Thread: Elementary or Middle: Which is the better fit?

Many MANY people switch grade levels. It's one of the wonderful things about teaching. If it isn't working for you at the grade you've started at, you can move vertically.

On the other hand, I'd go through the year just to make sure that this is what you want/need. It could be that it's just the beginning teacher blues that have you bogged down.

Originally Posted by bevy

As I try to plan lessons for my 3rd grade class, I can't imagine things taking as long as they're slated to take. If I proceed at the speed I'm expecting to naturally go, the students will have nothing to do at the end of the year; but if I proceed following the pacing guidelines given to me, it feels like I'll have to deliberately slow things down for no good reason.

They'll have lots to do. You don't have to stop when you've finished with the guidelines. It's okay to keep going. Some things will take longer, others shorter. I never go by the pacing guidelines.

Originally Posted by bevy

My problem is that I'm coming to believe I'm too stress-prone and inflexible to handle the elementary school day and planning for this many subjects and all the things that can go wrong. I thought I wanted to teach kindergarten b/c I wanted to teach children how to read, but my college always put me in middle school placements. I'm wondering now if they didn't see something that I refused to admit to myself.

I have high expectations of both myself and my students, and I keep wondering if I would be happier in middle school, where I could devote myself to consisently designing truly interesting lessons in my single subject. Also, I admit that I'm a much more technical and academic person by nature than a "compassionate" person. (I have a "no-nonsense" type personality that I fear may be incompatible with elementary teaching, but right on target for a middle school teacher.)

If you like the older kids, then you might be better with them. I had the opposite experience. I thought I wanted to teach older kids (grade 5,6,7) and they put me with younger kids (grade 2). I found I liked them better. Now, after 15 years, I can't imagine teaching anything above grade 3--even that seems too old for me, so maybe our instructors saw something that we both didn't.

I, too, have a "no-nonsense" type personality but I'm a great (gee, no humility there!:wink: ) kindergarten teacher. On the other hand, I'm VERY flexible which is maybe why I can do the elementary thing. As you go on in your teaching career, you may find that you become more flexible.

Originally Posted by bevy

I realize this sounds horrible, but as of right now I'm not even enjoying the children as much as I had hoped or expected to. I feel so bogged down with trying to "get things right" that I think it's hurting the kids.

No one is looking over your shoulder to make sure that you're following the guidelines in the manuals. Relax, yes, I know, easier said than done. You don't need to be as perfect as you think. If you stop worrying about what might happen and think of all the great things that ARE happening, you might find your life easier.

Patricia