Job Responsibilities
Classroom teacher: Impliment curriculum, accomodate different
learning styles, improve acheivment scores, parent communications,
student development, curriculum development. Instruct and manage
approximately 130 students a day, as well as indirect supervision.
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Job Requirements
Teacher education is very regulated. Graduate coursework is
required for your entire career. Salary levels are also
determined by education level as well as experience. The more
schooling you have the more you earn. There are wealth of course
that are available, on-line and correspondence. Make sure to
complete your masters degeree at a university were you actually
interact with professors. Correspondence/internet coursework is
fine and dandy for meeting the continuing education requirements
or achieving pay raises, but cannot substitute for a legitimate
graduate program. Most of the correspondence/internet coursework
is laughable, and in no way at a graduate level of instruction (I
personally question the accreditation process after completing 6
graduate credits in 9 days time).
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Uppers
Coworkers were always the biggest plus. Most teachers believe in teaching each
other as well as students, and they are great at making the best out of poor
situations. Working with children is the other. I genuinely believe in public
service and the importance of working with and for kids. I am now a law student
at the nearby university and run into my former students all the time, it's one
of the most fulfilling experiences to see how my students have blossomed into
successful adults. And trust me, working in Middle School is great. The kids
are funny, intelligent, and keep you on your toes.
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Downers
Being public enemy #1. The worst part of the job is the total
lack of respect that most parents, almost all working adults, and
nearly 100% of all politicians have for the job you do. This
alone drove me out of teaching after 10 years. After working in
the trenches all day with kids, it was such a relief to come home,
turn on the TV and have your President/Governor tell you that
teachers are what is wrong with public education. During election
cycles it was the worst. There is nothing more frustrating that
hearing politicians, many who never set foot in a public school
until they ran for office to tell what is wrong with school and
what needs to be changed. Most politicians would never consider
telling a doctor how to fix what is wrong with a broken leg.
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Lifestyle
Generally plan to work 10-15 hours a week outside of the regular school day.
Grading papers, contacting parents, and developing curriculum. My rule: don't
take it home, its better to grade the papers at your desk until 5 o'clock at
night then go home, then to be surrounded by papers all the time. And never let
parents call you at home (which means don't call them from home either). I had
parents that got my phone number somehow and called me over christmas vacation.
Parents don't call their doctor at home, they shouldn't call you at home either.
Dress code is up in the air. I worked in a middle school, the principal didn't
care that I wore blue jeans and dress casual everyday. The kids related better,
and frankly no body was beating down the door to do my job. My boss's approach:
as long as it is appropriate for being around kids and doesn't interfere with
teaching I don't care. I was lucky. Some schools are considerably more formal.
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Compensation
I was comfortable as a teacher. But I live in Michigan: low cost
of living, and high teacher wages. You're a public employee,
there is no such thing as a bonus, and lately, you lose wages to
ever increasing school years and pay freezes. When hiring in pay
attention to the whole contractual pay scale. Look to see how
long it takes to get to the top of the pay schedule. The sooner
that you max out the better, because that means you're earning
your maximum longer. Also how large the increases are between the
various levels of education. Think: is it going to cost you
$15,000 dollars to get on to the MA+15 schedule, but you'll only
get a $1200 dollar increase. But don't be deceived by a high
starting salary. 15 years ago when I started a Texas district
recruited me with a nice starting salary, but after 10 years of
experience and a master's degree I would only be making $6,000 more.
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Advice to Jobseekers
To be blunt: don't go into to teaching. This is the worst time to
work in the field. Pay is frozen because of the economy, new
grads can't get hired, and teacher respect and morale are at all
time lows. When we have a real teacher shortage in this country,
maybe people well take notice of how poorly they have been
treating one of our greatest resources.
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