How should I go about becoming an Elementary school teacher? What's it like?

Question

I live in Florida and am currently an English major. I still have two years left at my University; however, I would like to produce a road map for myself. What should I do now to start preparing myself and become a good candidate for an elementary school teacher?

Also, how much do elementary school teachers make a year? What should I consider doing over the summer when school is out?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Iam a teacher in Australia, so there are some aspects of your question that I can't answer. I can tell you that teaching is EXHAUSTING! Don't get me wrong, it is very rewarding. Do not be fooled by the hours and holidays. Teachers put in very long hours - planning, making resources, marking, meeting with parents, writing reports. And all this needs to be done outside of teaching hours. You will have to take work home evening and weekends. As for holidays, I say relax as much as you can, but make sure you spend a fair amount of time planning for the year/semester ahead. The most difficult thing about teaching is dealing with parents. By all means go into the job, but do not think it is going to be easy.

Answer 2

I live in Illinois and I am currently getting teacher certified for preK through 3rd grade.  First, you should decide what grade you would like to teach.  Here in Illinois, there is a big distinction between certification in elementary ed and early childhood ed (preK-3rd).  Anymore, school districts won't hire teachers with elementary ed cert to teach K-3 (even though they technically can), because the early childhood cert is so much more specialized for young children.  Also, look into other certifications such as reading, special ed, etc.  They may make you more marketable.  

Teachers in my area begin making about 30K (for a first year teacher with a BA).  This is a fairly good salary in my area, in bigger areas like Chicago, I believe it starts around 35K.  Check your local school disctrict's websites, they should have salary charts posted.  Here, all the teachers in the public schools receive a paycheck every month, even in the summer, because they are salaried.  I work for a preK center for a public school district and we are year round (our teachers make about 2K more than elementary teachers who are off for the summer).

I hope this helps a little!