How Did You Decide Which Grade/Year Group You Wanted To Teach?

Question

I'm about to start the 3rd year of my degree but I have to get my teaching application in by November (as the course starts in 2009). I know I want to teach, it's really the only thing I've ever wanted to do. But I'm having trouble deciding which age group I want to concentrate on. I know I couldn't teach little children as it would be too much for me. That's as far as I've got lol.

So how did you decide or how did you know which grade/year group you wanted to teach. Was it a gut instinct or a more thought out decision. Or something else.

Thanks.

Answer 1

I didn't really. I came into teaching through an alternative certification program designed to recruit teachers in high need areas in the city where I live.  I was placed in special education (even though I had absolutely no knowledge of sped) and I was first assigned to teach in a middle school. My principal decided to put me in an inclusion team teaching class.  Not much choice.

Later, I decided to stay with special ed. I really do enjoy it. I just changed the type of class and the grade level. I came to enjoy it through the experience.

Answer 2

I have taught at all levels and found that i enjoy younger kids better. Sometimes we have no choice in where we teach.

Answer 3

I also did the observing of the classrooms when I took a class in high school called 'Cadet Teaching'. I was a dance teacher for many years throughout my adolescene, and knew I wanted to become a teacher. When you sit in on different age classrooms, you see how mature the children are. Or what kind of activities they learn best with. It really helped me a lot. And I saw that 2nd grade was perfect for me. Children are talking fluently, and can grab basic concepts and I still get to do coloring/crafts/cutting activities. I love being crafty. :) Best of luck in your future years!

Answer 4

Hello!

I qualified to teach 11-18 year olds and my rationale behind that was that I felt it gave me a bit more options:

1) You can move down to teaching primary more easily than moving up to secondary.

2) You aren't stuck with the same class all day everyday - which could end up being stressful if you end up with a class you struggle to get on with!

3) You get to teach your specialised subject in an in-depth way. Teaching younger children means you have to know a bit about all subjects and never get to go into any juicy depths!

4) A lot of primary teaching is pastoral, which is great if you like being pastoral, but sucks if you don't!

5) Older children are just a little bit more interesting, I find. They are a little bit more challenging and thus so much more satisfying when you really help them to progress in the subject.

Those were my reasons in a nutshell - I think secondary is harder in terms of workload and stress but if you thrive on excitement and challenges then I think it is far better!  

Answer 5

I decided to teach high school over middle school, just because the high school offers more extracurricular activities that I could sponsor. Plus I like the high schoolers because you can treat them as adults, not recent elementary school kids..

Answer 6

I observed classrooms of the ages I was interested in teaching for a few weeks. It was the best thing I could have done as I ended up teaching the age group I thought I would NEVER teach! :)

Try talking to some local teachers and asking if you could sit in on some classes. More than likely, they'd be thrilled to let you observe.