Summary: For career day 2018 I shadowed a teacher at Jonas Salk Elementary School in San Diego. Throughout the day I learned what it takes and what a 1st grade teacher has to go through to take care of their students. The schooling system was similar to a High School, where they have a period system when switching classes and teachers. The students had a lot of energy and were very involved in their learning. It felt great to relieve the feeling of elementary school, but seeing it as a more mature and older person. Overall I learned a lot what it takes to get a job in this workforce. But also got some advice on what it takes to succeed and get to where you want to be in life. 1. What advice do you have to young people who are interested in this profession/field? You have to really want to teach and you must want to work with children. Being with 24-34 students on a day basis is not always easy. It’s a wonderful career, but just make sure this is truly what you want to do
2. What specific skill training helped you prepare for this job? I worked as a teacher’s aide for a few years while taking general education classes at a community college. Honestly though, teaching is very much learning as you begin teaching. Classes will offer theories of educational practices, but they’re just theories. The group of children in front of toubare all different and teaching each class will depend on the children in your class each year. Flexibility is what I found to be the most helpful skill.
3. What are the business general work policies (tardiness, absence, dress code, technology use etc.) ? Technology is huge at our school. We were the first elementary school in our district to pilot the 1-to-1 computer to student ratio. All of our students have a laptop and carries it to and from school everyday. Our students do not wear uniforms, but we do have college days every Thursday (wear college shirts which has been provided by our school) and school colors on Fridays. As for tardiness and absences, we always encourage students to come to school everyday. We also offer Saturday school to make up absences, if needed.
4. What are the most important rules or practices that you must follow in order to be considered a dedicated and responsible professional in this field? You must be patient, organized, flexible and most of all, open-minded. As I mentioned earlier, you must be able to work with a variety of students from various backgrounds. You must be willing to take on new practices as the ones you’ve been used to doing/using may not always be best practices.
5. To what extent do you find your most work interesting and fulfilling and why? I love what I do. After 18 years, I still get nervous for the first day of school. I told my students that I would retire when I don’t feel that way anymore. Teaching is a difficult job, but it is also so rewarding when you see excitement on your students faces as they discover and learn new things. That’s what I love the most.