God bless elementary teachers

[MedellinHeel]

Only been teaching this age range for 1 month and I am not sure if I can do this for a year.

You have to have some darn good patience. It is like their brains are not properly developed to understand how to act in addition to their 3 second attention span.

I do not know how you people do it! lol

[Bij Bam]

I happened upon this article in a local Australian newspaper once, written by a mother who is amazed at the patience of her kids' teachers! I saved it for rereading, so here it is:

Schoolteachers deserve medal for dedication
SHE'LL BE RIGHT By Jillian Doyle
Wednesday, 20 July 2005

How did you survive the school holidays?
I say three cheers to the teachers as they deal with large groups of children on a daily basis and most times actually achieve what they set out to do – teach them something new.
My clan is tiny compared with what they deal with and I still can't get them to make their beds each morning.
My kids have confessed that they save their bad behaviour for home, as I have walked away from parent teacher interviews wondering if we were talking about the same children.
I am not complaining, I know I have great boys, but teachers don't always have the honour of dealing with polite, attentive students and they still manage to get through to them.
Two of mine are in primary school and one is in high school, and admittedly since starting high school I don't have much contact with his teachers except for the occasional note home regarding the late submission of assignments.
These are usually still floating around in his school bag, completed, because he forgot to hand them in. Although this is frustrating for me, if it is the worst thing he does I'm lucky.
He attended the same primary school that the other two are currently at and I think that is what gave him such a good basis for his study and behaviour.
They are amazing, patient people who I comfortably put in charge of my precious children five days a week.
I admire the way they encourage achievement by the setting of goals. The older children have the reward of excursions for good behaviour and the younger have their sticker charts, while all can be recognised with the presentation of merit awards at weekly assembly.
I must say that my youngest son's teacher has gone beyond the call of duty with the promise to dance on the table if everyone in the class returns their homework on the Friday it is due.
This teacher has made this offer to each class she has taught since starting her teaching career and hasn't had to do it yet, but it has given wonderful inspiration to her young students.
My boy, although as sick as a dog, one Friday begged me to take him to school long enough to drop in his homework and watch the display if everyone else did too. I would love to be a fly on the wall the day it actually happens.
Honestly, when you consider the amount of time we spend with our kids, their teachers have them for a larger part of their lives than us. I am pleased to share them with someone who has a sense of humour and fun but who is still firm enough to teach them the basic skills of life.
Having said all that, to their school, thanks for taking my boys back again this term. I have a suggestion however, how about including a lesson or two on how to make a bed that doesn't look like a scale model of our nearby hills?
It doesn't matter what reward I offer. And they have seen me dance and I think it actually scares them.

Source:
http://tamworth.yourguide.com.au/detail ... m=7&y=2005
(Edit: seems the link is a bit outdated. No wonder after 9 years...)

[Monkey]

First, thanks Medellin, as a primary teacher I appreciate it. I always save my special kudos for MS teachers. I've never taught that age range, but I have coached at the 6th and 8th grade levels. Lovely kids, but holy hell! I found their attention spans worse than first graders, but with all the added angst of puberty. I think it takes a special person to teach MS.

I hope your year improves, but I say that as someone with a special love of elementary, specifically 2nd-4th grades. If you have specific questions or want help, I'm sure people here would be happy to help. Good luck!

[MedellinHeel]

I feel like you can discipline MS students better / more effectively than ES. So yes they have their puberty issues but you can crack down on them harder and their brain is more developed to understand what is acceptable behavior and what is not.

I think I will email the companies HR manager and see about transferring to MS.

[MedellinHeel]

Man just emailed the HR manager. That was quite hard to do but I feel it is for the best to atleast let her know how I am feeling and maybe see if I can transfer to a middle school. Ughhhhhhhhhh I hate complaining....

[IAMBOG]

I've been teaching Grade 7 for three years, the first two as an all subject elementary teacher and the last year as a secondary subject teacher with rotating classes. I have just taken a job as a Grade 5 teacher as I never want to step into secondary ever again......

I guess teachers come in all shapes and sizes. I started teaching because I liked the material and the academic side, but the more I teach elementary the more I realise relationships and character building are at least as important, if not more so. I just couldn't form close relationships without having them all day. I don't particularly like teaching some subjects, but I would rather teach everything and know that I have the control, understanding and respect of the whole class. I've had some pretty rough classes in the last couple of years and without that constant contact, many of the kids just can't get it together.

[MedellinHeel]

Well monday is gonna be an awkward day at work. HR will have probably contacted my school director by then. I can imagine it now. Walking down the hall passing my directors office, stopping and asking if the HR person contacted her and if not we need to have a little chat.

FML

[Monkey]

Good luck on Monday. I really do feel that, for most teachers, we have an age range that best suits our personalities, talents, and abilities. Not too many teachers can teach both 8th grade and Kinder with equal effectiveness and joy. I'm sure there are a few who could, but they would be the minority. I believe that's why about 10 years ago the state where I'm licensed stopped giving out K-8 certs and now forces teachers to get either an early childhood, elementary, or middle years license.

It seems like you know what you want, so I hope Monday goes well for you.

[MedellinHeel]

The best - I can think of is taking care of puppies and kittens. They are always shitting and pissing all over the house, always getting into the stuff they shouldnt, etc etc. Some people can easily handle that and other it would drive insane. The funny thing is I got a puppy last year and was ready to give it back after the first night! lol

The HR person said they could attempt to transfer me at the start of the next semester (end of Aug) and then asked if I could wait until the Winter semester (end of Nov). Told her I wasn't sure if I could last until Nov/Dec.

[IAMBOG]

In the school I just left, teaching upper elementary / lower middle school is best described as herding cats.

[MedellinHeel]

Well tomorrow is gonna suck. Praying the director is understanding and works with me.

[shadowjack]

Any updates? Honestly, for me, I love teaching MS and HS. The lowest I would teach would be grade 4/5. Anything lower than that, I just could not wrap my head around. I have done some grade 5 teaching, though, and quite liked it...

Keep us posted and crossing my fingers for you! Oh, that lovely first teaching assignment!

[exnewyorker]

Curious to see how this works out. I have never been in or heard of a school where you can just "email HR" to get "transferred" to another grade level. How would there be openings mid-year? Is this an international school or a language school?

I took my first international teaching post in a middle school position when I had previously been teaching elementary. I really wanted to go to that particular school so I was willing to accept the job. As it turned out I loved the age group. When looking for jobs now I still look for jobs within the K-8 range. Each level is quite different but there's something about each that is unique and I enjoy them in their own ways. I do think that teaching elementary school is the hardest: planning for multiple subjects, having the same kids all day and being responsible for every aspect of their school day, never ending classroom upkeep, and in the case of my last school the long narrative report cards. I have so much respect for elementary teachers!

[MedellinHeel]

Guys,

I am not working at a conventional school. I am in the process of completing my teaching license and in the mean time (this year) I am working at an after school Language academy in Korea.

As for updates,

My director hadnt been contacted by HR yet so she was surprised to hear my thoughts. I have not told anyone how I was feeling and to her everything seemed ok. I do not think she is keen on my leaving at the end of summer semester and seems to prefer I transfer after Fall semester. I told her and HR if it is possible id like to transfer at the end of the current semester but if that is not doable id wait until Nov. She seemed to be understanding though.

But lord that would be a brutal 3 months lol.