How do I know I am cut out for teaching? Please help?
Hi everyone. I am basically just looking for some advice and input from experienced teachers. I am currently in college to get my associates in Teacher’s Preparation, and to get certified to work with kids with special needs. I am only about two-three semesters away from graduating. Although I won’t actually be able to teach my own class until after I continue my education and get my bachelor’s, I am planning on being a teacher’s aide, a preschool teacher, or a special education teacher or aide while I work towards my bachelor’s. I was looking for some advice as to how to decide what age group I should work with. So far, I have observed a fourth grade classroom, and a second grade classroom. I know that I don’t want to work outside of the pre K-fifth grade range.
I liked the fourth graders a lot because the ones I was observing were well behaved, bright, and engaged in learning. The second graders were really sweet, adorable, but seemed much more dependant on their teacher for all the little things. I think that I would prefer to work with the fourth or fifth graders, mostly because they are older and are beginning to think critically, and can understand more advanced concepts.
There is one other thing that I was hoping some of the more experienced teachers might be able to talk about. I’ve wanted to teach fourth grade or fifth since I changed my major to teaching this year. I love science and know that kids at that age are usually intrigued with hands on learning, and easily inspired by things like dinosaurs and outer space, with the right teacher and lesson plans. I want to teach because I am very comfortable around young children, I love learning and like the idea of helping other people learn new concepts and mental tools.
Lately though, I’ve been worrying that when the time comes for me to actually stand in front of my own classroom and manage it, the students just won’t listen to me.
I know it might seem silly, but I am naturally a shy person. I am 23, but everyone says I look like I am seventeen or eighteen. Some people have even commented that I look like I am about fourteen. I also am pretty soft spoken. I am short too, which some people have commented might make teaching older kids challenging for me. I’m not a midget or anything, but I have encountered a lot of fifth and even some fourth graders who are my height, or only a few inches shorter than me. I am taking a public speaking class this fall, and hopefully I will overcome my performance anxiety and learn how to keep my voice up while speaking publically. Did any of you other teachers out there have natural shyness to overcome?? Am I just in the wrong field, were you all naturally comfortable speaking and talking to crowds your whole lives? I know that managing a classroom is more psychological than anything, but is it true that given my short height, my young appearance, and soft voice, this might make managing a classroom of fifth graders too challenging? I hope this isn’t too silly, but it’s something that people have told me, so I am trying to take it into consideration.
Thank you for any input or advice
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3 Responses to “How do I know I am cut out for teaching? Please help?”
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First. I was and still get scared when it comes to classroom management. Having a class that is well behaved comes with lots of observing different teachers and experimenting with different management styles.
Second. I know that the younger grades are split up among themselves as far as certification goes (early elementary, late elementary, early childhood). Just know you can chose what grades you apply for but under contract schools can move you where ever you are certified to best suit their needs.
Third. See if you qualify for work study and see if you can get a job at your school’s laboratory school. Better yet make connects with local schools and volunteer. I did my practicums at private schools and church schools even though I asked for public schools. It’s best to work with the kinds of schools you want to work with because public schools are whole different kind of animal than private or parochial schools. Try to volunteer in special needs classrooms.
Fourth. If you want to work with special needs then you will probably will be working with all grade levels in your school. Being with special needs you won’t be a traditional teacher.
Fifth. Start getting Professional Development now. Most will let you participate even though you are not a certified teacher yet. The cost isn’t usually very much.
Sixth. And don’t be surprised if students think you are 10 or 20 years older than you are. Students/kids see their teachers as much older than they really are becuse they are adults and have authority over them. When kids try to guess my age they always start in the 30′s or 40′s! And I’m 24!
Good luck. I think you would make a great teacher. Those who worry- care.
Congratulations on choosing teaching as a career! It is very rewarding and the profession needs lots of people who are passionate about educating and making a difference in young people’s lives.
As a teacher, I have found that children, especially primary children, are very forgiving. They have a thirst for knowledge, love praise and want to please. You need to remember that no matter how tall or how soft your voice is, you have much more life experience than them. Your aim is to engender in them a love of learning and I have seen different teachers do that in different ways. The best teachers talk less and always use a calm and soft voice. The best teachers never need to raise their voice because they have learnt how to use their voice effectively. The way you say it is just as important as what you are saying. The best way to learn this is through experience (you get better the longer you have been teaching) and through observing other teachers – take every opportunity to watch others teach and emulate teachers you admire. My teaching technique is a mix of things ‘borrowed’ from other teachers and things that I find work.
In Australia, when you become a teacher you are qualified to teach K-6 (although most teachers have a preference for older or younger children). Children learn in different ways – auditory, visual or kinesthetic. Hands-on learning is great at every age so don’t let that turn you off the younger children! In fact, they need more hands-on learning. The biggest difference between younger and older children I find is that younger children are still developing their independence and you find yourself tying shoe laces and wiping noses more. However their rate of progress is much greater than older children which is great to see.
Remember that classroom management is a learnt skill – pick up tips wherever you can. If your preference is for older children, go for it. Physical appearance should not be a consideration.
Good luck and enjoy your teaching!
To be a teacher, you must have the following qualities:
1. A martyr complex. You must wish to be actually killed by your job. I am not kidding.
2. A glutton for punishment. You must wish to be constantly berated and disciplined for absolutely no reason whatsoever.
3. An eagerness to be treated lower than dirt. You must wish to be degraded and disrespected by your superiors, no matter how accomplished and capable you are.
4. A desire to live in poverty. Have you seen what a teacher gets paid?
5. A desire to be the target of false accusations by your students. You will be accused of sexually molesting your students (male and female), and you will be accused of using racial slurs against your students. You will be accused of being a "bad teacher" at least four times a day, mainly by students who got a poor grade or who misbehaved in your classroom. You will be accused of allowing extraterrestrial aliens come into your classroom and shoot students with its ray gun, and four students actually died. When you point out that there are no reports that any of your students are dead, nobody will listen to you.
6. An yearning to be verbally abused and berated by psychotic parents who actually believe that four students died in your classroom when you permitted an extraterrestrial alien to shoot your students with a ray gun.
Abandon all notions of being treated fairly. It is like an episode of the Twilight Zone, where facts and logic have no effect on events.