothing happens quickly and often the process is so slow, I have to wait until next year to roll the idea out to students. It’s frustrating
When I was looking for a side hustle, I wanted something that I could have full creative control. That is one of the main reasons I decided to go with virtual assisting.
As a VA, I control who I work with, what services I offer, and how much I charge. I have control over my own potential. (Read more about this reason and the other 11 in this blog post.)
It’s more than just the money.
Obviously, money plays a big role in a teacher’s decision to side hustle, but these 5 self-improvement and growth-related reasons are also valid reasons for choosing to spend some time working on your own thing.
If you feel overwhelmed or stressed out by teaching at all, I encourage you to look into some options for side hustles. Sometimes you need to get away from teaching for a few hours a day in order to really enjoy your classroom when you’re there.
If you are intrigued with the idea of becoming a virtual assistant and want to learn more, look into my blog post series all about becoming a VA. The series fully answers the question: What is a virtual assistant, and why it is a great side job for teachers.
