Lessons For Starting Your Teaching Career - CareerAlley

Lessons For Starting Your Teaching Career - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. For those who have dreamed of embarking upon a career in education you must first ask yourself if you are suited for a career as a teacher. There are many ways of going about answering this question including looking at the pros and cons of having a career as a teacher. According to The Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 1,519,700 teaching jobs were secured during 2012 at kindergarten and elementary school levels. How to Become a Teacher There are multiple pathways toward becoming a teacher. However, your specific path is dependent upon a number of factors including education and location. For example, you will need to learn what the state-specific credentials are in order to become educators in your local schools. While embarking upon your quest to become a teacher you will be tested, you will be expected to meet in-classroom requirements, there will be applications to fill out, and background checks will be performed. Challenges of Becoming a Teacher Among the challenges in becoming a teacher: 1. Classroom Management This is one of the biggest challenges teachers face annually, especially those in their first year. This is primarily due to the fact that new teachers are not prepared for behavior problems within the classroom. This problem occurs because little is done to prepare new teachers during pre-service programs, therefore they do not know what to expect when the realities of the classrooms face them. 2. Lack of Curriculum Guidance The next largest problem new teachers face is lack of guidance with planning lesson and curriculum. Nearly half of new teachers admit that they are provided with little to no resources for lesson planning and, when materials are provided, they are rarely useful. Veteran teachers love this freedom because they are used to lesson planning, but it is burdensome to new teachers. 3. Lack of Support The third most challenging aspect new teachers face is the fact that they are thrown into uncharted waters with either very little or no support at all under many circumstances. New teachers admit to having difficult exchanges with veteran teachers that expect them to handle things without assistance. The Upside of Becoming a Teacher Among the benefits of becoming a teacher: 1. Share Your Passion No matter what grade youre teaching, youll be able to share your passion in the classroom. This excitement and enthusiasm will trickle down to your students and the benefits are intoxicating. 2. Benefits Even though there are budget cuts occurring in many areas of the educational system, educators can rest assured that they will still receive their benefits. In an economy where health insurance is necessary, having this benefit as a teacher is a definite advantage. 3. Become an Expert If you are teaching upper level grades beyond elementary school, you can become an expert within your field after you have taught the same subject for three consecutive years. Final Thoughts As you can see, there are many pros and cons when figuring out the question, are you suited for a career as a teacher? The first step in the process is learning, just as your students will be doing from you. About the Author: Tina Samuels writes on small business topics, social media, health, and at About.coms Radio Controlled Vehicles site. This is a Guest post. If you would like to submit a guest post to CareerAlley, please follow these guest post guidelines. Good luck in your search. Joey Trebif