NYC Teaching Fellows Reviews

Pros

It’s easy to apply online.

Cons

Limited time : Only once a year.

Pros

If you land in the right school with the right people, it may work.

Cons

Too much work, not enough guidance, a mess.

Pros

Rigorous and thorough student-teacher training.

Cons

Barely anytime for yourself during the first two years of employment.

Pros

Works as an educator fast

Cons

Stressful, intense, poor directions, too complicated for the salary.

Pros

Great idea for the recruitment of teachers who did not previously attend a graduate program in education and receive certification. Addresses the teaching shortage in NYC schools.

Cons

You roll the dice - you have to get a good teaching lead, a caring TAD, and a CC that will be there for you, the Fellow. In my case, I'm sure all three were competent teachers and overall nice folks, but I was set up for failure from the road "GO." They all have parameters they need to meet and they worry about meeting them by covering for their mistakes by leaving the fellows grasping for answers when their parameters are not met. I don't do chaos well and as someone with ADHD, it was just a matter of time. I left after three weeks. I didn't see the point because the program "killed" any desire to want to teach in the NYCDOE. Word of advice - Go thru Teaching Collaborative - you get more time to adjust to the classroom. If it were permitted, I would have transferred from TF to TC. TF should be more for paras transitioning to teachers... They understand the lingo and have exposure to the classroom. A majority of my fellow fellows were paras and they stood out. Don't select D75 or commit to Brooklyn or Bronx unless you got a hardcore purpose in why you are choosing this career.

Pros

Working with some of the greatest kids

Cons

Overworked, stressed, and unethical way of preparing someone to be a teacher. Working from 8: 00 AM to 2:50 PM and working into the night once you come home. There is very little time to rest or relax. If you quit the program, you're not allowed to keep the Trans B certificate or the teaching job. They train you for 6 weeks in the summer, in which the workload is unmanageable, then throw you into a D75 school with students with severe cognitive disabilities. They do not care about the wellbeing of teachers or students. This program is inherently unethical and needs to be shutdown. Once in D75 you have kids with multiple levels inside the classroom, so you are teaching multiple grades and creating worksheets for multiple grades realistically. They don't tell you everything, but please do your research. Go the traditional route if you can. The exhaustion is unfathomable.

Pros

Pay is great people are like family

Cons

Schedule sucks and start and end are the worst

Pros

You want to teach but you have no experience or qualifications? Maybe you have had another successful career and now you want to give back? Maybe you are looking for a purposeful but challenging career, but can't afford to take time off to go back to school? Or maybe you're looking for a government job that pays more than a lazy fool like you could ever earn in the private sector, where after a few years, you will be latched on and no amount of subpar work will ever get you fired? The Teaching Fellows could be just right for you!

Cons

During training, you will be placed in a public school with a coach. Most coaches are competent and care about their students. Most want you to succeed and will give you opportunities to become a good teacher, if you have it in you. But not all. Some coaches just want the pay bump and will treat you like a lackey. You will probably see and hear teachers do awful things in the classroom. If you ask NYCTF discreetly for advice on dealing with this while you're a Fellow, a note will be made in your file. It will be held against you. If you want to make a difference, hold your nose until you get your Internship Certificate. The staff is not respectful or professional in its dealings with you. They don't like to give their full names or communicate outside the NYCTF form. This is so they can delete all communication that makes them look bad or shows that they broke the law (I asked if it was legal for my coach to remove special ed students with from her classroom during superintendent observations - it is not, and they did nothing) . Screenshot everything. If you are in a toxic situation where your students are being bullied by a union-backed teacher, they will hang you out to dry. The partially subsidized Masters degree dangled in front of you is not the bargain it appears. CUNY is in the process of reevaluating its educational qualifications. That Masters could soon be worthless.

Pros

Was able to get a teaching license and experience

Cons

more experience in the classroom before getting thrown in

Pros

MA at a reduced cost

Cons

Over worked and under paid