<p>I want to be a high school math teacher. At least I'm thinking about it anyway, but a lot of stuff on college confidential has been putting me off a bit. For example, some people were saying that you shouldn't go to a top level college if you intend on becoming a teacher one day. Others tell prospective teachers that they are "too smart" for the job. If people keep thinking like that, all teachers will be bad. I know not every teacher's life is great, but is it really that bad? My english teacher in 11th grade (going to senior year now) worked at a banker but hated it and became a teacher. he seems to love it. at least he loves my class (honors class) and he is 30. seems to like his life. So is being a teacher truly a waste of your life if you have a lot of potential? I've been thinking about engineering, doctor, but I really can see myself as a teacher. What's your opinion on teaching as a profession? Do you believe it to be a waste due to lack of respect in classroom by students and low salary?</p>
<p>None of that (top college, “too smart”) is true. My dad went to Brown for undergrad in political science, Columbia for grad school in journalism. He worked at a news indexing company for 10 years or so but decided he didn’t like it, so he got certified as a teacher and has been teaching high school social studies (mostly APUSH and AP Gov) incredibly successfully for the past 11 years. He loves it and wouldn’t give it up for pretty much any other job. Yes, he’s my dad, so I’m a little biased, but I can honestly say he’s one of the two or three brightest people I’ve met, and someone who if he wished could have been extraordinarily successful in multiple other fields.</p>
<p>If you like teaching kids, there’s nothing “wasteful” about that. You’re influencing the next generation, arguably having a greater impact on society than almost any doctor or engineer. Yes, the salary can be low, especially if you are in a lower-income school district, and yes, hours are long and nobody realizes all the work you put in. However, it is still tremendously rewarding to know that you are helping these kids out that you are teaching. I’ve felt it through my camp counselor job, but teaching has so much more of that sort of moment. Here’s my advice: if once you’re done with college, you still find a strong attraction for teaching, apply for Teach for America.</p>
<p>thanks a lot!</p>
<p>bump</p>
<p>We need more smart people like you to be teachers</p>
<p>bump! </p>
<p>what are your opinions guys? don’t just view this and not answer!</p>
<p>Personally I think the low salary bit is BS. You work 9 mos. out of the year and those 9 mos. of work are practically on autopilot. You make your lesson plans and handouts once and use them for 10 years.</p>
<p>Otherwise I don’t think the too smart to do something argument applies.</p>
<p>@ UAKid</p>
<p>What? </p>
<p>bump</p>
<p>Everyone always says that being a teacher isn’t going to be a great job and it really will not pay that much in the future. But, I just love the feeling of helping someone and I would love to be a high school history teacher, or maybe (with a lot of experience) become a college history professor. That’s why I’m doing everything that I can now to prepare for it and trying to maintain a 4.0 average, but we’ll see. Anyway, I would really go for it and I hope to see you in the teaching field soon! :)</p>
<p>Urmmm… Everyone in my school hates teaching. The students are rude and disrespectful and unruly. </p>
<p>Teachers don’t get paid enough by the state. Professors in universities get triple to almost quadruple the pay of high school teachers.</p>
<p>Teaching is a calling; not everyone can do it or do it well. She has had bad and mediocre math teachers because few great teachers are willing to work in her underpaying dysfunctional district with a challenging population and conditions, and she has lacked the luck to be assigned the few good math teachers. It is a job where you can truly make a difference in a person’s life.</p>
<p>One of my daughter’s best teachers was a Stanford grad; this was for fourth and fifth grade. This teacher insisted on teaching split (combo) classes and having student teachers. After years in the classroom, she became a writing consultant: teaching teachers how to teach writing, since writing was more difficult for this teacher than math she worked to deconstruct the process. Then, she became a principal coach, i.e. coaching rookie principals although she herself had never been a principal.</p>
<p>Jobs, like the college experience, are what you make of it. The brighter teachers with a temperament for teaching are the ones that shine and use their imagination.</p>
<p>Best wishes. Just avoid a student debt load greater than your first year’s salary.</p>
<p>If teaching is what you want to do, go for it! I know exactly where you are coming from. I’m going to be a senior in high school and haven’t wanted to be a teacher my whole life; however, I realize that the salary is lower than other professions and several of my own teachers, who I think highly of, have told me about the meager amount of job opportunities teachers have right now.</p>
<p>The son of my middle school math teacher got a teaching certificate, student taught, but after very limited opportunities for a job decided to switch to nursing.</p>
<p>This is not meant to discourage you from going into teaching. I still want to go into teaching. With this information, though, I’d recommend having a fall back career in case teaching doesn’t work out.</p>
<p>I’d recommend majoring in Math instead of Education. If you major in Math and then gain teacher’s certification, you still leave the door open for other math-related careers aside from teaching.</p>
<p>If teaching is your passion do it! You might not make as much money as some of your classmates in college, but life isn’t all about money. You will spend so much of your life working so you might as well spend it doing something you love and helping others in the process.</p>
<p>By the way UAKid, teachers have to adapt their lessons each year to those that are in their classes. It is common for teachers in my school to have to teach different classes each year, so even if they’ve been teaching one class for 20 years they might have to create an entirely new course syllabus and lesson plans for another course they’re assigned to teach. They work up to 16 hours a day during the school year, plus weekends. Their summers are filled with taking classes to re-certify or adapting lesson plans. Also, many teachers work second jobs during the summer. Teaching is a very meaningful and important profession. Don’t devalue teachers.</p>
<p>You know how you can see teacher salaries? I saw a middle school teacher (of 12 years) who was making ~450k every year. BANK.</p>
<p>^The highest paid teacher in my district makes 100k a year.
Starting teachers make around 30k a year, which is why they are discouraged from going to top schools where their tuition and debt will be well over 100k.
If you want to be a teacher be a teacher, just keep in mind that teachers don’t make a lot of money when you are taking out your student loans.</p>
<p>I think you should absolutely follow your heart. People look down upon the teaching profession because of its lack of prestige and low salary, but I think it’s all about where your priorities are. If you want to really make a difference in the world, teaching is a great way to do it! Not everyone makes a good teacher (I’m sure any CC’er can testify to this, lol), but I think we can all remember at least one teacher who really made a difference in our academic careers. Being able to convey your knowledge and expertise to students in a way that is easily understood is a gift! If you think you’ve got that gift, it would be a shame to waste it! :)</p>
<p>My only advice:
If teaching is your sole career choice, I would recommend attending a well-respected but affordable public university. You will still get a great education, but will surpass exorbitant debt from an ivy that you will struggle to repay on a teacher’s salary. Just my advice!</p>
<p>uakid:</p>
<p>you think teachers just come to work and leave everything back at the “work place” like most jobs? you think during the summer my mother sits on her butt all day and twiddles her thumbs? maybe your teachers didn’t do crap where you grew up (which sucks and probably explains your ill-tasted post,) but i’d beg to differ in other parts of the united states. she’s always working, trying to make things better for her own classroom and for her students. in regards to the “low” pay, teachers in my opinion are probably the most undervalued/underpaid job out there. do you not realize that it’s YOUR teachers, MY teachers, etc that open up valuable resources for us? don’t you realize that it’s teachers that bring out the intrinsic motivation that all of us possess to become the future politicans, doctors, engineers of america? EVERY single person who went through the K-12 system in the United States who went on to have a job could not have gotten there without a teacher. but then again, maybe it’s the type of person who decides to become a teacher… instead of being driven by money/wealth/greed, etc, they’re driven to make profound contribution to society (which doesn’t come with people demanding a 6 figure pay check…)</p>
<p>@sen12or:</p>
<p>“Some people were saying that you shouldn’t go to a top level college if you intend on becoming a teacher one day” - BS. Do not ever buy into it (I’ll explain why).</p>
<p>“Others tell prospective teachers that they are “too smart” for the job” - Wrong, wrong, wrong.</p>
<p>Look, if you have this desire inside to be a teacher - GO FOR IT. “Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is a result of other people’s thinking” (couldn’t help quoting Steve Jobs on this one). </p>
<p>First, apply to a great school. A top school. Whichever school you want to go to, whichever one makes you go nuts and have butterflies by just thinking you can attend it one day - apply to that school and go there! Enjoy your college years, get involved, participate in classes and clubs, be active - learn and enjoy your time as a student! Top school = more opportunities to get involved, get exposed to diff. things, participate in research, you name it! </p>
<p>Why should I do all of this, you’d ask? Well, as you’ll see later, what makes a truly great teacher is knowledge, not just within their field of expertise, but general knowledge. Your students will want to talk to you, get to know you, and get advice from you - and this is where being a “well-rounded” individual will make all the difference! You will not be there just to teach them Math 
</p>
<p>“Too smart” for job? Next time, remind people who say so of their time at school and ask whether they had at least one great teacher - can they ever say that that teacher was “too smart” for his/her job? Or was s/he so smart that it was a blessing that s/he was a teacher and not something else?</p>
<p>Just FYI: also, you don’t have to major in Math if you want to be a Math teacher! Just make sure you take enough Math classes so you don’t have to take an exam when you’ll go for teacher certification after graduating from college (message me if you have any further questions). Otherwise, I hope you enjoy your time in college and become a great and inspirational teacher later in life! :)</p>
<p>Just my two cents. One thing I’ve noticed at my school is the startling contrast between honors and AP kids and non honor non AP. Personally, as a high school student I feel that teaching can be fun and rewarding IF you teach the right students.</p>
<p>cheerioswithmilk, there are no “right” or “wrong” students. There are students who are at different levels of knowing and understanding Math, and it takes a great teacher to make sure that all students achieve that level.</p>