Advice from an Elementary School Teacher

I was inspired to become a teacher from having a few very important teachers make a difference in my life. I had always enjoyed working with children, but especially enjoyed the energy and creativity of children in the elementary years.

Pros to Teaching Elementary School

1. You will leave each day from work knowing that you have made a difference in your students lives. Each day I left school, no matter how good or bad of a day it was, there was a feeling of accomplishment and that the work done that day made a difference

2.You will learn so much from them! Yes, Working with this age group will teach you a thing or too about life. There were many times at the end of the day I would remember how a certain child interacted with another child, or realized something about myself. Children have an innate wisdom within and you will definitely learn from them as well.

3.A good amount of vacation: Whether you are working with a traditional calendar school where you have your summers off or at a year round school where you have long breaks between quarters, they are both a well deserved break.

4.Classroom management: The pro is that elementary school children are much more open to praise and encouragement even when it is in front of the entire class. Most of the elementary years the teacher has the advantage that ‘being good and following the rules” is still “cool”The social change that reverses this begins in the later elementary years and middle school years.

Cons to Teaching Elementary School

1.Busy, Busy,Busy:  As an elementary school teacher there is usually no planning period, and your usually eating lunch with your students to monitor behavior. There is very little down time during the day for any break. After school (once or twice during the week) you will most likely have a staff meeting or other commitments. You also have to make sure your lessons are ready for the next day. (After a couple years teaching the same grade this becomes much easier as you will have a much larger bank of lessons to pull from.)

2.Pay: Depending on where you are in the country, this may vary. In my experience the pay was not as much as I would have liked. ( I did have to factor in summers off and long breaks around holidays.)

3.Behavior management: There is a con as well. As a teacher you will be responsible for many students at once. This is just a learning process every teacher will improve on. Also you may have a few students with special needs (learning disorder, behavior disorder, etc.) This will require extra attention and sometimes a specific behavior plan for an individual child. This will take more time out of the school day, but necessary to meet the students needs.

Advice

1.Find a mentor teacher to observe his/her classroom if you are thinking of becoming a teacher. Ask them any question you have about the teaching profession. When starting your teaching, find a mentor teacher to go to for advice and support.

2.Make sure you have a good fit with you administration at your school. This is very important as the administration will really set the atmosphere for the school.

3.There will always be something new to learn; a new way of teaching a subject matter or a new classroom behavior management model. Be open to learning new ways of teaching and seek them out when needed.

Elementary school is a wonderful age group to teach and the rewards are plentiful!

Michael Kovach
Former Elementary School Teacher
NC