Should i become a teacher?

Question

I have always had a passion for teaching and i love children. I like seeing them achieve their set goals and helping them along the way.

So here it is.

I'm currently 15, a top grade student - one of the best at my school, enjoys all acedemic subjects as well as music. I play an instrument and i am a real people person.

But i'm just thinking would going into teaching not be my best option. Like i have the capability to do something that pays a lot better but should that really matter?

I'm thinking of following my passion for teaching. What do u think?

Answer 1

You don't need to ask us! Do what you are comfortable doing. You should become a music teacher since ouy love music.

Don't worry about pay. Did you know a person with a lousy paying job that they love lives longer than someone who is rich with a job they hate?

Nope I did not make that fact up.

Answer 2

I would honestly consider your secondary passion. Give yourself time. I would volunteer at an elementary school or whichever level you're interested in and see it first hand. Get some volunteer time in if you could, even if it's only an hour at the end of the day.

This could help you realize if this is what you really want.

It's rough. There's so much to consider that when you are a student you don't see even half of the stuff that teachers do behind the scenes. This doesn't include discipline, parent contact, alterations of lessons, finding alternative materials for lessons, or modifications for every student who has a disability.

Again, you're 15 and you have time, but I would almost say to you that you need to have about 10 pairs of balls to do the job these days. It might be a better choice for you to have a career in something else and then volunteer your time in a school just to give back to the community. You can fulfill yourself this way as well.

Some people will tell you how great it all is, how you should do it with stars and glitter in your eyes.. but it isn't what everyone makes it out to be most of the time. You get home after working 7-8 hours and then you grade papers for 3 more, you do lessons for the next day, you collapse, and you have not much time for other things. You are constantly fighting the system to make sure your records are kept straight, each year that they raise your wages, that you are being treated fairly by the administration, that you get the supplies you need. My first year of teaching the school literally expected me to buy supplies out of my first yr teacher salary. I spent over $5,000 my first year because I didn't stick up for myself. It's not glory, it's not beautiful most of the time, and while I do like what I do now... the first 5 years of teaching literally made me want to quit. I almost did. But don't use my "almost" as a reason to keep going. If I had a choice and I found something else I loved to do and could support myself doing it, I would do it.

Answer 3

money isn't everything. And if you really want money then you can teach in an international school overseas. You can get quite a good salary in places like Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore etc.

I'm one of those people mentioned above who it 'wasn't for them'. I taught for 5 years (art), but i'm actually much more into making things and i felt like an alien the whole time teaching. I think if you get into a job your not meant for then you feel out of place and dissatisfied, you're much better following your heart, especially if it's so clear. And teachers aren't paid that badly. It's not like you'll be going through bins to find food, you just might not be driving a mercedes.

Answer 4

if its your passion u should become a teacher. you can have great influence over students and give them knowledge. but still even your dream job has cons. the bad part is you will get low wages. you could become a scientist or a proffesor. it is similar and will help you get more money than being teacher

Answer 5

follow what you love not stuff that pays well but you hate so if teaching is a good passion then continue on towards that goal

Answer 6

I decided in third grade that I was going to be a teacher when I grew up.  And here I am, loving it!

Teaching isn't a walk in the park though, be aware that there are a lot of challenges you can face as an educator, be it from the system, the community, or even the students in your class!  You are so right that it's not about the pay at all, but when you realize how many lives you can touch and change for the better in the course of a 30-year teaching degree, how can you possibly put a price tag on that?

If you have any doubts at all, I say that you should volunteer to help in a classroom at the age level you think you might like to teach - like if you think you want to work with primary aged kids, go volunteer in a kindergarten classroom.  It will give you a chance to see what it's like on the inside, you can talk with teachers to get their take on teaching, and you will get to see if it's really what you want to do.

One of my RAs in college commented once that he thought that, while some people can learn to become teachers, the majority have to be born teachers.  And many people go almost all the way through an education program only to realize that it's not for them after all - this happened to my methods practicum partner.  The day before the end of the semester, he told me that he like the kids but hated teaching, and was changing his major to English.  This was right before the semester of student teaching, the final semester of college!  I know many others who have done that, or get through the program and get a job and then realize that it's not for them.

If you are that passionate about teaching already, though, chances are you have the fire in your belly to do it, and probably do it well.  And if people give you flak about becoming a teacher because it doesn't pay anything, think about that one commercial (I think it's actually for investments), where the little boy tells his father that he wants to be a teacher, and the father asks him if he wouldn't rather be a lawyer or a doctor because he could become rich and famous.

The boy's reply is that without teachers, there would be no doctor's or lawyers.

And I can tell you that even if you change the life of only one child a year, you have made a difference.

Answer 7

If you have a passion for teaching, get after it. You might end up being a little light in your wallet, but in many ways it is the best paying job you'll ever have. I started teaching 13 years ago after having had another career and I wouldn't trade those years for anything. No matter what anyone says about how tough the job is, the rewards are greater and you will NEVER feel like what you are doing doesn't mean much in the great scheme of things. It sounds corny, but when you get through to a student and make them love learning, you've enriched their lives and the world at the same time.