Suburban Elementary School Teacher
Career review from a person working in the job
How I Got The Job
My Education: BS, Education
My Prior Experience: I have been at this job since I got out of college. I did my student teaching in the same school.
My Job Profile
My Company: I work for a school district in a suburb of Boston which has five elementary schools, a middle school and a high school.
Job/Career Overview: My day starts at 7:30AM when I arrive at school and get my classroom settled for the day -- and the week, if possible. I have bus duty every morning at 8:00AM when students begin arriving to school. When another teacher arrives to relieve me, I head back into my classroom to make sure I have all of the necessary papers, homework and materials needed to teach my lessons for the day.
But the best part of my day is teaching, of course. I get a prep period every day around 10:00AM for approximately 40 minutes. Then it is back to the classroom until lunchtime. At the elementary level, we teach all of the major subject areas: math, reading language, writing, science and social studies. Our days are hectic but full of rewarding experiences working with young children who enjoy school and want to learn. After lunch, I cannot believe how quickly the time flies and we are already preparing our homework and getting ready to head home once again. My day with students ends with dismissal every day on one side of our school. Just today, I was thinking to myself, "I can't believe the school year is almost half over!" Although I have been teaching for thirty years, I still feel like every year is a brand new beginning. Working with young children will keep you feeling young!
More Insights: Most people in other occupations think that teaching is an "easy" job, but it is a lot of patience and hard work. Our day does not start at 8:00AM and end at 3:00PM. We are always planning and working on the next day's lessons so our students will remain interested and involved in the learning process!
Love It? Hate It?
I rate this career 10 out of 10.
What I Love or Hate
I would say that the best part of my job is just being able to teach something new and enjoyable to students who want to learn. It is always exciting when you have a class that wants to learn and pays attention with every subject. The hardest part of my job is keeping up with all of the correcting, running off of papers and grading students. Correcting work is like doing laundry...it is never done!
My Career Tips
If you want to pursue a teaching career, you have to be energetic and full of life in the classroom. Children respond well to teachers who are entertaining as well as informative about their subject areas. I always thought that teaching was a little bit like acting!
