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Job Title: Teacher
Type of Company: I work for a school district in North Carolina.
Education: BS, East Carolina University
Previous Experience: I started as a pre-school teacher and now am a fourth grade teacher.
Job Tasks: I am responsible for implementing the North Carolina Standard Course of Study in a classroom of twenty-one fourth graders. I am responsible for their well-being and education on a daily basis. I try to care for the children as if they are my own. In a typical day I teach several subject areas, take children to lunch, play games at recess and try to teach the children how to be good citizens. I also work with my grade level team to develop lessons, plan field trips, evaluate student performance, and support each other.
Best and Worst Parts of the Job: The best part of my job is helping students learn new things and stretch their imaginations.
The hardest parts are the ridiculous assessments of children. It is difficult working with uncaring and negligent parents. It is wonderful helping boost student confidence. It is exciting to see student accomplishments!
Job Tips: As challenging as things are with state assessments, it pays to look past the assessments and see the children who are being assessed. Children love to learn and love to please and to feel proud. State assessments make teaching seem unrealistic and overwhelming. Teachers have to stay focused on why they wanted to be teachers. 99% of the time it is because they love children and love being around them. The children are worth the stress.
Additional Thoughts: I am surprised at how emotional this career is. You become so connected to "your" students, but they are YOURS. I can't believe how quickly the focus of education has changed in the 10 years that I have been teaching. it is so test-driven and performance-driven and this goes against EVERYTHING that children need! I am hoping that this thorough testing is just a trend and soon someone will realize that this is not the only way to measure what a child knows!!
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