Summer jobs

[Crankin]

I taught for 31 years and only had a summer job once, when I was about 25; I worked at a department store. They hired me on a permanent part time basis and then I just quit at the end of the summer. I hated it. Even then, after having some modicum of control over what went on in my classroom and feeling like a professional, I just couldn't handle my supervisors nit picking about things that were essentially stupid. And, the job was boring. Teachers make hundreds of decisions a day in the course of their work and I just didn't like being in a job where all of my decisions were essentially controlled by someone else. So, I guess I agree with your friends.
A few years later I became a certified fitness instructor and taught in gyms before school and after. So, for about ten years, I did this in the summer and often volunteered to sub more. That was fine and I enjoyed working with adults!
Have you considered tutoring? You choose how much you work and the going rate around here is 50-100 dollars an hour. If you don't want to bother developing a client base, you can work for one of the bigger agencies, although you don't get as much money.

[ehirsch83]

I have a friend who is a teacher and goes out to Wyoming in the summer to work on a guest ranch!

And another who works for Whole Foods in the summer and also as holiday help throughout the year..

[Pax]

Are you a swimmer? If so, get your lifeguard card and WSI, teach swim lessons and work as a guard in the summers. If you don't want to commit to a daily job for the summer, a lot of pools will hire you to teach some sessions of swim lessons that are hard to cover (no college kid like the early morning shifts).

When I ran pools I LOVED hiring 30-somethings for the summer, they were more mature, more reliable, and just generally had better responses to emergency situations.

Edited to add: Just an FYI, you can $20 - $50 an hour teaching swimming if do private lessons. I made a bunch of money teaching private lessons when I lived in FL.

[GLC1968]

I used to manage a retail outlet that was located in a summer resort area. Summers were our busy season (even more-so than Christmas, actually). I LOVED hiring teachers. They were flexible, responsible and readily trainable! If you would be interested in something like that, try outlet centers in vacation areas. They are almost always hiring in the summer time.

[sookiesue]

When I was done with college but not sure what to do for 'real' life, I worked for a summer at a resort in the Grand Teton National Park. I was a housekeeper. It was not glamorous and the pay was low, but the housing was free and the food was cheap, and on my days off I got to explore the Tetons! It was incredible. And a lot of the 'resort rats' were not young kids - there was every age from just out of high school up through retired couples working seasonally as they RV'd around the nation.

If you have the flexibility to travel instead of staying in Southern California, I highly recommend the experience.

[jessmarimba]

I think the Park Service or Forest Service might have jobs geared towards teachers, if I remember right.

[malkin]

When I was a kid it was not unusual at all for teachers to moonlight at Disneyland.

Once one of the funnier teachers said "HI" to me and some friends when he was dressed like Goofy.