Do you like your job as a teacher?

Question

Please state what state you teach in and what grade, and if its a private or public school. Tell me your favorite things about teaching and what you hate about teaching.

I'm 17, im going between dental hygienist or an elementary school teacher.

However, what I don't like about the school system is, we are in 2006, how can we get a good education from a school system from the 1950's?

20 yrs. ago, the United States was no. 1 in the world for educated students, now we are'nt even in the top 20!

Answer 1

I spent the first 5 years of my career teaching 1st grade in a private school. I have spent the last 9 years teaching 1st grade in the public school system.

Loves: The children--how they learn, their faces when they learn how to read and write. Being able to help children recognize and reach their potential. Knowing that I'm touching the future. Doing what I love the most. Hanging out with kids can be a very enlightening experience. You learn a lot from them just like they learn from you. The hugs, the "You're the best teacher" comments. Grateful parents.

Hates: Non-educators dictating policy and what I should teach and when. I'm in the classroom, I should be their best resource on what works best. Politicians not willing to work with us--prefer to work against us. The negative light on teachers--solely blaming us for the failure of children to learn. That one hurts the most. There are a lot of really dedicated teachers out there who want the best for the children, but we have to work within the system that the govt. gives us. Having to constantly fight for basic childrens' needs. Having to spend a lot of my own money on supplies and basic necessities because my district is poor and doesn't get a lot of money. I had to buy toilet paper last year for the bathrooms becuase the district couldn't buy anymore. Parents who could care less about thier children--or have no respect for you and aren't willing to work WITH you to help their child. Administrators who care more about politics and "going with the flow" than questioning the status quo and what is really best for the CHILDREN, not themselves.

Even though I wrote a lot of negatives, this is the profession I wanted ever since I was 6 years old. It is what I was meant to do and even though teachinng has a bad rap right now, what teachers do is extremely important for the future of our country and for the children. It is a tremendous responsibility and one I wouldn't trade for anything. :)

Answer 2

Missouri, high school special education, public school.

I love teaching, most of the time. I don't think anyone who wants to be a teacher should go in with the assumption that the kids will be perfect, the parents will be supportive and the administration will do its job. There will be problems, challenges and triumphs.

As a special education teacher I have seen both the best and worst of students (and parents!!) Most of the time, when kids are unwilling to put forth any effort, it is because they see education as useless or because their life outside of school is so screwed up that learning is the last thing on their mind. It is up to the teachers and administrators to make school, above all, a safe place, and a place where kids want to be. That does not mean it should, or could, be fun all the time, only that it is a place where kids feel comfortable, accepted and successful.

Answer 3

I teach in Ontario. I have taught at a variety of schools over the past 17 years in public education: a private school my first years, a rural district school the second year, an inner-city school from year 3 - 10, an "alternative" school in years 11 - 15, and the past 2 years a medium sized school positioned between a old, middle class residential area and a group of housing projects.

In the time I have taught, I have taught highly gifted and academic students, very academically weak and disadvantaged students, students who had been in and out of jail, students who could not cope with the structure of school, students who lived on their own at far to young and age, others who lived in various family settings (stable and unstable) and a host of students in between.

I have taught whatever I was asked, except Math and Science (and only beacuse i believe specialists should teach those courses, not because I couldn't).

I love teaching, and tolerate the students pretty well -- the only ones that annoy me are the people who waste time (mine, theirs and others), but I have never had more than a handful of those in a year.

Teaching is a great job, although to do it well keeps you in a near constant state of exhaustion. The only thing I do not like about it is that sometimes other staff decide to make things confrontational, or are overtly ambitious, even though that means playing with the students' chances.

Good luck if you go into teaching; make sure you take enough units of math and science to give yourself a good grounding when you are asked to teach them.

Answer 4

I think I just answered one of your questions...
I am not a teacher yet but rather a student teacher from Ohio. I have observed and taught in public schools in rural school districts and have had the time of my life. I have wanted to be a school teacher since I was a little girl playing school with my stuffed animals and my small child's desk. When I am in the classroom, I have the time of my life. It makes my day to see a student smile at me and get excited about learning. To me, that is so rewarding and I am excited to have my own classroom very soon. Being a teacher, you can be creative, caring, work with youth and help to mold their minds, be a mentor, coach, listener and so on. When I am in the classroom, I know that I chose the right job field for me. I can't imagine sitting behind a desk and computer all day doing business or other forms of work.

The downside of teaching in my opinion is state tests. Unfortunately, teachers have little say about this and have to teach students the material that will be on the test. I think teachers become so stressed about getting in and teaching all the material on the standardized tests that they don't have the time and ability to get in the units and subjects they would often like to teach the students.

No matter what job you decide on, make sure you are happy with it. You want it to be the kind of job that when you get up in the morning, you are excited and want to go to your job! Good luck!

Answer 5

Happy teaching and Sidnee Marie have made really good points. So did the Marine. There are downsides to every profession and you really need to investigate those as much as the good points. Sometimes, they can be the deal-breaker. If you teach in certain areas, you will spend a lot of your own money just buying kids clothes, supplies and nearly everything needed for your classroom. It can definitely be depressing. But there are lots of good things to balance out the bad.

I also teach in Ohio and the bureaucracy is awful. The ONLY thing that matters is the test-score. The idea of educating the whole child doesn't exist.

Answer 6

California - small private school.
Math in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade, computer science in 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and electives for all.

I love teaching. As a teacher, you have the potential to make an enormous impact in the lives of young people. You're not just teaching academics, after all, but social skills, kindness, and the love of learning - there's no better feeling in the world!

The downside is that if you're intelligent, dedicated, and creative enough to be a _good_ teacher, you can make more money doing pretty much anything else. If you're in a public school, you have to deal with administrators who don't know much about teaching. "sidnee_marie" described that well, so I won't go into it.

Teaching well is very, very hard work, and the rewards are emotional/spiritual rather than financial. If that sounds appealing, we teachers will welcome you among us!

Answer 7

well technically I'm not a teacher at a school, i am a marine with about 38 peers under my charge. i am in southern Ca. 29 Palms. and i love being able to share my knowledge about my job to them because it saves lives during our deployments to Iraq . I'm also a lot older then most of them so i can help them through general problems in life. what i hate about teaching is, now days everyone thinks they know everything or to shallow to come up and ask for advice and they usually find out the answer the hard way..if you go in to the dental field i think that would be great but hope you have a pretty strong stomach. there are some YUCK MOUTHS out there with the use of tobacco and having to deal with the cancer spots. but if that's what you want to look in to cudo's to ya..I'm not here to change any ones future or to drive them off their path, I'm just here to let you know things you might get in to. good luck going down that road.

Answer 8

The hiring freeze in California applies to every body, licensed or no longer, however in the event you train a top call for discipline you would discover some thing. There is a well internet site for constitution faculties in California, regardless that. I'm sorry I are not able to bear in mind the specified identify, however in the event you google some thing like "instructing jobs in California constitution faculties" it must pop up. It's a LOOOONG program to fill in, however there are jobs like those you desire. You'll have got to be bendy approximately in which in California you desire to are living, regardless that. Good success!

Answer 9

I LOVE....LET ME REPEAT...I LOVE MY JOB. Abraham Lincoln stated that:“A child is a person who is going to carry on what [we] have started. He is going to sit where [we] are sitting and when [we] are gone attend to those things which [we] think are important. He will assume control over [our] cities, states, and nations. He is going to move in and take over [our] churches, schools, universities, and corporations. The fate of humanity is in his hands.” Therefore, all that society may hope to offer is in the hands of an educated and dedicated teacher. You seem to be an educated person even at the early age of 17. You understand, already, the challenges that good teachers face. You are the type of person that needs to "make a difference"....and you will! GO FORTH AND TEACH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 10

Texas.. I hate my job as a teacher.. The subjects are not good. The students do not want to learn.. only bout sex and the administrators of the school system are archaic and disgusting and way behind the tmes.