Teacher Shift

Transitioning to Part-Time and The Benefits That Come With It

February 15, 2023 Ashley McLean Episode 46
Teacher Shift
Transitioning to Part-Time and The Benefits That Come With It
Show Notes Transcript

Today, Ali and JoDee sit down with returning guest Ashley McLean. Ashley is a former Montessori educator who returned to the workforce last year as a library assistant. Together, they will discuss what it was like transitioning back into the workforce, the surprising benefits of working part time, and the teacher brain skills that she now uses daily in life and work.

Connect with Ashley:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acadiagoddessarts/

Connect with Ali and JoDee:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teachershift
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teachershift
Teacher Shift LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/teacher-shift
Ali’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisimon/
JoDee’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodeescissors/

Website
https://www.teachershiftpodcast.com/

Episode Transcriptions
https://www.teachershiftpodcast.com/blog

Ali  0:00  
All teachers are natural innovators, entertainers and problem solvers. They dream of growing old into the profession, teaching their kids kids. But sometimes career goals shift or change, and that makes opportunities outside of the classroom seem intangible questioning who am I, if I'm not a teacher? I'm your host, Alexandra Simon.

JoDee  0:31  
And I'm your co host, JoDee Scissors.

Ali  0:34  
This is The Great Teacher Resignation.

We are joined today by our returning guest, Ashley McLean. She is a former Montessori educator who left her teaching position early in the pandemic to become a stay at home parent. She returned to the workforce last May as a library assistant at the Southwest Harbor Public Library. In addition, she runs a successful small crafting business called Acadia Goddess Arts. Welcome back to the show. Ashley.

Ashley  1:08  
Good to be back.

JoDee  1:10  
Welcome back, Ashley. I listened back on the first episode. I was reminded of how thoughtful you are with your words, and how much you synthesize things that are happening to you. And I really appreciate that about you. So I'm happy to have you back on just for that reason. And I want you to know where you're at right now in your feelings and what you're experiencing right now nine months later after we initially met?

Ashley  1:37  
Yeah, so I still listen to the podcast every week. I listened to the beginning of it in the car on the way to drop the kids off to school and then on my way to work. So the kids know, the beginning of the podcast, like the words. So they start to say along with it. It's very funny. But I look forward to it every week. And I really like hearing still, even though I've found my piece, you know, I feel like I'm in a very good place right now. I still like listening to the different episodes, because I feel like it still resonates with me. You know, especially, you know, the ones with people who have children. You know, I feel like, I really hear that. And I feel it. You know, it's so relatable. 

JoDee  2:18  
I think that's a testament that when we do make a transition, it doesn't eliminate all of our feelings all at once. And then it's a process and that sometimes we can revisit feelings that we didn't really put a lot of attention into early on. But yeah, I still find myself at times in conversation thinking, Oh, yeah, I feel connected to that. And oh, well, I'm feeling this way. Because it's, it's still a process.

Ali  2:41  
Yeah, I'm still trying to figure out who I am if I'm not a teacher. So I think that it's a journey. It's not just like you get off at a bus stop or something, and you're at your destination. So I think we're still all finding our place right now. And I really appreciate hearing from you and how it's going. I'm really interested in knowing what was it like transitioning back to work after being a stay at home parent? And are you working full time or part time now?

Ashley  3:09  
So I'm working part time. That works out really well for us. I was really scared to go back to work, honestly. I felt like we had gotten into a good routine at home where I was at home. And I was doing my small business stuff. You know, I was doing crafts and everything, getting ready for all the fairs. But I was mostly staying at home as a parent. And I was able to get all this stuff done at home. And it wasn't on anyone else's plate. It was mine. And so I was able to kind of do that job. And I may have complained a lot that I wasn't getting paid for it, you know, because it is a job. You don't get paid for that kind of work. But everything was running really smoothly. And then a friend of mine, who also happens to be a parent of someone in our older son's class, or she was in his class, said, Oh, we have an opening at the library. You should look into it. So I looked into it. And I applied. And some months went by not through any fault of my own or the library's, just things happened. And finally, I met with the director, and he said, Okay, we're looking for someone part time to work at the circulation desk. Is that something you'd be interested in? And I said, Sure, I'll give it a try. And so it was really part time at that point, like super part time. And then as I kept going, I realized, Oh, okay, I can do more of this if they need more hours from me. And so I've like slowly built it up since last May when I started. And so now I work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or like the morning part. So like up until one or two most days. So it was scary to go back.

Ali  4:49  
I think it's really hard when you leave teaching to be a stay at home parent because... I mean, our stories were similar like we felt like we just there was too much going on. We needed to focus on our families for different reasons. It sounded like you got into a good groove with managing the household. I always struggled with that. Like, it was hard for me. And I had to learn how to, you know, make more dinners that I learned how to make the first time that I was a stay at home parent. Like, you know what I mean? I had to increase my repertoire of options and do all these things. But you do get into a groove. I eventually did get into groove, I think it just took me a little longer than it probably took you. And yeah, it's hard to go back. And so I had this feeling that you were probably working part time. That's how I went back to. And I think there's a lot of benefits to having that ability to still do the things that you need to do at home. But you're also working. And you're working in something outside of teaching. So your your resume right now, if you go to apply for, let's say later on, you want to change what you're doing, or you want to apply for something full time, you don't have a teacher resume anymore. You also have something else on your resume, which is very well connected. But you feel like now that you're working part time, are you still able to do the things that you want to do with your family? Because that was a priority I know for for you, when you left the classroom.

Ashley  6:07  
It is so much easier to be with the kids, you know, and part of my job is doing graphic design for the library. And that is something I can do from home. So if I need to be at home with one of the kids, it's okay. Because I can do that at home, I can do part of my work. And the people who work at this library are super flexible. And my director, he always says, if you need anything, ask for it. And whenever I do ask for something, I get it. And it's weird. That's a weird thing. That's a difference from teaching. You know, I do feel like... you know, we also get mandatory breaks, which is something I definitely wanted to tell you about. Because that's not something I ever got, as a teacher. Like I had my lunch break, but it was never really a lunch break. And at this job, I get asked by several people during the morning, did you get a break? Did you take lunch? And sometimes I'll say no, I don't even know what time it is because I'm so busy. And they say, Okay, give me what you're doing and go sit down. And so I do.

JoDee  7:07  
I never had anybody asked me that question before. Do you need a break? Have you had your lunch? Most of the times I was eating my lunch whilst walking and doing something, like a task. So that's really great that you have that opportunity and that freedom, and you're not afraid to ask for something. Because I know that there's a lot of fear in asking for something in the teaching profession.

Ashley  7:30  
Yeah. And at first, I was a little scared to ask if I did notice what time it was and nobody had come and asked yet. I was afraid to be like, can someone come give me a break? But I've gotten there. Now I feel like we all kind of know each other well enough. You know, someone came out yesterday and said, You look like you need to take a walk. And I was like, you know what, I really do. I really need to take a walk. And so I did. And that was really nice. But to go back to the question with my family, you know, it's also very flexible. So if I say okay, I'm gonna take this day off so that we can go on a trip, which we don't do very often. But if I need a day, I can say, Okay, I'm not coming in that day. And because I get paid by the hour, it's a little easier. So I don't technically have sick days or vacation days. I just I can ask if I can take a day off. And I may not get paid for it. But I also don't get like penalized for it. You know, it's not a situation where I need to worry that I'm going to lose my job because I needed some time to be with my family. 

Ali  8:28  
That was my experience too. With part time work. It's difficult because you're you're not going to get paid time off in the same way that you would if you were full time. However, no one's counting your days, like, Oh, you've hit 10, times up. You can't take any more time off. 

JoDee  8:43  
When you take off, do you have to plan anything?

Ashley  8:47  
No, I do not. It is so nice to not have to think about what is going to happen when I'm gone. Because I work at the Circulation Desk mostly. So I do graphic design too. But the circulation desk is my main job. That's something that many people are trained to do. So if I am not there one day, it's not going to cause chaos, because no one knows what to do. You know, we all know what to do. And maybe we do it in different ways. But everyone knows how to check out the books. You know, and so it's it's not something that I have to worry about. When we took our first vacation in years back in October. I didn't do any work. It was the first time in my life that I've gone on a vacation and actually felt like I was on vacation. And that had never happened to me before. So it felt pretty good. I went back to work really, really rested, which never happened before.

Ali  9:41  
I also see that as a benefit depending on what kind of part time work you're doing. I found that the roles that I was able to secure, had clear boundaries like that, like I had my roles and responsibilities at the office. And then when I left, they were at the office. And it is really nice. I think if you want to have clear boundaries is, and you want to have time for your family that it's really, it's really a happy medium of finding a balance. And I heard you earlier in the episode when you said that you were glad to be able to be home and do all those tasks, but like, they are unpaid. And so it's like, it's nice to be paid again, when you go back to the workforce, I think. And I hope you're experiencing the same thing.

Ashley  10:21  
So I went back to work, because, you know, it's nice to have the extra income. You know, Adam was kind of pulling it all in himself, because I was working at home. I mean, working at home, yes, for my little business, but also, like I was saying, as a homemaker. You know, he said he was bringing all the money home. And I just... I don't know if guilt is the right word that I was feeling. But I felt like I wanted to do something at that point. You know, I felt like I had done what I needed to do to get my kids through the homeschool year. And, you know, they're still at their school, which they love. And so I feel like... I felt like I could go back to work. And even though it was scary, I really didn't know what I could do. That, you know, wasn't teaching. I'm sure you know, that feeling where, you know, you're trained as a teacher. So what can I possibly do that's not that? It felt good to get my first paycheck. You know, again, to be like, Oh, well, I did work for money this time.

JoDee  11:18  
When you worked for so long. And that's the reward of your effort. You get used to that. But when you saw that, that parent shared that job with you, you applied, what were the characteristics of the job specifically, that attracted you to it? Because you're coming off a profession that really took all of you. So what was it that drew you to it to even get to the point of applying?

Ashley  11:42  
Well, first of all, I love books. So that was a huge draw, because I love getting people to read and making suggestions about books to read. And so that was huge for me. I was like, Oh, I can work with books. But I really liked that they wanted someone who has communication skills, which I definitely do. And organization, and learning new systems. So I think that was one of the things on there was like being able to adapt to new computer systems or something. It was all very methodical, maybe it's the right word. They listed all the things and I said, Oh, I can do that. Oh, I can do that. Oh, I can do that. And I realized that everything I was doing as a teacher could be translated into everything they wanted me to do at the library. And, you know, you had asked me earlier, what teacher brain skills did I use as a stay at home mom? And then how did I transfer it to the library? And I did a lot of thinking about that. Because I used all the same skills. Like all of my teacher brain skills, were the same ones I needed to be a stay at home parent. And also, I use them all the time at the library, which is great. You know, I mean, I multitask. You know, multitasking is a huge thing that we do as teachers and parents. And so I am able to, most of the time, I'm not perfect, so not all the time. But if I get interrupted from doing one thing, and you know, I need to go help a patron, I can go right back to it, and know exactly what I was doing. And usually in the summer, though, last summer, it really put me to the test because it was so busy. And so I was able to manage it most of the time. But yeah, I mean, multitasking, that was a good one. And efficiency, like, using my time effectively at that desk is a huge thing that I learned how to do as a teacher. You know, I learned how to make sure that all of my time was used productively. And you know, I wasn't goofing off or being silly at all during school, you know, I was always like doing something. But like my efficiency at work is... I think it comes directly from learning how to use my time management skills well, both as a parent and a teacher. I feel like another similarity that is like preparing the environment, which I didn't really think of actually, when I first started working at the library. Because as a Montessori teacher, one of the biggest things is preparing the environment for the students and making sure that it's something that they can use and make them successful. I really didn't think about that, in terms of library work, but I do a lot of displays. And like I said graphic design. And so that's technically preparing, like the visual environment. But it really it's important. Drag people in from outside. You want them to come and see your programs and, you know, setting up and making sure the circulation desk is prepared in a way that is easy. Like I was saying before, if I'm not there, you want it to be easy for everyone else to use. And so it's been very interesting to use those teacher brain skills in that way.

JoDee  14:46  
So do you think being a small business owner and this transition that you've gone through has opened up the space for you creatively?

Ashley  14:55  
Definitely. I really do feel that way. I hadn't thought about it that way, but yes, I feel like I do the crafting after work, usually like before bedtime, like, I'll be watching a show and I'll be knitting or something, you know, or I'll be doing sewing or something. And I feel like it's a really great way for me to wind down. So even though I like my job, it is a little stressful sometimes. And so, I have found that I have the time now to decompress by doing my art. And that's different. That was not something I ever did. Like, I always wanted to do the things after school, you know, I would come home from work and think, Okay, I'm gonna get the lunches done. I'm gonna do the dishes. I'm gonna make dinner. I'm gonna get the kids ready for bed. And then I'm going to, I'm going to do some knitting. And then I would fall asleep. There was no way I was going to actually do the things I wanted to do.

JoDee  15:46  
It's rigid. Like, when you have things stacked on top of each other, that rigidness makes you so tired. And there is no opportunity to think creatively, because that's a challenging brain skill to be able to apply those type of thoughts to something that you're passionate about. But I totally feel that

Ali  16:05  
I think a lot of times when educators are considering leaving, it's that they don't find that they have enough balance in their lives, especially if they are parents. And so it sounds like your new role. First, you know, becoming a small business owner with your arts. And then now, working at the library part time, what I'm hearing is there's more of a balance in your life, and you're able to kind of handle the things that you want to do, prioritize the things that are important. And I think it can be a difficult decision to not go back full time and to go back part time, because you do miss out on some of the benefits of full time employment. But at the same time, I needed to work part time when I did. There was no way when I went back to work that I could have worked full time. I just needed that balance. I needed that time. I needed my work to be when my children were in school. And so I guess for those, you know, who might be considering this opportunity, it came to you, but I guess what would be the top three benefits maybe of part time work for you at this stage in life? 

Ashley  17:08  
Yeah, I think the balance is definitely the biggest thing about part time. I think that I'm also in a position where Adam, my husband, for anyone who doesn't know. He has a great job with great benefits for our family. So I don't have to worry so much about the health benefits and the dental. You know, he's got those benefits covered. And so, for me going back part time, I didn't have to worry so much about that, which I know is not an option for everybody, because I just happened to be lucky that we have that. But so it is allowing me to balance my work life and my family life. And don't get me wrong, sometimes I have really anxious days, I have anxiety, and it doesn't always work out the way I hope in the day. But in the end, I always, I do always make it through, you know, I feel like because I have that, the ability to leave work at work. I can shut that part of my brain off and not think about it if I'm feeling particularly anxious. So I think the balance is definitely an important part of that. Another benefit, I think, is just being able to do something for myself occasionally. I didn't used to have that opportunity. And now I can say to myself, Okay, I'm gonna go for a hike in the morning. And then maybe before work, that happened more in the summer, when the kids were not in school, but you know, maybe go for a hike before work, go do work, and then come home and be mom. You know, and I didn't have to worry about any of that stuff. And I guess a third benefit would be just feeling good about myself. I feel like I happen to fall into this job that works really well for me. And it's highlighting a lot of my skills, and I'm learning new things. And I haven't felt this way about a job in a long time. I used to when I was a teacher like a long time ago. But I just feel good about what I'm doing every day. And that feels nice to me. It feels new, in a way.

JoDee  19:07  
Those are some great benefits. And one connection I wanted to point out was that when I left teaching, I was also part time. I went into a part time role. And it was just being only committed to 30 hours. So that little extra time where I'm wondering and I'm discovering who am I if I'm not a teacher, was what I needed. I didn't need to go just directly into something and conform or transform into something that I wouldn't have enjoyed being. But that part time role allowed me that space for exploring a little bit more.

Ali  19:42  
One thing I've noticed about you today, Ashley, is that you seem really at peace almost. Like that's the vibe that I'm getting from you. And it's really nice to talk to you, to hear about how things have been going in the last nine months since we can't believe it's been that long. We're really grateful to have you back on the show. And we want to keep in touch and keep hearing how things are going for you in your, you know, post classroom life. But for our listeners who are interested, if you want to check out Ashley's art, you can find her on Instagram at Acadia Goddess Arts. Thanks again Ashley.

If you liked The Great Teacher Resignation, give us a five star rating and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music and Audible. Today's episode was written and recorded by me Alexandra Simon, and my co host JoDee Scissors. Executive produced by Teacher Brain. Produced and edited by Emily Porter. Original Music: Emoji by Tubebackr. Special thanks to our sponsor, Paper Planes Ed.