Thread: How did you decide on who & what you'll teach?

I have taught everything from PK through MS. All were perfect for me for where I was in my life at the time I taught them.

Sometimes you don't get to choose. Sometimes you have to take what you can get. I am certified K-9 (7-9 SS - I think in the dark ages 9 was still part of junior high). So, that made me marketable in a wide range of grade levels.

I had always sworn I would never teach MS. I was talked into it 20+ years ago to "just try it for a year". I would never consider going to the little ones again (although I still go down to their wing for my "hug fix").

I think it is wonderful to have males in the elementary grades. So many children are without male role models. But as to whether one is better than the other has little to do with gender IMO. Technically, your gender should not make a difference in hiring. However, all things being equal, IMO a male wold have an edge over a female in ELE.

If you belong to a church, volunteer to teach SS/Bible Class to middle school and see how you like it.

Before I started teaching, I assumed I would teach elementary. Then, I "tried it out" by become an AmeriCorps volunteer for a year in a low-income elementary school. I said, no thanks. i didn't like the scheduling of being with the same group all day. . . of no breaks (it ws a rainy climate so I lost my lunch break several times a week to supervise indoor lunch). If a kid is bad at 8:30, he's your problem all day. The next year I was a classified staff member at a junior high and I fell in love with it. The kids were energetic and fun and able to do complex activities, plus every 50 minutes you got a new group. You get to start over. I am certified to teach 6-12 English, but my first year I got hired to teach 1 grade. In my area there is no teacher shortage and you take what you can get. I think men have an advantage in getting hired in elementary positions. Every one wants more male teachers-- parents, admin, and even kids.

I started out in my teaching education thinking I would teach late intermediate--grades 5-7, most places it would be Middle School. I was placed in a grade 1 class for the short round of student teaching because we were expected to have experience in both areas of elementary. I loved grade 1 so I begged the powers that be to place me in primary for the long student teaching. I was placed in grade 3--also loved that. My first job was grade 3/4 split--loved the 3s, only moderately liked the 4s. In 17 years, I've taught K-4 and I love K the most. I'm meant for K--the silliness, the creativity, the never-the-same-day-twice....

IYHO, who makes better elementary teachers men or women? Would being a man hinder my chances of getting a good job?

Since I'm a woman, I would have to say women are FAR superior :wink: but then I'd be wrong. It really doesn't matter and I've seen really great teachers of both genders and really awful teachers of both genders. When I see the awful ones, I wonder why they're in the business. Like Flor said, everyone wants more male teachers so I'd say your chances are good if you go into elementary but only do it if you like working with little kids--it's not for the faint of heart. If you think for a minute "oh, how cute!", they'll eat you alive.

The first Spanish class I took I found to be the COOLEST THING EVER. And I didn't know what else to do with it besides teach it I figure high school is really the only option for foreign languages but since I'm an emet I wouldn't like elementary kids being sick on themselves out of nowhere. At least high schoolers, for the most part, know to go to the bathroom.

That and I don't know how to discipline younger children without feeling like I'm butting in on their parents' business.

Thx for all the great replies. They have helped me to narrow down my age group I'd liked to teach.

5th-8th grade seems to be the area I'd like to teach in. The main reason is the students are less dependent on personal needs, and are not too independent. Like many others my first strong male teacher wasn't until 5th grade. He was hard on the outside, but was a great teacher.
The only other male teachers in my elementary school were the gym teachers & music teacher.

I feel I'd be comfortable teaching children between the ages of 10-13. They would want to learn more, and be capable of understanding
what their being taught better. At the end of 8th grade they should be great children on their way to become great young adults.

As for a particular subject to specialize in, I have no clue. I wasn't a "great" student, but a good one. So grades 5-8 would be ok for me to teach. My weakest link would be math. But elementary &
middle school math wasn't too hard, so I'll be ok.

I thought being a man (possibly) teaching elementary school would be frowned upon. It seems I was wrong. So I will need to becareful in choosing a school to teach at. I don't like the idea of being taken advantage of.

If you have any other information you like to share, please do. I'm still in the deciding phase.

Remember the saying, look before you leap? I've always, looked, measured, and looked again before I leaped.

I started off wanting to teach primary school (5-11 year olds), then when I left school myself I decided to do my Masters in English first and take it from there. I had always wanted to teach but felt like I wanted to get my degree in the subject that I was interested in as well. I naturally progressed onto teaching English. It had always been my strongest subject and to be honest I never really thought about teaching anything else.

When I completed my degree I decided that I was better suited to teaching secondary school (11/12-18 year olds) and could use my degree better with older kids. I took the teacher training and started off teaching year 8 and 9 (which I believe is Middle School in the US but I'm not really sure how the systems compare) and am now teaching GCSE, AS and A-Level. Most of the kids are between 15 and 18 although I have a few younger students taking GCSE's who are around 14. It just seemed to be a natural progression for me. I like the challenge of teaching the more advanced classes.

I have to say that if it wasn't for the huge difference in the level of student/teacher interaction between school and university, I would most probably move on to become a tutor/lecturer at uni, however I think I would really miss getting to know my students and may lose a lot of job satisfaction through that. I know that when I was at uni I think maybe one lecturer actually knew my name even after I'd spoken to many of them at least six or seven times.

I always knew I wanted to teach secondary ed because I knew I personally couldn't handle 20+little kids all day long. I like that the classes change throughout the day and my students aren't with me for the entire day. It makes me feel good when they tell me they look forward to coming to my class or that my class is their favorite part of the day. I don't really have a distinction between middle or high school because I've had experience in both and I really enjoyed both experiences. You just have to change your mindset for each setting. I ended up teaching high school because that's where I got a job - at first I was nervous but now I'm glad I'm there. There are so many reasons why I enjoy teaching - from the very superficial reasons, like I love my classroom, to the deeper reasons, like I enjoy being around my students I learn from them as much as they learn from me. Sometimes more. Teaching makes me feel like I am being a good role model in a society where so many role models fall short. I would consider teaching other grades only wiht the hopes that I'd get to repeat with some of the kids I've already had!

I started as a computer animator/graphic designer/video technician. Then my boss got a job teaching Lightwave 3D on the side at the local HS and I got assigned as a TA. After that I taught 5-year-olds in Sunday school and I was hooked.

I went through Chapman college's credentialling program and got a Multiple Subject credential.

Last year I taught Art and this year I'm teaching 2nd Grade. And yes, I do make lots of artwork and even animation for my class.

If you're going into ElEd, one thing to consider is how patient you are with professors and peers. As a male you will have to put up with a bunch of so-called "humor," and even out-right bias, with little recourse. You have to learn to ignore the "token male" comments and the endless jokes about "having to raise X children, and my husband." Classmates will sometimes pick up on this, and add to it. Sometimes you may have to deal with professors who will not be comfortable with male students, or may be subtly, or even actively, biased against male students. This tends to make for a very uncomfortable semester . . .

Some people can deal with it, some can't--I've seen more than one student drop from the program or change plans to work with older students just to avoid this. Judging by what I've heard and seen, I don't think this is a local problem; I've heard similar complaints from male ElEd students from coast to coast. That whole attitude can be rather pervasive, and about the only way to deal with it is to learn to tolerate or ignore it. I saw your post shortly after Wag posted, and I've written a few replies that I've decided not to post, simply because I'm really tired of it.

It shouldn't be the deciding factor in what you plan to do, but it does have to be considered.