I teach High School. I love the conversations I have with students. Their fresh ideas and eagerness to get on with their life is fun for me. I don’t have the patience for elementary. I tip my hat to all teachers at the elementary level. I really don’t know how they do it. I really do love to see the student go from being kids in the 9th grade to being young adults their senior year.

Good luck and remember to have fun and learn with them no matter what level you choose!

The way I see it, there’s nothing worth doing that comes easily. The older kids do sometimes have attitude problems. And they don’t like school anymore, and they’re not interested in anything you have to say. But they’re also the ones who have had people give up on them and stop trying. They’re the ones who are very close to dropping out of school or settling for a job they don’t like, or making another bad decision that could ruin their lives. In short, the older students are the ones, in general, that are most desperately in need of a good teacher who actually cares about their education. On that same note, I have met a LOT of good elementary teachers, but very few good high school teachers. High school teachers get burned out quickly and stop trying so hard, because in some cases that’s what they have to do to preserve their own sanity. I haven’t been teaching for that long, but I sincerely hope I can continue to have some confidence and hope for these kids, and maybe have an influence on a couple of them to do something great with their lives. Every kid has talents, and many of them tend to forget that around middle school when everything becomes an issue of who’s prettier or who’s more popular. It’s my job not only to make them remember that again, but also to teach them that being good at something does not mean that it’s necessarily easy for you. But the more work you put into something, the better the feeling will be when you accomplish it.

That’s why I chose high school.

Secondary. I have always liked science and I understand biology better than the other sciences. Having the right personality is important too because if you haven’t been around younger children before and can’t always be upbeat about everything then being an Elementary teacher can be hard. I have done some volunteer teaching in elementary grade levels, and the kids constantly need attention and help every step of the way. Working with older kids, you can guide them in the right way but you don’t need to tell them what to do all the time.

Take your pick:

Elementary:

Pro’s:

1. You get to influence them at such a young age, which can make a huge impact.

2. They still enjoy art, music, and silly projects, that older students might not like.

Con’s:

1. Record keeping is tremendous.

2. The union will say that you should only have 28 in a class, but you’ll get 34 or more.

3. Kids don’t bring supplies most of the time, but they can afford $200 NIKE’s.

4. A lot are behind, and they act out.

5. Discipline Discipline Discipline.

6. Have to have a million systems to do everything.

A system for coming in the room. For putting backpacks away. For starting a subject. For lining up. For using the restroom. For turning in homework. For asking questions.

Secondary:

Pro’s:

1. You can have more interesting conversations with your students.

2. Less discipline issues if you are a strong teacher.

3. Higher Level Thinking, Projects.. etc..

Con’s:

1. Lazy attitudes at times.

2. Complaints all of the time about having to write ANYTHING.

3. Lack of a sense of responsibility.

Personally, I get more done with high school students, less time worrying about disciplining them so we can focus on better things. When I taught elementary (music) the class time was 80% wasted on disciplining them. What a waste.

I chose secondary because I like people to be more independent. While I certainly don’t mind helping people who give things a fair try I think I am easily frustrated by having to do everything for a person.

While middle schoolers are certainly not the most independent people in the world at least I can reasonably expect them to go to the bathroom, tie their own shoes, find their way around the school etc so I can concentrate on teaching them the subject.

Also secondary is better if you have a passion for a particular subject, like I do. I think if you have the passion for a subject you will be a far better teacher.

Word of advice- your first year teaching is hard, hard, hard! Do not expect to be able to take on many personal interests that year and your friends and family will start to get grouchy with you by Christmas because you are so busy. Stick with it though it only lasts the year.

Also- be firm from minute one of day one. It will pay off in the end. It is way easier to loosen up later than to try and reign them back in after they have had it easy.

I teach secondary and have always preferred the older ones over the younger ones. I enjoy the independence of teens and their ability to reason and carry on a conversation. Within the secondary level, the middle school level still allows you to influence the lives of children. They are enjoyable and not excessively needy as are the youngsters in elementary school.

Elementary. I think it all has to do with your personality. I chose elementary because I honestly don’t have a passion for one specific subject, and I can put up with the whining and tattling and teaching young children social skills. I cannot put up with the teenage attitude. However I talk to several secondary teachers quite a bit and they say just the opposite. They cant take the whining and lack of social skills but they can put up with the attitudes. They also have a passion for their subject matter.

How about volunteering to work with kids in both age groups for a specified period of time to see which group you might click with the best?

I teach phonics and math to first graders and also composition, literary analysis, algebra I, and chemistry to teens. All of my classes are held in a live, online classroom with audio, chat, whiteboard (drawing as well as slide presentations), and webcam (used just for chemistry labs).

I teach in a non-profit organization that runs free online classes. as you can immagine, with classes being free volunteers are spread thin and do everything. I work in very small groups of 3 to 6 students with the younger age range. The older age range have classes of 2 to 10 students. I love both age groups. I know I would be very hard pressed to pick between them if I had to.

The younger kids are so cute. They just idolize you as a teacher, and that can be very compelling. That doesn’t mean they don’t have their bad days or that you don’t have to have a huge ‘bag of tricks’ handy to help them keep their attention focused on the tasks at hand.

The older kids are great in that your discussions can be deeper and you can really dig into a subject that you enjoy. I have been really fortunate in that the kids I work with are very respectful, so I haven’t had any attitude issues. Several of them have gone out of their way to show appreciation.

I think if you can volunteer to work with each group it may help. At worst, you will just end up realizing you love both equally and still have to pick. LOL. If you would like to volunteer with our non-profit, you are very welcome to join in. It is very rewarding personally even though you don’t get paid. Just contact me through my profile e-mail if you are interested.