Teacher In An Inner-City School
Career review from a person working in the job
How I Got The Job
My Education: BA, History, Worcester State College
My Prior Experience: none
My Job Profile
My Company: I work for a public school system in central Massachusetts.
Job/Career Overview: Some of my responsibilities are making sure students are on task at all times but understanding that they are in the crucial years of their lives in which social and physical changes are occurring within themselves. Keeping that in mind enables me to be a patient and understanding teacher. I particularly enjoy guiding students so they discover answers for themselves through trial and error. Understanding some of the difficult situations my students come from helps me help them to overcome the obstacles they face on the way to becoming contributing members of society. I look at my occupation as something that is rewarded beyond a paycheck and is challenging in a way that people in the profession can only understand. Working with students from all backgrounds and socioeconomic situations is challenging but extremely rewarding.
Love It? Hate It?
I rate this career 8 out of 10.
What I Love or Hate
The best part of my job is seeing what a difference I can make in my students' lives. Just doing something small like asking if they are having a good day and showing genuine concern when they may need a little help is something that might be overlooked by many but can mean so much to that particular student and make such a difference.
The worst part of the job is watching students head down the wrong path despite my best efforts. Seeing what may be in their future is difficult to imagine sometimes.
My Career Tips
If you decide to become a teacher I would strongly recommend that you do some student teaching in an inner city school so you can get a little taste of what you may be in for. I would also recommend that you teach in several different grades to test out what grade level will be best for you. Also I would recommend teaching to different levels (i.e. honors, AP as well as general) to further develop different teaching strategies.
