I recently read Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher’s First Year. Entertaining, interesting, enlightening. But that book, combined with comments from a couple of teacher friends indicate to me that there are not many happy teachers – at least in the public school systems. Maybe it’s the bureaucracy. I did meet a private school teacher on the east coast who loves her job and her fourth graders. Any comments from teachers?
The bureaucracy can get you down, if you let it–and the longer you teach, the more you become aware of it.
But…I love what I do. I’m starting my 6th year in the profession, and still have no question about what I should be doing. It’s good to have summers, though; the breather is necessary after all the push for test results, assessments, etc. This is the first year I feel mentally ready to start the school year, and as a result, I’m not having that annoying repeating school-starting-tomorrow-and-I-didn’t-know dream.
It takes a lot of factors, though. I’m teaching an age I love at a school I love; that can make all the difference. And of course, the time of year weighs in–March and October tend to be the worst, and January, February, and May/June the best.
So…yes, we exist. 
I loved teaching when I was still doing it. I taught special ed in a 7-12 classroom for 10 years. (Well, the first year was in a different setting…not nearly as pleasant.)
My job was high-stress much of the time, as I did a LOT of crisis intervention. Many of my students were troubled or had troubled families. The emotional investment was huge, but for me it was necessary to teach the way I wanted to teach.
I think a lot of teachers aren’t happy, though. If I were still there, three-four years later, I’d probably be burned out and exhausted and unhappy. This is not a job that one should stay in after reaching the burn-out phase–I watched too many teachers hit that point, and their frustration levels got worse every year.
You also have to consider if you can (or want to) live on a 3/4 income. The summer break is great, but contrary to what everyone tells you when you’re teaching, you don’t “get paid to have your summers off.” You simply get paid for X number of days (in my schools, 182) divided among 26 paychecks. Then, of course, you have to take classes to keep your license current, etc.
Sometimes I really miss it, but then I realize that it’s the KIDS I miss–not the bureaucratic bs.
~karol
I’m studying to become a secondary school teacher (English) & was actually thinking of starting a thread like this for purposes of advice/anecdote gathering, but looks like Violet beat me to it.
Man, now that it’s getting closer (I have 2 1/2 years 'til I get my B.A., then M.A.), it’s becoming much more real. Duh. Peter Pan Syndrome, anyone? Anyway, the idea of actually getting out there & trying to shape minds a bit has really hit home, & I also want to know how teachers (specifically grades 7-12) feel about their professions.
I’m not a 7-12 teacher Cosmopolitan, but I believe certain experiences are fairly universal.
My first year teaching was horribly stressful, but me at my most ideal. I wasn’t particularly skilled as a teacher–it’s a craft you really hone with experience–but I remember what my prof said. “A first year teacher offers something no other teacher can: the enthusiasm and love of a first year teacher.”
It isn’t that teachers aren’t enthusiastic or loving after that; it’s just not quite the same. You kinda balance out. Now, I’m a more skilled instructor, and the stress of getting my class ready, navigating curriculum, etc. is much less. I don’t have the oh-boy-teaching-teaching-teach! attitude, but it’s okay. Think of it as a relationship–at first, there’s a lot of fireworks and excitement and drama. After a while, it subsides, and something deeper (hopefully) takes root.
The hardest part is, indeed, the politicking. A bad principal can make teaching a nightmare, as can an obnoxious coworker or overly hyped parent. It’s also annoying to have the Board tell you how to teach–use this program! No wait, this one! No, no…this one! (In 5 years, I have used 4 different language arts programs!)
But the kids, the learning, the "ah-HA!"s…mmm, that remains the best.
Hey, I just retired after teaching for 30 years, and I loved it! In fact, just one month after retiring, I started volunteering to teach Sr citizens to use the computer. It is a very rewarding job, but I was surprised to find all of the same types of students in my over-60 group as I had in HS classes. The eager learner, and the reluctant learner, the bold and the timid…they all exist at every age group.
I would recommend teaching as a profession if: A) You really love learning yourself, B) You like to help others, C) You are a strong personality - you will find that for the most part teaching is much more isolated from your peers than in most other professions, and D) You are internally motivated.
What is the correct answer for someone going into teaching from the list above? All of the above, of course! By the way, having a geeky sense of humor can help you…if not your students.
“A mind stretched to a new idea never goes back to its original dimensions” - Oliver Wendell Holmes
I should add that politics do exist in teaching! And nearly all of the problems that I had over the years were generated from the administrative side…not to me personally, but matters such as funding, assignments, hiring, and contract negotiations were problems that did impact the entire teaching staff.
From my experience, all jobs/professions have the same down side…it is just part of the game.
I’ve been teachig elementary school for 16 years, and I still start each new year tingling with excitement and a little anxiety. I love my job. I love watching the students’ growth from the start of the year to the end.
My favorite time of the day is from 12:00 to 12:10, just after I return from lunch. The students have 10 minutes left in their recess, but there are always a few, usually girls, but once in a while some boys also, who would rather hang out in the room with me than play on the playground.
I love reading groups, in which we discuss the stories that we read together; it’s like getting paid to attend a book club every day in which most, if not all, of the people have actually read the book. And because I’m the teacher, I get to choose the book we’re going to read and discuss, so I know that I’m going to enjoy the reading and discussion and that rubs off onto the kids.
I love seeing the look students get when they finally understand a difficult concept or master a new, difficult skill.
I love exploring our country’s history with my students, helping them see that there were extraordinary people who made our country what it is today and encouraging them to aspire to such greatness. We look at our country’s dark past so that we can understand and strive to avoid the mistakes of our predecessors.
I love working with the math team for an hour after school each day, knowing that for these 15-18 kids, learning something new and working hard at practicing it is more important to them than watching tv or playing videogames with their friends. Especially since they know from the beginning that they will be working for months to prepare for a single day’s competition, and that some of them won’t get to compete. I love the fact that after the competition team of seven participants and two alternates is chosen, the other six or seven students who didn’t make the competition team continue to come to practice for the six weeks between the selection and the competition. I love that the students continue to come to practice even after the competition is over.
Once in a while, I get to work with a student like Maria*. Who didn’t miss a spelling word on any test for her three years in 3-5th grades. Who likewise routinely wrote papers with no spelling, grammar, or mechanics errors. Who can label a blank map of the United States with the correct, and correctly spelled state name, state capital, and every city of more than a million people. Who can do the same for Canada, Mexico, and Brazil. Who can likewise take a blank world map and label over 150 indepenent countries, name the capital, and the language(s) spoken by the residents. Who can solve quadratic equations. The amazing part is that Maria isn’t the smartest student I ever had. She’s smart, no doubt about it, but she accomplished all of this because she decided to, and worked at it until she was satisfied with the results.
I see a student like Maria every five or six years. And to a much lesser extent, one or two like her every single year.
And every year, I get to meet a couple people who are interesting and unique, who I would never have gotten to meet and know otherwise. I get to do this every year.
Most of all, I get to go to work each day knowing that I am most likely going to have fun doing what I’m going to do, and I’m going to be with people I like and respect.
Yeah, I love my job.
*name changed for privacy reasons.
The sentence that starts “And every year” was mangled in editing. It should read:
I get to meet people who are interesting and unique, who I would never have gotten to meet and know otherwise. I get to do this every year.
One of my favorite anecdotes, if you don’t mind a short hijack.
I was working with high school students who had mild to moderate/severe learning disabilities. In English, I photocopied chapters of a Gary Paulen book (I had twenty copies of the darn thing, but we could mark up the copies and highlight, etc.).
Along toward the end of the book, I overheard one of my older boys exclaim to the rest of the group, “Heeeey. Wait a MINUTE. She’s tricked us into reading a whole BOOK!” Poor guy. He was appalled.
I have so many good memories. Man, I had some cool kids in my classes.
Paulsen.
I highly recommend his books, too…I used a lot of them in my classes, and they were great springboards for discussions about social issues, families, self esteem, not to mention science and good stuff like that.
(Rambling, I know…I’ve been up since 3:00.)
Gary Paulsen is very good. We read Hatchet and A Christmas Sonata every year.
Both of my parents were teachers (just retired) for 35+ years each (Mom in elementary, Dad in High School). Although I heard plenty of complaints from both of them, the problem was never the kids or the teaching itself. It was always what others have already mentioned: office politics, deranged parents, and the whole “you guys just babysit for 5 hours a day, you get the entire summer off, and you want more of my tax money?” attitude.