Are you happy being a teacher?

Question

I recently change my my major to History Education... I love history and i think i will enjoy teaching. I'm going into secondary education (high school). So do you like teaching? What are its ups and downs? Any information or tips i need to know.

Answer 1

I am a new teacher (one year experience) and I can tell you now that there is nothing better than the joy you will get when you have a student or parent approach you and say that they are enjoying and/or understand something that you are teaching or you have taught. I'm not teaching this year due to health complications, and I miss it, but I can't wait to go back to work.

If no one has told you, let me be the first to say that you will not have all good days. There will be times when you will question your decision to become a teacher (ex. students aren’t doing as well as you would like) and then there will be time when you know you made the right decision (ex. majority of the class has met or gone above your expectation).

I had to learn this the hard way, so I’ll let you know now. All of the problems that occur in your class will not come from your students, but it will come from their parents (during conferences) or your colleagues (especially if they are the gossiping type). The best way to solve or avoid problems during conferences have notes about the student progress and behavior available for the parents to look over when you are talking to them. Always ways use the sandwich approach when talking to the parents (good-bad-good). Always start and end with good points. As for the problems with your colleagues, all I can say is, try to be careful who you confide in because they might use it against you.

So please be careful and good luck.

Answer 2

Ironcally, when I was initially in university I DIDN'T want to teach but I got my teaching degree anyway. I actually worked in business for a few years, until I stumbled into teaching ESL. I've never looked back and for me it was instant love. I later did an MEd too. I'm retired after 20 yrs. of teaching. I am an optimist and for me teaching was stressful and frustrating at times but it's one of the best jobs in the world too. No, I didn't get rich, but I did OK, and yes, I would do it again because there is nothing more satisfying than to see the moment that the students "get it". I used to have a type A personality but I learned and became patient, I learned empathy and most of all I realized retroactively the gratefulness I owed my primary & secondary teachers, to whom (and my parents) I was an IQ of 147 ADHD nightmare. Everyone believed that I will fail in life. If you love the subject you are teaching, you are ahead of the game. Good luck to you, happy teaching, and don't let people talk you out of it too easily if that's where your heart is. I don't know who said this but I like it: Find a job you like and you will never WORK a day in your life.

Answer 3

Well, hi. I'm a teacher here in Brazil for three years. Today I'm 24. I work with English and Portuguese languages (and literatures).

So, may be the big differences Brazil and Canada are too big that I simply cannot help you with ups and downs, you know. But one thing I can tell you is that you have to have this idea as clear as possible: "education is an ideological act"; and history is a perfect exemple of it. You'll see it when you face meta-history classes or philosophy of education classes or some pedagogy classes.

The more you have it clear on your mind, the easier it will be working with people in schools. You'll see the importance of education in the history of the peoples through time...

Ask to a teacher of your college about a Brazilian thinker of education called Paulo Freire. Try to ask to a teacher of pedagogy subject. This author, very known in the USA, will make things in these sense very good for your carreer.

Tnx and good luck!


ie - b r a z i l

Answer 4

The part that I love about teaching that brings me back year after year is working with the students. I also like the subject I teach, but that is not what keeps me going. On the down side there are so many tests and regulations that there is no more room for creativity. If you are a data driven person then it shouldn't bother you.

Answer 5

I love it - it is hard, the hours are long, the paperwork is endless (and mostly irrelevant), it can be rewarding and then sometimes it can be heartbreaking...ups are when you succeed and the class makes the progress you hoped for, or a child makes the progress you had planned. The downs are when they fight, parents go mad at something you have no control over, the kids ruin a lesson through bad behaviour....each day is different & you never know what is coming next. It is good - you need to be strong mentally and emotionally.
Corey summed it up really well!

Answer 6

I am thrilled to be a teacher because I regard it as a vocation or calling.Since you enjoy history and believe you can make a worthwhile contribution to society, you will survive the vicissitudes. Most of teaching depends on your attitude. It is not about you.The task is to get students to enjoy the subject and see how it fits into the real world or their reality. That is an eyeopener you do not want to miss.

Answer 7

I adore the kids, but am not too jazzed about the "adults" in education. It's bureaucracy and politics at its best.

UPSIDE

You'll NEVER be bored at work
You can be HIGHLY creative
You get to watch the "light" go on in kids' brains daily
You are constantly learning

DOWNSIDE

The pay in correlation to the workload really blows.
Administration is usually comprised of an eloborate collection of monkeys... people who have a. never been in the classroom or b. haven't been in the classroom since Germany invaded Europe.
Parents can be a handful
High-stakes testing is a drag.

Learn to pace yourself, learn to stay OUT of the teacher's cafeteria, learn that life DOES exist outside the four, very small-minded walls of your district.

Best of luck

Answer 8

Yes I enjoy teaching, and like my students (on average). What makes teaching difficult is both your colleagues (it is incredible how much conflict there can be amongst a staff -- and small schools are worse than big ones), and factors outside the classroom (politics of education).

Answer 9

I teach high school. I like to teach. I like most of my students. What I don't like is the shear volume of work that is put upon us, and it seems to increase every year. It is a very stressful job and a lot is expected of us. Parents sometimes forget that you may have 140 students. I would like to have a life outside of work so I am hoping that this will be my last year teaching.

Answer 10

no. i wouldnt go near that sort of career nowdays. its too stressful