Hi! and questions (Long post!)

[SarahKate]

Hi all! My name is Sarah, I am 22 years old and currently working on my degree. I am married to military and we are stationed overseas in England. My choices for schooling are quite limited over here, and there are no degrees offered that are specifically education related. My goal is to become a 3rd or 4th grade teacher. I am currently working towards a BA in English, as I have heard that many teachers earn their degree in English and then pursue a teaching certificate. Please correct me if I am wrong! I have had such a hard time trying to find information on this, and am looking for any answers. I also have a few general questions as well. If any of you could answer these questions, I would be very grateful!

1. Did you get your degree in something other than education, and then get your teaching certificate later?
2. What is the most rewarding thing about teaching, in your opinion?
3. The most challenging thing?
4. What grade do you teach?
5. What came as a surprise to you as you began teaching?

Thank you all for any info!
Sarah :)

[Brit]

I'm in Canada, and here in my province you are required to have an undergraduate degree before teacher's college, unless you take something called concurrent ed, where you do a bachelor's at the same time as teacher's college. My degree is held jointly in canadian history and in English Lit.

the most rewarding thing about teaching:

There are so many. I love it when the kids "get" a concept. For example, our room is a construction theme this year. Well, they got the theme right off the bat, and when I asked them to link the theme to language, they figured out the links right away (this is grade 1 and 2, so I wasn't sure if they'd get it). I love it, too, when parents and kids let you know that what you're doing matters to them. I'm lucky to have had kids and parents who will do just that. it's quite touching. I love the look of enthrallment I get from the whole class when I read a good bookm. I love it when they BEG for "just one more chapter" of the read-aloud. I love it when a student does something particularly amazing in their work. I love marking and finding student "gems" -- whether howlers or brilliant insights. I love seeing them help each other and hearing one student explain something to another student. Like I said -- so many things.

What is the most challenging thing:
Again, long list. I think the hardest thing for me, as I am just starting out, is to be SURE that a student has a concept. In other words, assessing well, then trusting my assessment. I have the assessment theory, but kids throw curve balls in practice. I also find figuring out exactly what to do for each child to move them forward difficult. Its the analysis part of the job, where you break down exactly where a child is missing a skill and then teach that skill. I don't find that there's enough individual time to pinpoint problems all the time, and even when I have a good handle on what the problem is, I don't always have strategies to solve the problem or the time to implement the strategies properly. I take all this as me being new, and keep hoping I'll figure out how to work faster and more effectively as time goes on.

What grade:
I taught core grade 2 and grade 2 French Immersion last year. This year, I have grade 1 and 2 French Immersion. Lemme tell you, grade 1 is a world away from grade 2. I think I'd find the same thing with any 2 grades -- there's a suprizingly big difference from year to year!

What came as a surprise to you as you began teaching:
How much time adminstrative crap (like year start-up forms, pizza money and orders, etc) takes up. How "on my own" I was when it came to building a program, teaching and assessing my class. I had tons of help and support, but it was a bit of a shock to my system to be alone in the room and in charge by myself for the first time. Suddenly, I was responsible for getting these kids to read and count and add and write, and there wasn't anyone else to pick up the slack if I couldn't do it. I mean, I KNEW it was coming, but the reality is never what you expect. It's a daunting task, especially when starting out. Teacher's college does NOT prepare you for it. Conversely, I was suprized with the expectations of working with a team, and the limited autonomy I had. YES, I had my own program to run, but the parameters were very tight, what with trying to schedule in the expected minutes per subject, meet the school success plan (which involved teaching specific concepts that we had to teach in a specific way based on our team plan) and with required program compnents and assessments. sure, I built my own program, but the parameters and timelines were so tight that it made the building very difficult.

It's a great job, but it is NOT easy. I've been told, and will tell you, it is not a job, it is not a career, it's a lifestyle choice.

[teacher5]

Sarah- If you come back to the USA, in most states, you will need to take undergraduate courses in Elem. Ed. before you can get a provisional license. After a certain number of years (3 -5) depending upon the state, you will need to get a masters in ed. in order to get a permanent license. I am teaching for many years 30+ and Brit's got it right when she says it's a lifestyle choice. But for many of the reasons she beautifully elaborated upon, that's why I would do it all over again. When the kids "get it," or thank you for teaching them something you get an amazing feeling. One of the hardest things to deal with has been how the family structure has changed the lack of support for education that comes from so many homes. Also, the state and district mandates for what you must teach, when you must teach it, and how you are forced to teach to students who are not prepared to meet the demands of the curriculum. Today many of us have TA (teacher assistants) or aides all or part of the day to assist us, but this cannot make up for the missing gaps in a child's educational career. Today we have the No Child Left Behind Law which really is Every Child Pushed Ahead. But inspite of all of this, there are still enough rewarding moments for kids and teachers to inspire us that we can make a difference in the lives of many youngsters.

[Boxcar]

1. I got my degree in Early Childhood Development. I am qualified to teach zero to eight. I do not, however, have a license. This is not a problem unless I want to teach in a public K, 1st or 2nd grade. I am still considering doing a TTT and getting a license. WHy? Well, I want a Masters. It is easier to find schools offering a Ed. Masters than a Development Masters. So, that would be my motivation for doing TTT.

2. I love seeing the lightbulb turn on. I also enjoy watching my studnets learn through play. It is amazing to see the lessons they choose to learn and the directinon in which they take my activites. Plus, I love to play and will join in with the children. The students just get so excited when an adult is that interested and willing to participate. A lot of the demographic I work with doesn't experience that often.

3. I think it is the language barriers. The children don't all have a good grasp of language, and that will contirubte to a lot of frustations and challenging behaviors for them. Going down for naps is also a chalenge.

3. My grade is zero to eight. Of course, it isn't all those ages at once!

4. Honestly, I was surprised how well I did. I was doubtful about my abilites, but I really feel teaching is a good fit for me. I throughly enjoy it. That was a surprise too. I was startled how quickly the day goes by! Another surprise was how exhausting it can be. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to leave the children only to come home to even more.

[Boxcar]

Oh, I forgot to add my little side note. Look online for a Transition to Teaching program. You can get your BA/BS in whatever you wnat. Then, you take a short online course that will get you a cetificate.

[SarahKate]

Thank you everyone for your replies! I am still not sure about the degree part of it, but I am getting closer to knowing what grade I want to teach, etc...
I appreciate the input :)

[Boxcar]

You're welcome. Try looking online for a program that meets your needs rather than a local uni. That way, you can move locations as needed without losing accumulated credits and whatnot. :)

[SarahKate]

I know, I have GOT to do that! The thing is that I am not yet positive about teaching, and so I wasn't sure if I should pursue something so specific. Whereas, with an English degree, if it turns out teaching isn't right for me, I have more options. Any thoughts on this?
Thanks again!