Career Project: Teaching Middle School

Improved Essays
Career Project: Teaching Middle School
Middle School teachers help to expand what students learned during elementary school into what they will need to know for high school. The grades you teach vary depending on which school district you work for. For example, some school districts will say that teaching middle school grades starting at fourth and ending at ninth, however the most common is grades six through eight. Just like how different school districts have different middle school grade levels, different states have different requirements to teach those grades. Although different states and school districts have different requirements for teaching, they all require their teachers to have a Bachelor 's degree; after a few years of teaching, some teachers will even go back to school to earn their Master 's degree.
Middle school teachers cover the information that students will need to know for high school while also taking into account what they learned in elementary school and expanding that knowledge. Teaching middle school is different from teaching elementary school and even high school. Typically, teachers will major in the subject they want to teach. However, depending on the state you live in, you won 't necessarily teach that subject, but subjects like it. The typical duties of a teacher include: making lesson plans and figuring out the best way to present the information to their students, they get their students ready for the states standardized testing, they also enforce the classroom rules presented in the beginning of the year. The duties of a teacher are generally endless. Recently, I had the opportunity to interview a former teacher on what it is like to be a teacher. The interview consisted of 5 questions from her everyday duties, to a look at what a typical day looks like for her, and the pros and cons, with some additional advice. One particular answer stuck out to me. Here is what a typical day looks like for her, "I wake up at 4:30 just so that I can have about 30 minutes of quiet to myself. I get my family out the door and to school and then finally get to work about 8:00. Drink more coffee. Double-check my lessons, I have 1 class at North Campus and then run to South Campus for the rest of the day. I have 1 journalism class, 1 newspaper class, 1 yearbook class, and 2 digital art and animation classes. I usually stay late till about 5:00 to get grades done and stories proofed," Amy Gullet, Deer Park High School. In order to become a teacher you will need to have achieved a few things. First, you will need a degree. In order to teach in a public school you will need a Bachelor 's degree. With your degree, some schools will require you to have some fieldwork, otherwise known as student teaching. Student teaching varies from state to state. During this time you will get to have hands on training with a mentor teacher, however, the length of your student teaching time will vary depending on your state. Along with becoming a teacher, comes a few organizations that you can join to not only learn things that will help guide you through your teaching journey but also support you. A
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I chose to pursue a teaching career for middle school because I feel that children are at that age where they are interested in everything. They want to know more than what they learned when they were in elementary school and that makes me excited for them. I remember when I was younger when I first told my parents that I wanted to become a teacher because my seventh grade math teacher had the greatest influence on me, and I remember them telling me that becoming a teacher would be a mistake because they didn’t make much money. To this very day, I believe that if you want to become a teacher it’s because you have a big heart and you’re not in it for the income but for the outcome. Hard work and determination will allow me to pay for the things that I want in life, such as my dream house, and children, vacations, cars, and more

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