What Teachers Can Learn from What Color Is Your Parachute
Teachers are trained to help students figure out what they want to do, but rarely get the same treatment for themselves — many stay in a grade level, subject, or building for years simply because that's the assignment they were given, not because they ever stopped to check if it still fits. This book, written for job seekers, holds a useful mirror for anyone whose career runs on postings, seniority, and assumptions rather than active choice — whether you're considering a new grade, a department switch, an instructional coach role, or leaving the classroom for something adjacent.
The whole book, compressed
This edition works through 4 core lessons — take them one at a time, not all at once.
What's different for your conditions
Tap whichever ones sound like you. Nothing here is sent or saved — it's just for your own noticing.
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The core lessons, applied to you
Question whether "this is just what I teach" is actually true
Many teachers assume their subject or grade level is simply their identity, without ever asking whether the parts of teaching they love most — say, mentoring struggling readers, or coaching debate, or building curriculum — could point toward a different role entirely.
A math teacher who lights up every time she tutors a struggling student one-on-one keeps requesting the highest-level classes because that's seen as career progress, and ends up in a role with the least of what she actually loves.
Write down the last three moments this year when you felt most alive at work, then ask what they have in common — subject matter, or something else, like mentoring, designing, or performing.
Talk to people already doing the work you're curious about
A conversation with a curriculum coordinator, an instructional coach, or a teacher who moved to a different grade tells you more in twenty minutes than a job posting ever will, and it gets your name known before any opening exists.
A teacher wonders for two years whether she'd like instructional coaching, never asks the coach down the hall a single question about the actual day-to-day, and finally applies for the role only to discover it's mostly scheduling and paperwork, not the mentoring she imagined.
This month, ask one person already doing a role you're curious about to describe their actual Tuesday, in detail.
Pitch the specific problem you'd solve, not your years of experience
"I have twelve years in the classroom" tells a principal little; "I know why our reading scores drop in third grade and I have a plan to fix it" tells them exactly what you're for.
A teacher applies for an instructional coach opening with a cover letter listing years of service and certifications, while another candidate names the specific literacy gap the school is struggling with and how she'd address it — and gets the callback.
Before your next application or internal conversation about a new role, write one sentence naming the specific problem in your building you're equipped to solve.
Keep re-checking whether your role still fits who you are now
The teacher you were at twenty-five and the teacher you are now may want different things — revisiting your fit with your grade, subject, or role every few years is simply good practice, not a sign you're failing at teaching.
Curiosity about other roles can feel like abandoning your current students; keep your exploration quiet and separate from your daily commitment to your classroom, and remember that a teacher who is well-matched to their role serves students better than one who is stuck.
Name one thing, honestly
If you could redesign your role around the three moments that make you feel most useful, what would your actual job description look like?
Good. Now look back at the "Try this" line under whichever lesson feels most connected to what you just wrote, and treat that as this week's actual assignment — not all 4 at once.
The practices from this edition
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Run this for seven days
Before your next application or internal conversation about a new role, write one sentence naming the specific problem in your building you're equipped to solve.