| Kathleen N. "I teach 8th graders in the State of Texas everything they need to know about US History, from our colonization to the time period known as Reconstruction, after the Civil War." |
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Education
Required License(s)
You must have a teaching certificate in the area you wish to teacher (e.g., to teach History, you must take the History exam, to teach English, the English exam). |
Required Degree(s)
Bachelor's degree |
Importance of GPA
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What do you need to do to maintain your license(s)?
You must obtain a certain number of professional development hours in order to keep your teaching certificate active.
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Kathleen's Highest Degree: Bachelor's degree
Kathleen's College Major: Bachelor's of Liberal Arts in History with a Teaching Certificate in a Single Field and a minor in English
Kathleen's College GPA: 3.6-3.9
Salary
It completely depends on the state you live in.
I started my teaching career in Florida and the salary was only about $32,000 a year. But in the state of Texas, the salary jumps to about $50,000 a year. It all depends on the state and school district you work for.
Getting the Job
How did you get your job?
I knew a person working in the district I wanted to be in. She talked to the principal of her school and then after I applied, I was called and asked to come in for an interview. It does help to know someone in the district you want to work for, but you don't necessarily have to know someone. I know plenty of teachers who have gotten jobs simply based on their qualifications, resumes, and references. That is how I obtained my very first teaching job in Florida.
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How important was networking to landing your position?
Fairly important, but not essential. If you want to move up at all in eduction, that is when who know matters more.
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Life on the Job
What is a typical day (or week) for you like?
A typical day starts at about 6:00. I'm at school between 7:00 and 7:10 am. Students start coming into my classroom at around 7:30. I go through 2 periods teaching the same thing with a slightly modified lesson because the level of students is different in my first two classes of the day. Third period is my planning period. I usually use it to grade papers, make copies, lesson plan, or plan with the others on my team. Periods 4, 5, and 7 are the same as periods 1 and 2. Period 6 is a little different because I go down to the gym and help out with our athletics period since I am a coach at the school. (I coach 8th grade volleyball and 7th grade girls basketball. It keeps me pretty busy during the Fall and Winter but I love it.) I round out the day with 8th period advisory.
Once the school day is officially over, it's on to more grading, calling parents, inputting grades, going to faculty meetings, helping out with the school's History club, or tutoring students who need the extra help. As teachers, we put in so much extra work that it's often I'm not home until 5:30 or 6:00 in the evening. |
How closely does your typical day (or week) match up to the general "job description" for your position?
Pretty much exactly. (Although the extra hours can catch up to after a while.)
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Does being a woman affect any aspect of your career?
I think at times it does. But I do work in a female-dominated field. Plus most students are used to having females as their teacher rather than males.
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What is the best thing about your job?
Getting to talk about history all day long is great! I love history and I love passing on my love of history to my students. And even though there are days when they drive me absolutely insane, I do love my students. It's fun seeing them mature and grow from the beginning of the year to the end.
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What is the worst thing about your job?
Dealing with difficult students and parents, and state standards. They are the worst!
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How demanding is your job?
My job isn't too tough physically. (I usually make my students do the heavy lifting!) Mentally it can be exhausting. You cannot be a shy or timid person (especially with middle school students) because they will eat you up and spit you out.
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Do you have any advancement opportunities?
Yes there are. You can become an Instructional Coach, which gets you out of the classroom but still working with your chosen subject area, a Vice- Principal, Principal, or you can move up and work for the districts Central Office.
I'm not sure if I want to take those next steps or not. I may be interested in becoming an Instructional Coach at some point, but as of now I have no desire to be a Vice-Principal or Principal. |
Advice for You
What are the skills, characteristics, or talents that are most important to be effective in your position?
You must be organized, able to multi-task, patient (SO PATIENT), caring, understanding, stern, open, firm,
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What advice would you give to someone thinking about pursuing a career like yours?
Teaching is not a walk in the park, like some people seem to think. Yes we get holidays off and long summers, but we work very hard during the school year and get very little credit for that work. You have to really enjoy working with kids, adolescents, and teenagers to be able to survive the education, and you have to have a pretty thick skin. Kids today can be brutal. So don't go in thinking this is going to be easy. It will be hard but at the end of the day will be very rewarding!
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If you could do it over again, would you still pursue the same career?
I think so. There are times when I think about what else I could have done with my History degree. But I enjoy teaching history, I enjoy working with young people, and I enjoy the people I get to work with.
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Follow Up
Want to learn more?
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