Research paper pdf

Taylor Dyches
Davala
12 College Prep English
4 March 2013
Elementary Education
It takes a special person to want to spend their days
helping children to learn and grow. Although elementary
school can mean different configurations of lower school
classes, it is definitely the term for the youngest children
attending public school. Elementary education is a worth-
while and interesting career that requires certain training,
aptitudes, and skills.
Kindergarten through elementary school education typi-
cally consists of kindergarten to fourth or fifth grade (Bu-
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Taylor Dyches Thursday, May 2, 2013 8:49:22 AM ET 04:0c:ce:d7:7b:14

reau Kindergarten). Some elementary schools go as high
as eighth grade. In the ﬁeld of elementary education,
teachers have a very demanding job with many responsi-
bilities. They must be able to provide instructional feed-
back (Reiman 20). Educators are also expected to evalu-
ate students on their abilities, strengths, and weaknesses
as well as monitor progress of students and help any who
are falling behind (Bureau Kindergarten). Educators are
also expected to share progress with parents, work with
students to overcome their weaknesses, and teach stu-
dents proper behavior by developing classroom rules and
enforcing them (Bureau Kindergarten).
Elementary teachers are the caretakers of the youngest
children. It is important that teachers supervise the stu-
dents at all times throughout the school day (Bureau Kin-
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dergarten). A teacher must also be able to keep studentsʼ
attention and make them want to learn. In todayʼs world of
technology, it is important to be able to teach students in
new and creative ways (Bureau Kindergarten). Teachers
must stay organized and keep up with grades, papers, and
their students. It is imperative that teachers plan out les-
sons for subjects like reading, math, science, and social
studies (Bureau Kindergarten). In grades that require state
testing, teachers must prepare students for such tests (Bu-
reau Kindergarten). It is a very demanding and important
job because a teacher can have a life-long impact on stu-
dents.
The working conditions for teachers can include grueling
hours. Teachers who work in both public and private
schools work during the school day when students are
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present (Bureau Kindergarten). Teachers typically work
from seven in the morning to ﬁve in the afternoon. Their
evenings and weekends are spent preparing for the next
day or week. This time is spent creating lesson plans and
grading papers (Bureau Kindergarten). A teacherʼs year is
typically spent working part of August to part of June with
the equivalent or two months off for summer break (Bu-
reau Kindergarten). It can be a difﬁcult and demanding
job. Some teachers work with a large number of students
at once (Bureau Kindergarten). Teachers are responsible
for a large number of students at one time. They are also
responsible for how well those students do on state stan-
dardized testing (Bureau Kindergarten). In short, it is a
demanding and time consuming job with many responsi-
bilities.
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As with most professions, college is a must. Selecting
the right college is important. Consideration should be
placed on “cost, distance from home, grades, curricular of-
ferings, size of school, class size, reputation of school,
school accreditation, housing, scholarships, availability of
part-time work, extracurricular activities, student loans,
and ﬁnancial aid” (Cutlip 16-19). To gain admission into a
college, recommendations from previous teachers are
needed (Cutlip 15).
In college future teachers are taught how to teach in-
formation to students as well as the ability to work with
students who have a variety of backgrounds and abilities
(Bureau Kindergarten). In certain states, a teacher must
have, in addition to a bachelors degree; a student teaching
experience, good test scores and recommendations to get
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a license to teach (Cutlip 37). Some states also require a
test for future educators to show how much they know
about the subject they will be teaching (Bureau Kindergar-
ten).
After college there is still training that future educators
must go through. What is considered “entry level educa-
tion” is a Bachelorʼs Degree (Bureau Kindergarten). All
schools in all states require this as a minimum to become
an Elementary educator (Bureau Kindergarten). Educators
must also go through “on-the-job” training once they re-
ceive their Bachelorʼs Degree. This generally includes an
“internship or residency” (Bureau Kindergarten). Most stu-
dent teacher programs include an internship. However, all
states do require that a student teaching internship be
completed (Bureau Kindergarten). A “state-issued certiﬁ-
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cation or license” is also required for future educators. In
some states a minimum GPA is compulsory to obtain certi-
fication (Bureau Kindergarten). A Kindergarten certification
certifies someone to teach preschool to kindergarten. An
elementary certification certifies someone to teach first to
sixth or first to eighth grade, depending on the school the
educator is at (Bureau Kindergarten).
Private schools for the most part do not require a
teacher to be licensed (Bureau Kindergarten). A third
grade teacher that was interviewed said, “There is a lot
that college doesnʼt cover. I got lucky in the fact that the
school I work at offered training programs to further edu-
cate me so I could teach my students” (Boprey). Taking an
“annual professional development” class is often manda-
tory for a teacher to keep their license (Bureau Kindergar-
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ten). The interviewee also stated, “You never stop learning
even after you have ﬁnished all the college and student
teacher programs. The material and requirements change
constantly” (Boprey). She also says “ You gotta keep up-
to-date as much as possible with the new researches that
are coming out” (Boprey). In summary, it takes much work
to become, and then stay, a teacher. It is something that
one must really want and be willing to work for.
There are those that say teaching others for a career
can be “challenging, inspiring, and rewarding” (Reiman 7).
Those who become teachers ask themselves questions
such as: “Does the possibility of spending many years in
an academic environment appeal to me?” or “Do I enjoy
working with others to help them gain more knowledge
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and skills?” or even “Do I have the personality and desire
to become a successful teacher?” (Cutlip 1).
Certain aptitudes are needed to handle this career. A
reason that people become and stay teachers is because
“they ﬁnd nurturing the growth and development of the
young to be one of lifeʼs greatest challenges”. In brief
summary, it seems those who become teachers enjoy a bit
of challenge in their lives (Reiman 18). To be a successful
teacher, the teacher interviewed said “you have to be able
to challenge the high level students, reach the middle level
students and work harder with the low level students. You
must cover all the areas these kids are struggling in” (Bo-
prey). Teachers also need to be able to motivate the stu-
dents to learn (Brenny 104).
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Being a good teacher is about “trying to better yourself
and about being able to be the best teacher possible for
your kids” (Boprey). It also helps to “just be positive” (Bo-
prey). It is important to “appeal to a studentʼs five senses”.
This is a must for elementary education in order for stu-
dents to fully understand some of the things being taught.
(Brenny 104). Some other aptitudes of good teachers are
that they find delight in teaching people (Cutlip 2). It is im-
portant that teachers find different ways to teach one thing
(Cutlip 3). This way the students are able to have a full
understanding of the topic at hand. Children benefit greatly
when teachers use these strategies.
The daily life of a teacher is a very busy one. Some
teachers like to get to school early so they have that extra
time to set up and get ready for the day (Anderson 19).
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That can be a very good idea because it is very important
to come prepared. Do not waste time looking for the things
needed when that time could be spent teaching. (Brenny
99). On an average day teachers ordinarily stay in just one
classroom (Bureau Kindergarten). Some teachers will of-
ten follow their students to assemblies, extra curricular ac-
tivities, and to other teachers (Bureau Kindergarten).
During the periods that the students are out of the class-
room, teachers will “go to meetings, grade assignments,
have conferences, and plan lessons” (Bureau Kindergar-
ten). It is a good idea to have classroom meetings to dis-
cuss how tests, projects, and lessons went. It is beneﬁcial
to the students when the teacher communicates with them
about what they have learned. (Glasser 143). The expert
interviewed had this to say about a day in her school life: “I
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try to greet them at the door every morning with a smile”
(Boprey). The expert said “My day typically consists of
math remediation, where I take about ten students and
basically ﬁll in the gaps they are missing from their math
education. Once we are done with that we go into our
math block and that is where we do the third grade cur-
riculum. Then they break up into their reading remediation
groups. After that they come back from whatever room
they were in because they go to different rooms for that,
we do enhancements, which change everyday, and then
go to lunch and recess. Then when we come back from
lunch, they do a program thats called ʻthe daily ﬁveʼ. Itʼs
where I am able to pull guided reading groups and the
students are able to read on their level. Then from there
that goes from 12 -12 so thats a big chunk of our after-
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noon, and then the kids get their homework, pack up, and
leave” (Boprey). The daily life of a teacher is a busy one
ﬁlled with teaching students and helping them to absorb
knowledge and develop.
Most people are aware that teachers do not exactly
make the most money. However, the current job outlook
holds promise for future educators. The average median
pay for a teacher in 2010 was “$51,380” per year. The “top
ten percent” made “$80,140”. The bottom “ten percent”
made “$34,390” (Bureau Kindergarten). In a chart it looks
0 22500 45000 67500 90000
Top 10 %
Median
Bottom 10%
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like this:
The number of jobs in 2010 was “1,655,800” positions
(Bureau Kindergarten). In 2010 the job growth was about
seventeen percent which is pretty much average (Bureau
Kindergarten). The good news for future educators is that
between 2010 and 2020 “the student to teacher ratio is
expected to decline”. This indicates each educator will
teach a smaller number of students per class. In simple
terms it means “more teachers will be needed to teach the
same number of students”. This hints at more job open-
ings in the near future. (Bureau Kindergarten). The num-
ber of students in school is predicted to multiply in the
West and South. The Midwest will stay about the same as
Elementary Education Pay in 2010
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it has been. In the Northeast, there is expected to be
losses in student enrollment (Bureau Kindergarten). De-
spite all the enrollment growth, employment increases “will
depend on government budgets” (Bureau Kindergarten).
As with every career, there are challenges that come
with teaching. Challenges such as IEP (individualized
education program) students and special needs students.
When presented with the challenge of teaching a special
needs student it must be remembered that these are “stu-
dents with a wide range of learning, mental, emotional,
and physical disabilities.” When working with these stu-
dents with mild to moderate disabilities, teachers ensure
that lessons and teaching strategies are modiﬁed to meet
the studentʼs needs (Bureau Special). As special educa-
tion students move to new schools or graduate, “transition
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plans” must be made (Bureau Special). There is a lot of
work that goes into educating a student with special
needs. For one thing, an educator need to determine the
studentʼs “knowlege and skills” (Bureau Special). Teachers
must also outline the accommodations and services nec-
essary in the IEPs (Bureau Special). That teacher must
then be sure the special needs children are getting the ac-
commodations they need. (Bureau Special). Educators
must also meet with others to talk about the studentʼs pro-
gress (Bureau Special). Teachers must have the skills and
knowledge necessary to educate these students (Bureau
Special). An expert that was interviewed said, Just make
sure that the kids are getting all their necessary modiﬁca-
tions. Just work with them and they will work with you”
(Boprey). Basically, these students want to learn and they
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want to be as smart and hard working as the other stu-
dents. They just need a little help getting there.
It takes a tremendous amount of work to be a teacher. It
takes hard work and dedication. Teaching can yield great
rewards such as the opportunity to educate the next gen-
eration and help them learn and evolve into the future
adult population of the world. This nation needs to have
proﬁcient teachers who are devoted and caring about their
students. Many of the skills for success are taught in ele-
mentary schools. It is an occupation that does not get the
respect and ﬁnancial rewards that it deserves.
Dyches 17

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