I’ve been getting a lot of questions about my teaching position and thought it might be nice to answer them. I think I have answered everyone’s questions individually so this may be a bit of a repeat for some of you.
In case you don’t already know, I graduated last May with my teaching degree. I did my degree in elementary education so I am qualified to teach from grades primary to grade 9. I am not trained to teach music or French but I did get taught physical education even though I haven’t actually taught that subject yet. I also teach all the regular elementary subjects which consist of Math, English, Science, Social Studies, and Creative Arts (I may have missed some).
So far in my teaching career (haha) I have only taught up to grade 5. I had some experience with spending time with some grade 6′s and 9′s and don’t really feel the want to teach those grades because they have an attitude at that age 
. I’ve also had bad luck keeping control of the grade primary’s as well. I am a quiet person and have a hard time controlling classes that are very chatty and active. I have had the most luck with grade 4′s and think that I would most enjoy teaching that grade.
So far I have only been working as a substitute teacher. Some of you call that a supply teacher. I’m the one that fills in when the regular teacher is unable to teach that day. Full time teaching jobs in the elementary schools are hard to find right now in the province that I live in, unless you are trained in music or French. But with that being said, I can’t really say that I’ve been trying too hard to find a full-time teaching job right now. My boyfriend is currently finishing up a master’s degree in Materials Engineering and is looking for a job. There are no jobs in my province (that he wants) for the type of Engineer that he is. So that means that I will be moving in the next few months (if we’re lucky) so I wouldn’t really be able to teach full time anyway until I know where I’m going to be living.
There is another reason I haven’t been looking too hard for a full-time teaching job…I’m not sure it’s actually a job I want to do forever. It has been a rough journey for me to get where I am. After my first semester (of four) of the teaching degree I told my family I wanted to drop out. I was having doubts about my ability to teach and it was a lot more work that I had realized. No one ever tells you about all the lesson planning and marking and work that goes into being a teacher. My family and friends talked me into finishing the degree and I thought maybe it would be a good idea because at least I would have something that I could do. I get discouraged when I walk into a classroom and cannot keep the class under control. It makes me feel like a bad teacher and that this is not a job I am actually capable of doing. Substituting isn’t as bad as full-time teaching because at the end of the day you don’t have to think about anything else. You can just go home and relax. If I was a full-time teacher I would have to go home and prepare lessons for the next days or weeks of school. I would be always busy and stressed out trying to find things the students are actually going to do.
So right now I go to teach wherever they need a teacher. A lot of the time I could end up going to a few different schools in one week. So far since I graduated almost a year ago I have taught at 7 different schools. It doesn’t sound like that many I guess, but considering I’ve only worked 23 teaching days ever it might seem a little more substantial.
Something that makes my job a little harder than for other people is that I don’t own a vehicle. I take the bus everywhere I need to go. But that’s one of the things I enjoy about going to different schools. Everyday is like a new adventure. I’m always nervous that I’m going to miss the stop I need to get off of but I’m also proud of myself once I make it there. I have also learned a lot about the city that I live in because of the bus. I have been to more parts of the area I live in the last year than I ever have in my life.
So there you have it, my experiences so far with the teaching world. If there is anything else you are interested in knowing, please feel free to ask. I have added a new plug-in so that I can reply to comments that you leave on my website. If I reply to yours can someone let me know if it sends you an email or anything so that you know I replied? I want to make sure it’s working correctly.
Haha, at least you’re patient enough to teach. I know what you mean about not wanting to teach grades 6 and up because the kids have an attitude then. That’s true. Haha.
Well, good luck teaching. I’m sorry that no one’s ever told you told about the lesson-planning/grading(marking) before… =/ I was a teacher’s aide for 2 years(when I was in high school, so it wasn’t full-time or anything), and grading was already hard. I was only able to grade things that has the answer key, but even then, it was hard already.
About not owning a vehicle, wow, I envy you. I would hate not owning a vehicle when I’d have to travel for work! If I worked from home, and the stores/etc that I needed were within walking distance, I wouldn’t mind, but if I were to have a job like your’s, I don’t know if I’d be able to handle it!
I have many things to say, and i will try to keep it organized =D
It’s hard to feel confident in yourself when you are not working full time, as well as having that crushing feeling that you SHOULD be working full time. Every article i’ve read about finding a job after finishing college/university always seem to sum up to the same thing: The first year out of university is ALWAYS the hardest. Experience is experience, no matter the form.
Now i know we’ve been kinda in the same boat, and that i just landed a job. Although i have a job now, i had to put some other things on the back burner. Travelling. I can’t just up and leave now, i work 5 days a week with early mornings. The new lifestyle has been a challenge to adjust to, but the routine is somewhat a little more comforting i think in the long run. Also this job is not exactly what i want to be doing, but AGAIN, it’s money and much more importantly, it’s experience.
Man, i’ve been without a vehicle for about 2-3 months now. It’s driving me crazy. I guess if you’ve never had your own vehicle it’s different, but after having a vehicle for 5 years, it’s a little tough to adjust. It mostly drives me crazy because it should have been fixed 2 months ago. One thing i don’t mind about taking the bus is just being able to zone out and listen to my music without having to worry about paying attention to the road. Plus, people watching is always interesting. =D
Hope that wasn’t too all over the place. Haha
Deanna Reply:
March 18th, 2010 at 9:40 am
I know you are right. Experience will, or at least should, make the job easier. I’m just one of those people who feel like she should know what she’s doing. I hate not being good at something. Even during my practicums I wanted to be an expert. My supervisor had to keep saying that I shouldn’t expect myself to know everything already.
I know what you mean about adjusting and taking a job for the experience. My boyfriend is currently looking for a job but he’s being too selective in my opinion. He is only applying to jobs he thinks he will enjoy. I think it would be a better idea to apply to any job that he is qualified to do and then look for another job after he has a years experience or something.
P.S. can you let me know if you get an email saying I replied to your comment?
Teaching 4 graders is much easier than teaching 6-9 graders, of course. Teens are so chatty (I am too, haha) and they can barely control their emotion.
Taking part-time job is much better than full-time job, I think. Because if you take full-time you have lesser time to chill out and you have to be consistent to do your job. I guess you’ve made the right decision
Oh yeah, i had one more thing to say.
Don’t feel so bad about your confidence, of course you’re going to not be confident when you’re not working consistently OR with the same people. Believe me, it takes me longer to prepare for work, i am more likely to make a mistake (and i have), and i’m not always in the know about new changes happening in my workplace or with the clients i end up working with.
So don’t expect to be as efficient and competent as a colleague who is working on a consistent basis, kinda sucks but there’s really nothing that can be done about it unless you magically obtain a more consistent teaching job.
I think it’s harder for substitute teachers to keep a class under control because the students feel like there won’t be any lasting consequences (since you’ll be gone at the end of the day). And maybe after a couple of years of full-time teaching you would be able to use lessons and activities you’ve prepared from previous years.
I love travelling by bus; it really is an adventure. I’ve also been able to see a few different areas in my city thanks to the bus.
Do you know what you would want to do instead of teaching if you decided to explore another career?
Deanna Reply:
March 18th, 2010 at 10:18 am
I’m not really sure what I would like to do if I wasn’t teaching. I enjoy web design and think it would be fun to take a degree in that but I don’t know how much of a living you could do in that field. It would definitely be something I would check out if I decide to leave teaching. I also would like to teach other people how to use computers but again, I don’t know how much of a calling there is for that either.
P.S. can you let me know if you get an email saying I replied to your comment?
Okay so after playing around with your css for a bit I found out why your emoticons were spaced from your form. In your css, your paragraph ( ) has a padding of 10px and since the form uses the code it causes the emoticons to have a padding of 10px above and below it hence the space. If you want you can remove the tag from around your emotions and place them into its own div or change the padding of the so that it becomes closer. Ah I hope this makes sense, I’m not very good at explaining :/
My friend said that if she chose a course, even if she was miserable midway she would still complete it because it was her original plan; reminds me of what you said. A lot of people in my class believed that becoming a teacher has a lot more benefits than other jobs but its quite difficult especially when you have a classroom full of hormonal teenagers; intimidating.
Since you’re working at different schools, each time is going to be a bit scary and of course you’re going to feel nervous. You’ve also only graduated a year ago so you wouldn’t have as much experience with controlling a classroom especially since you’re dealing with different environments. It will also take a while to learn how to efficiently do your work and actually teach.
You shouldn’t feel bad. I knew some teachers who took a while to get used to their job. My Bio teacher had 3 years teaching experience prior to transferring to our school and he was so nervous that for almost 2 terms he tried to be friendly with everyone and make all of us like him; by doing so he actually hindered our learning experience. From then on he was able to develop as a teacher and be more in control. What I am trying to say is that learning to control a classroom and knowing what to prepare for students gets easier, well I should say that you get better at it so it seems easier.
But if you feel this is something you’re not happy doing then start searching for things you like to do so in the future you can work towards something that makes you feel fulfilled.
At least the benefit is that you work is never routine with all the places you get to explore! If it was me I would be fascinated with everything and everyone around me and I would be very late to my job
Deanna Reply:
March 18th, 2010 at 10:21 am
How did trying to be friends with his students hinder your learning experience?
My boyfriend is an artist and he actually is a teacher too. He is a licensed teacher in art education. He can teach universities and such but he doesn’t want to so he became a painter. haha
)
I hate teaching. Basically, I hate kids so I think teaching is impossible for me. I really don’t have the patience to deal with them.
Deanna Reply:
March 18th, 2010 at 10:33 am
I used to love kids and that’s one of the reasons why I wanted to go into teaching in the first place. But they are starting to ware on my patience too
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I understand why you don’t want to teach the older kids. If I were a teacher I’d never – EVER – want to teach junior high kids. They’re the worst around that age with all that attitude, thinking they’re practically adults who doesn’t need to listen to anyone.
I think that even if you feel like you can’t control a class right now that will change after you’ve gained more experience. You’re still new at what you’re doing and nobody’s perfect in the beginning. Besides, aren’t substitute teachers the ones who kids tend to give the most attitude? Because the kids never really get to know and respect the substitute. I don’t know anything about teaching but I imagine it would get easier if you got to teach the same kids for a longer period of time.
I’ve always wanted to teach but I don’t have the patience. I like helping people out when they don’t know what their doing, so a teachers aid would probably be a bit less stressful. Hey I just had a thought, you could set up tutoring
Pays well, and you can do it from home 
Deanna Reply:
March 18th, 2010 at 10:42 am
Yeah, people have been telling me that I should tutor people and that it pays well. I’m not really sure how to get into that but it might be something worth checking out sometime in the future.
P.S. can you let me know if you get an email telling you that I replied to your comment?
I’ve always thought it more challenging for a teacher to work as a substitute. I remember when I was in grade school, my class always gave the substitute teacher a run for his/her money because we knew that the sub didn’t always know exactly how things were run!
Deanna Reply:
March 18th, 2010 at 11:20 am
Yes, the kids will use that to their advantage. These days they can’t always do that though because a lot of the time there will be another adult in the room that knows how things work. The Educational Assistant (EA) is there working with students that have special needs and I can usually ask them how things work.
I know how you feel about not knowing if that’s what you want to do. I’m in grad school and I still don’t know… life fail on me
. 
Good luck! I like teaching what I do now, but I teach college students so that’s quite a bit different.
I really admire teachers because their jobs are so difficult. Like you said, lesson plans, grading assignments, and having to keep the class under control. I couldn’t do any of those things. But it makes sense why you’re keeping to part time substitute teaching for now until your boy finds a job and settles in a location where you can go with him. There’s no point is starting a full time job now if you know for certain you’re moving in a few months.
I have always looked up to teachers because their job is so difficult, and I know I’d never have that kind of patience so I admire you for even being willing to do it. Especially substitute teaching just because it is so hard to control a class that isn’t used to you and students tend to think they can get away with more. I definitely agree older students are chatty and have so much attitude. Of course most of us think we know everything at that age and don’t want to listen or be cooperative.
As far as being a quiet person, I totally understand that and I’m sure you will get better with experience and when/if you have a full time class of your own. I know I would be scared and overwhelmed always teaching at a different school. I also think that if it’s something you still don’t know if you want to do full time don’t let anyone pressure you because it’s your career so in the end you have to be happy and fulfilled in it.
To be honest, I really admire that you actually stuck through the degree in the first place, considering you weren’t sure if it was what you wanted anyway, and now to be out in the workforce…I think that’s a huge achivement. And I daresay that the stress that comes with the job will lessen as you get more experience and become more confident in your ability to do the job.
I agree that the lower-middle grades would be the best to teach. Like you (and others) have said, the older grades tend to have too much of an attitude, but the really young kids can be a handful and a half because they’re still getting used to being at school in the first place and you’ve got to be so painfully patient with them. I think grades 3-5 would probably be a nice middle range.
Anyway, good luck with your upcoming move, whenever (and wherever to) that might be!
Deanna Reply:
March 18th, 2010 at 1:22 pm
I agree, grades 3-5 is probably where I will want to teach if I do decide to stick with it. I have had the most success with grade 4 so I really favor that grade right now. I’ve heard from other teachers that grade 3 is the best grade to teach as well.
P.S. can you let me know if you get an email telling you that I replied to your comment?
What happened was that some of the students in my class always asked for for free periods and he would give 20 minutes off from the class every time he came. I loved and appreciated the free time but soon after we realized we were really behind in the work compared to the other class. Plus he was a teacher who stayed home a lot especially in the final term where he rarely came to class. Since he knew he would be away from school for long periods he should have never given the free time, we ended up not learning an essential part of the syllabus which was the most difficult module and another teacher had to help us out.
Also there were times when he would put off doing certain lab work just because some students begged and he cut it really short with the submission to the Ministry of Education for our exams. It was sort of nerve wrecking when we all thought that our future depended on this one exam and we didn’t even do an entire module!
But we got lucky for the exam when that module didn’t come and he’s a much better teacher now. He was great to us and I liked that he talked with everyone but I think he was a bit scared to draw the line and he let people push him around. He wanted everyone to like him all the time and that’s just not possible when you’re a teacher -_-