At What Level Do You Want to Teach?

      At What Level Do You Want to Teach?

O. K. You decided that you want to be a teacher. Now, the next question you have to answer is at what level do you want to teach? There is the K-5 level, the middle school level, the high school level and the college level.

At the k-5 level, kindergarten through fifth grade, you are going to be acting much like a parent. The lower the grade you start at he more individual attention the students will need. At the kindergarten level you may even have to help students with blowing their nose and going to the toilet. They will want to hang on to you and be the center of attention.

Still there is much to be gained by teaching at this level. The students will love you, and you will have very little problems with classroom management. Lessons will be relatively easy to plan. You will have a lot less class work and homework to correct. There will be much time spent with group instruction, individual instruction, and having students work quietly on their own.

My only experience at the K-5 level was a summer school class that I taught with third through fourth graders, Though it was an enjoyable experience, I found that the thinking level of the lower grade level did not match that of the sixth grade students that I was use to teaching, and it was very hard to get an interesting discussion going. I taught sixth grade at a kindergarten through sixth grade school for about ten years and found I really enjoy talking to and playing with the younger children at recess. It was nice when some of them told me that they couldn’t wait until they were old enough to be in my sixth grade classroom. I moved up to middle school when we decided that sixth graders would do better in a setting with seventh and eighth graders.

Most of my teaching experience has been at the middle school level, and most of that at the sixth grade level. I have heard many teachers say that you should avoid middle school at all costs. That they say is where the real discipline problems occur. To some extent it is true that there are a lot of discipline problems at the middle school. But, with a good classroom management plan and a lot of positive reinforcement you can handle the discipline problems.

In many ways, I enjoyed sixth grade more than any other grade level. The thing I liked most about teaching sixth grade is that I had the same students all day. During my first ten years in sixth grade, we taught every subject to our students including P.E. and art. Having the same students all day allowed me to really get to know them well. After the first couple weeks of a new year, I pretty well knew just what a student was capable of doing.

Lucky for me I learned to individualize my teaching during my first couple years in the classroom. I was able to test my students and give them individualized instruction in reading, and math. Students who were reading at the second grade level were placed in a second grade book. Students who were reading at the ninth grade books were place in a ninth grade book were placed in a book at their reading level or allowed to do free reading in library books of their choice. In a self contained classroom I was able individualize because I had the same students all day for a full year.

Students at the sixth grade level are just beginning to develop their thinking capacities and are very open to new ideas. They love to discuss new concepts and we had great class discussions. You can watch them develop month by month. I took great pride in seeing my sixth graders make two or three years progress in their reading, writing, and math skills. I felt responsible for the progress of each student and work hard to see that they make all the progress that they were able to make.

I have had some experience working with seventh grade students, but somehow that is the age group that I enjoyed less. Seventh graders no longer have the child like qualities of the sixth graders and they are not as mature as the eighth graders.

My last four years at middle school I taught an eighth grade language and social studies core. I really enjoyed working at the eighth grade level. Most eighth graders had developed their thinking skills, and I was able to go a lot deeper in our classroom discussions. It was also nice having to prepare for only two subjects instead of four, and I didn’t have to teach math anymore.

In the social studies part of the core, I was able to teach American history, which was my major in college. This gave me a chance to review a lot of the material that I had studied earlier. One of our major projects in social studies was an era of history report that I had my students do to finish up the school year. They got to choose their favorite era of history, The Colonial Period, the Revolutionary Period, the Civil War, the Westward Movement, the 50’s, the 60’s or the 90’s and do an oral and written report on it. I gave a report on the 60’s to show them what I expected. I really enjoyed going the history of the 60’s.

In language I found that many eighth graders had well developed skills and could really get into creative writing. They wrote short stories and poems and we put them on the school computer so they could share their writing with other eighth grade classes.

The high school level gives you the opportunity to work with students who are becoming young adults. Discipline problems on this level are less frequent, but they are more volatile when they do happen. So you have to be really in control of your classroom management.

High school students are more knowledgeable, and provide you with an opportunity to go deeper into subject matter. Most high school teachers teach only one subject and sometimes an elective. You have more time to prepare for classroom instruction. Your classroom discussions will be on the adult level. Both you and your students will gain more knowledge of the subject matter that you teach,

The down side of teaching at the level is that you will probably have to spend a lot more time at your school. Most high school teachers are expected to coach a sport, supervise an after school club, or teach an after school elective. When I graduated from college, I applied for a number of high school positions but was turned down because I had no coaching experience.

Everyone wants to teach at the college level. At this level you are working with adults who are paying to go to school. They want to be in school, and many actually are interested in learning. So, you will have no discipline problems. You can tell a student to leave your room without having to consult an administrator.

Teaching at this level does take more preparation. You will need at least a Master’s degree in your subject to teach at the community college level. To teach at a four-year college you will probably need a doctorate in your subject area. Even with an advance degree you will find that it is difficult to land a college position unless you know someone.

Special education is another area of teaching. To teach special ed. you need an advance degree in that field. You also have to have special skills to work with students who are physically and mentally handicapped. It is a difficult teaching situation, but it has its on special rewards when you see the results of your teaching effort.

Before choosing the level that you wish to teach, you might want to volunteer to aide in the classroom. Actually working in a classroom will tell you more about what goes on at that level than anything else. And, whatever level you enter doesn’t have to be permanent. You can always move to different level.

Once you have chosen your teaching level the next question you have to answer is how do I prepare myself for a career in education?