Angela Mitchell
English 111 section 17
November 1999
The Most Important Career: Teaching
If I could pick any career in the world, it would be to teach children. For the last four years I have taught swim lessons, worked in daycare centers, helped elementary students who had trouble with their work, and even taught lessons to second graders. Therefore, I believe teaching is the best career path for me. What children learn and experience during their early years can shape their views of themselves and the world and affect later success or failure in school, work, and their personal lives. That is why I would love to become an elementary school teacher. I believe elementary teachers play a vital role in the development of children. Elementary teachers introduce children to numbers, language, science, and social studies, making learning fun with the use of games, music, artwork, film slides, computers, and other tools.
Teachers plan, evaluate, and assign lessons; prepare, administer, and grade tests; and maintain classroom discipline. They observe and evaluate a student’s performance and potential. They may also work with students individually, to provide additional assistance in areas where a student needs help. Teachers grade papers, prepare report cards, and meet with parents and school staff to discuss a student’s academic progress or personal problems. In addition to classroom activities, teachers supervise extracurricular activities, such as field trips. Including school duties performed outside the classroom, many teachers work more than 40 hours a week. Most teachers work the traditional 10-month school year with a 2-month vacation during the summer.
Teachers held about 3.1 million jobs in 1998. Of those, about 1.7 million were elementary school teachers. All 50 states and the District of Columbia require public school teachers to be licensed. Usually the state board of education or a licenser advisory committee grants licenses. Requirements for regular licenses vary by state. However, all states require a bachelor’s degree and completion of an approved teacher training program with a prescribed number of subject and education credits and supervised practice teaching. Some states require specific minimum grade point averages for teacher licenser; Virginia requires a 2.5. Some States require teachers to obtain a master’s degree in education, which involves at least one year of additional course work beyond the bachelor’s degree with a specialization in a particular subject. Almost all states require applicants for teacher licenser to be tested for competency in basic skills such as reading and writing, teaching skills, or subject matter proficiency.
The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education currently accredits over 500 teacher education programs across the U.S. Generally 4-year colleges require students to wait until their sophomore year before applying for admission to teacher education programs. With additional preparation, teachers may move into positions as school librarians, reading specialists, curriculum specialist, or guidance counselors. In some systems, highly qualified, experienced teachers can become senior or mentor teachers with higher pay and additional responsibilities.
In addition to being knowledgeable in their subjects, teachers must be able to communicate, inspire trust, confidence, and motivate students. They also must understand their students’ educational and emotional needs. Teachers must be able to recognize and respond to individual differences in students, and employ different teaching methods that will support student achievement. They also should be organized, dependable, patient, and creative. Teachers must also be able to work cooperatively and communicate effectively with other teaching staff, support staff, parents, and other members of the community.
The job market for teachers varies widely by geographic area and by subject specialty. Teachers who are geographically mobile and obtain licenser in more than one subject should have a distinct advantage in finding a job. Employment of elementary school teachers is expected to increase about as fast as the average for all occupations through the year 2006. The expected retirement of a large number of teachers currently in there 40’s and 50’s should open many additional jobs. The number of teachers employed is also dependent on state and local expenditures for education. The supply of teachers also is expected to increase in response to reports of improved job prospects, more teacher involvement in school policy, and greater public interest in education.
According to the National Education Association, the estimated average salary of all public elementary school teachers is about $37,300. In Alaska a teacher’s pay is about $44,000 while in South Dakota their pay is about $24,000. Virginia is in the upper middle category, at about $35,000. This shows that a teacher’s pay varies on where they are located. In some schools, teachers receive extra pay for coaching sports and working with students in extracurricular activities. Some teachers earn extra income during the summer working within the school system or at other jobs.
"Teaching requires a wide variety of skills and aptitudes, including a talent for working with children; organizational, administrave, and record keeping abilities; research and communication skills; the power to influence, motivate, and train others; patience; and creativity"(Occupational Outlook Handbook). Workers in other occupations requiring some of these abilities include: college and university faculty, counselors, education administrators, librarians, preschool teachers, public relations specialists, sales representatives, and social workers.
The best way to learn about the life of a teacher is to talk with a teacher. I interviewed Ann Peterson, a high schoolteacher at Point Option. Mrs. Peterson uses all forms of communication daily: written, oral, and computing. Written communication includes letters home to parents, feedback on homework, tests and assignments, notes on the overhead, and much more. Mrs. Peterson’s communication could be casual, formal, exacting, detailed, or technical; it all depends on the audience and purpose. Her primary audiences for communication are students, parents, fellow teachers, board members, and the principle. Oral communication consists of lectures; presentations at school, state and national communication levels; telephone communication to parents and children. Mrs. Peterson’s computing skills include being the technical support specialist and web master for her school. Mrs. Peterson uses her computer for making graphs, power point presentations, word processing, and research. She also uses the Internet daily for research, and e-mail from parents and/or students.
As I said in my first paragraph, I have been working with children for the past four years. However, I was not sure if I wanted to have a career as a teacher because of the low pay. After interviewing Mrs. Peterson and researching the teaching field, I know that I would love to peruse a teaching career. Mrs. Peterson finds teaching very rewarding, fulfilling and gratifying to her life. I would rather have a career that makes me happy than a big salary. Teachers are so important to our society and I want to be apart of that.
Works Cited
Peterson, Ann. Personal Interview. 11/3/99.
United States. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook 1998-99. <http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos069.htm>.
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