Hello everyone!!!

Are there any teachers out there? I'm a music teacher who started my second year teaching music last month. I'm teaching Pre-K through 6th this year (last year I taught Pre-K through 8th grade). I'm in charge of the general music classes, two orchestras, 2 choirs, and 1 Orff Percussion ensemble.

Who else here teaches? Why did you go into teaching? Do you love it? Will you teach forever?

Yay, power to the teachers!

I'm a certified 7-12 social studies teacher, but I haven't been able to find a permanent position yet. I've been substituting for the past 3 years instead. Hopefully I'll be able to nab a job sometime soon. History is just a competitive subject, there are so many of us out there.

Originally Posted by Knerd

Yay, power to the teachers!

I'm a certified 7-12 social studies teacher, but I haven't been able to find a permanent position yet. I've been substituting for the past 3 years instead. Hopefully I'll be able to nab a job sometime soon. History is just a competitive subject, there are so many of us out there.

I know how that is unfortunately. It's hard to find a music teaching job because schools at the elementary level generally have just 1 music teacher and the secondary have anywhere from 1 to 3. So there aren't many jobs available for us D:

I hope you get your foot in the door somewhere and start teaching what you want to teach :D But at least you are getting a lot of experience subbing :D

That's the good part of subbing - I get to see a ton of different classrooms and teaching styles. It's nice to be able to start a lesson and think: "Oh yeah, this teacher is awesome, they've got it all worked out. I'm gonna steal this idea someday." Or on the flip side: "This was doomed, I'm never ever going to make that mistake."

I'm so jealous that you get to work with the same group of kids all semester and really get to see their growth, but at least for now, I'm happy to stay in a classroom for only 1-2 days and then leave before any of the really hard work starts up.

I'm a teacher.

My university program was for K-8th self-contained classroom education. Some things came up that kept me from getting that full credential, however (at least for the State of California; in other states I could have my own public school classroom). In the meanwhile, I've done loads of student teaching, (also Sunday School and Vacation Bible School teaching), Substituting for Pre-K through 8th grade, substituting for lower grades "specialty" classes: Spanish as a second language, Technology, P.E., and I've also been the lead teacher for a summer camp that teaches kids how to design LEGO robots and program computer games.

I do feel a bit incomplete since I've never had my own classroom for a school year, but I know that I _am_ a teacher. My "teacher instinct" is something that I can never turn off. For example, even when I was in the waiting room for the ICU once, there was a little girl who was struggling with her mathematics homework. Her mother didn't know how to help her. She was in fifth grade beginning work on the Order of Operations. I gave her the mnemonic device of "My Dear Aunt Sally" (Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction) and helped her with it until she could handle it on her own. Her mother was incredibly grateful, and it warmed my heart.

I've been teaching English in Japan for the past three years. I work at a junior high school (ages 12-15) and two elementary schools, mostly grades five and six (ages 10-12). I'll occasionally teach the younger grades or special education classes, but not on a weekly basis like my other classes.

Prior to moving, I minored in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) and completed a teaching practicum/certification through my university, which is good enough for most schools abroad, but I would have to go back to school if I wanted to teach in the US. I don't really plan on ever returning "home" though, so I think I'll continue working here in various English teaching positions. My boyfriend is also a teacher, but he teaches science.

Originally Posted by Knerd

That's the good part of subbing - I get to see a ton of different classrooms and teaching styles. It's nice to be able to start a lesson and think: "Oh yeah, this teacher is awesome, they've got it all worked out. I'm gonna steal this idea someday." Or on the flip side: "This was doomed, I'm never ever going to make that mistake."

That's one thing I appreciate about my job too! As an ALT (assistant language teacher), I work with a bunch of different teachers and can learn from their examples. I feel like this job is training, since eventually I hope to run my own classroom without a second teacher involved. I've already recycled a lot of ideas and strategies into my own teaching and worked on avoiding the mistakes I've seen.

Ooooh a teacher thread! I'm not a teacher (yet) but my mom is! She teaches second graders.

I'm thinking about becoming a teacher and teaching English or Kindergartners. Big difference I know..

Hearing all your teacher stories makes me even more excited to go along the teaching path!

I'm a teacher in the loosest sense of the word, as I'm currently serving as a floating teacher in a local preschool/daycare. In short, I never quite know if I'm going to be working with infants, toddlers, or preschoolers (or if I'm actually going to get to teach anyone anything). With some luck (and grad school), I hope to be an English professor one day. It looks like it'll be quite the long road for me, but passions and all that...and I'm just naive enough to hold out hope.

Yay for the teachers :D
I am pursuing a master's and considering a ph.d. in Anthropology.
I am starting to think the only thing I will be qualified for is teaching.

I hope I'm not necroing this thread, but I am starting my first year of full time teaching this year. High school physics....mostly juniors and seniors, and IPC which is mostly tenth graders. I've subbed for the last two and a half years, but I just got my certification in science 8-12! I'm excited, but also wicked nervous because I've never taught physics before and I'm at an economically disadvantaged, high minority school. Not exactly what I've been subbing for in the past