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Permalink Reply by Toni Rieger on September 20, 2011 at 2:46pm

I am a 49-year-old rookie teacher in a middle school. This is my second career; I was a retail manager, then an at-home mother. I teach because I believe I should leave this world in better shape than when I arrived. I teach to mold preteens into the kind of people that I would like to have living next door to me. Although I teach English, the most important things learned in my room are: the importance of kindness, the pride one gets in doing one's best, and the benefits of life-long learning. Those things have to be woven into writing prompts and sentence diagrams, but I sincerely try to fit them in there. I could have gone back into retail for more money, but look at all those nice neighbors I'm helping to create!

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Permalink Reply by Justin Bryson on September 20, 2011 at 2:57pm

Hey Tim,

 

I've heard that same thing about Early Childhood and AYA teachers, and I too can see how  that is true. At first I chose sciences because I understood the subject much better than most other subjects, and it was well-known to get a job easier in that field than a few other subjects I had in mind. I believe that I choose science because I enjoy the subject, and wanted to impact young adults with my passion of science!

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Benroth on September 23, 2011 at 12:36pm

I also chose physics/chemistry, partly because I was great at it and enjoyed figuring things out, which really lends itself to the engineering field.  I later found myself helping others figure out the material too, so teaching seemed like the perfect blend.  The second major reason I chose the profession is because I really felt I could be a good role model for my future students too.  So many things around our students are telling them to make what turn out to be very poor decisions.  Hopefully they can look at me and the way I decide to live my life, and see that they can still have all the things they want out of life without making the destructive decisions that make them fit in the crowd at the time.  I feel that is important too, but unfortunately I will probably never know the impact that has had on the students.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Dalsky on September 25, 2011 at 7:46am

Hey Tim,

I also remember learning that information in the Content Reading class.  It does have some truth because a lot of people in my class really like the subject they're going to teach.  On the other hand, though, there are lots of people in my class (including me) that seem more invested.  For example, I think teaching writing and reading skills via Language Arts is extremely important and that is definitely one reason I decided to be a teacher.  However, and I've found this to be true at my methods placement, I enjoy being around the students so much more than simply reading and writing.  I think pairing them together is important.  I give you credit because I don't think I would be so enthusiastic if I had to teach math (and I don't think anyone would want me teaching math).

 

So in other words, I think it's a love of content AND a love for being around people/students.

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Permalink Reply by Jacob Lofton on October 31, 2011 at 12:12pm

Hey Tim, Yes I have heard this too. One of the reason I wanted to be a teacher is because I like kids, but I'm going to be a high school teacher so I think that may apply not only to the elementary teachers. The middle school teachers picking that age group because they like the content is also interesting. I remember for the longest time I wanted to be a history teacher, then when I found out that it would be hard to get a job I changed my mind. I have always done very well in science so I guess that was my next logical choice. Teaching doesn't pay the best we all know that, but for me its helping the students. Making the students realize they can do what ever they want to makes it all worth while.  

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Permalink Reply by Hannah Trace on October 31, 2011 at 6:51pm

Tim,

I also remember hearing that information in our Content Literacy class. I agree with Paul - I have noticed that almost everyone I encounter in our AYA methods seems to have a real passion for their content, which I think is critical. That being said, I have also noticed that quite a few of these individuals go beyond just having passion for content, which is even more critical. They are truly invested in teaching students and helping them reach their potentials.
Personally, I want to be a high school English teacher because I cannot imagine myself doing anything else. And even if I did do something else, I couldn't see myself enjoying it as much as I would enjoy teaching. I am excited to help students learn and to get them excited about English.

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Permalink Reply by Robby Organ on November 1, 2011 at 9:46am

T.J,

 

I chose to be a social studies teacher because of several factors. First, I really don't like the idea of sitting behind a desk or in a factory doing the same thing all day every day. Second, as much as I do like social studies and I really liked every social studies teacher I had, to me social studies isn't really something I absolutely love to study. I like it best of any subject that is taught in school, but nothing I would study if it weren't my job.

The thing that really made me want to be a social studies teacher most is the fact that generally most students think it is a useless subject. It bothers me that most students are, for lack of a better word, ignorant. Sorry if that's you or anyone else reading this, but a huge percentage of American's can't locate iraq or Afghanistan on a map or identify the governors of their states or the differences between two presidential candidates platforms. That bothers me. the fact that we have people that can vote on major issues, but don't really know the implications of their decisions is appalling to me.

 

That and summers off. that's pretty nice.

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Permalink Reply by Kaitlyn Kasperski on November 1, 2011 at 10:43am

I would have to say that I agree with that rationale to a certain degree. Being that I am going to be an integrated Social Studies Teacher for Adolescent Young Adults, I definitely know that one of the reasons that I wanted to teach social studies was that I feel strongly that it is a very important topic for students to be taught. I really like government, especially, and feel quite confident that students need to know certain things (ie: their rights, what the constitution means, the different types of government and etc) so that they can fully appreciate the freedoms that they experience everyday as americans. Additionally, I feel that this information is very important in creating informed students and participating citizens. However, I wouldn't say that the only reason I chose to teach high school was because I like the content. I had a teacher who made my social studies class in the 10th grade one of the most engaging classes I had ever had because we were constantly doing activities and were not simply relying on lecture to get the necessary information. I really enjoyed this and decided then and there that I wanted to help make social studies a more interesting class for other students. I would just like to point out that I do not feel that I chose to teach high school because I dislike small children or anything of that nature. I actually really enjoy little kids. they are highly entertaining...BUT i also like being able to have intelligent conversations with people, and I think that that is a pursuit which would best be accomplished in the high school setting.

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Permalink Reply by Zac Patterson on November 1, 2011 at 4:14pm

Tim,

I think this is an interesting question that you ask.  There are many good reasons why someone would join the educational workforce, and probably some bad reasons unfortunately.  I personally am in my methods block of AYA science education.  I know that, for me, education was always a field I was interested in and after I made it through high school I realized that I would love to teach high school students.  I feel that some people have a personality that compliments elementary education and some greatly compliment AYA education.  I personally do not do as well in reaching younger kids as I do with older students, so I chose AYA education.  Once I had the age level figured out the subject was easy for me, as I'm sure it is with many AYA aspiring educators.  Science was always my favorite subject growing up and I had a lot of influential teachers in that subject that really inspired me.  I think that it takes a special person to be able to teach young children, and that, as you said, many elementary educators choose their profession because they love the children.  In my opinion this is a good thing.  I would not want a teacher that did not love little kids to be teaching my own children, especially since they are so easily influenced at young ages.  Good post. 

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Permalink Reply by Adrienne Mullins on November 1, 2011 at 8:03pm

Hi Timothy, I have a different reason, although I did have a very inspiring teacher that also happens to have my same license. I have always been fascinated with nature and everything science related. I became very environmental and sad about what was happening to our planet. So, I figured the best way to help was to teach people about nature and science in the hopes that they too would appreciate it and care. I want to share nature with kids from inner city settings that would otherwise not get the opportunity.  I have always liked kids and after I had kids of my own, I realized how important education is. I had a rough childhood and couldn't reap the full benefits of school so I guess I want to live vicariously through my students as well...

I hope this was what you are looking for, I certainly have never heard a reason similar to mine.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Hoffman on November 1, 2011 at 8:42pm

Hello Tim!

 

I'm an AYA ISS major, and I had originally I had become inspired to be a teacher by the subject of Social Studies. I had a deep love of the topic throughout my time in school, and I wanted others to catch fire to the subject just as I had. I started to gain a reputation with my peers that I was very god at my history courses, and they would ask me for help. I began to realize that my love for the subject was beginning to branch to the love of helping others gain a grasp of concepts, not necessarily an interest, but helping them to understand. That spurred me to decide to be a teacher.

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Permalink Reply by Ashley Jenkins on November 1, 2011 at 9:56pm

TJ,

I personally do not agree with the idea that most middle and secondary teachers go into the field because they simply like the subject area. Although I have always loved to read, i had never thought I wanted to be a High School English teacher until I quit my career to come back to school. The reasoning on why I did that and chose the field that I did, had little to nothing to do with the content that I would be teaching, but 100% because I wanted to make a difference in someones life. I think that of course I am teaching the content that I am because I enjoy the subject matter, but I would not say that I am becoming a teacher because I just like to read.

I think that if someone is just going into this field because they like the content area, that it would be very hard for them to enjoy their job because the selflessness of the career intensely outweighs how much I like to read.

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