Thread: Career change to teaching...any advice?

Hello Everyone,
I'm new to this board, but have read a lot of the posts over the past few days and have learned a lot of things about teaching. Thanks to everyone for the great posts!

One of the reasons I have been reading posts is because I'm trying to decide whether or not to do a career change into teaching (elementary 3-6 grades). I'm 31 years old (still single, but eventually would love to have a family ) and have been in the computer field for about 6 years. My work is ok, but I'm thinking about doing something more rewarding, specifically working with kids in an educational setting at the elementary (or possibly middle school) level. I love kids, love to learn and see life as an adventure (the only challenge is that there's not enough time to do all the cool things in the world that there are to do!!...LOL!). I have been volunteering at different schools in K-5 classes to get exposure to the field of teaching and that has been positive and fun - the kids are awesome! Also, I've returned to college to finish my degree but need to decide on whether that will be in education. My majors for el ed would be science (major), math (minor), computer science (minor/major).

So, is there anyone here that has done a career change into teaching? If so, what have been your experiences? Some questions I've thought of include...
1. What difficulties did you encounter in switching careers? What adjustments did you have to make?
2. Have you found the extra work often required as a teacher to be a problem to adjust to? (Actually I'm a workaholic, so I'm not afraid of the extra work, but just wonder how it fits into the bigger picture.)
3. Have you found boredem in teaching to be an issue?
4. Any comments on stress (maybe as compared to a previous career)? Job politics, work load, prep-time, meetings/committies?
5. Any comments from those in elementary education on teaching all subjects versus just one or two as in middle/high school? I'm told this places a heavier load on a teacher than the one/two subject scenario?
6. Any comments on the job market for teaching? (I know there's a shortage for science, math, computer science & special ed teachers right now. And I know the government forcast for 2008-2010 shows a lot of retiring baby bommer teachers.)
7. Any comments on school politics? especially with regard to being hired as a teacher? I'm told that "who you know" somewhat plays into that process more so than your credentials, but maybe thats one of those teaching "rumors" that really isn't true.

When I first starting considering this possible change, my concerns were salary, time committment and getting started in teaching at a later age. I don't think salary is really an issue any more as those are fairly decent in Michigan. I guess my main concerns are the time committment and getting started later. Again, I'm basically a workaholic who never watches TV (too many other neat things to be doing), but who loves spending time with family and friends. So, I'm worried a little about the free time I will have available for family and friends, but especially family. (And yes, I realize about the holidays and summer time off, but am wondering about the rest of the year?) And changing career paths at this point makes me a little uneasy since I don't know what to expect in terms of starting later in the teaching profession.

Sorry this post is so long....I guess really trying to think this through.
I would really appreciate any advice you have to share.
thanks in advance,
Jamie