Should I teach elementary or high school? ?

Question

I am starting college in the fall and cannot decide whether I want to teach elementary school or high school english, what are your opinions? Do you have any experiences in these fields?

Answer 1

I had to ask myself this same question. I could not figure out what grade I wanted to teach.  I decided on middle school.  For the past 2 years I have taught 8th and this year I will be 7th.  One of the main things that helped me is I decided I would not be able to teach the subjects in elementary school like I should.  My major was math so that is what I understand the best and can teach the best.  If I would have taught elementary school I wouldn't have been able to teach english or social studies as well.

In elementary school your assignments get to be very creative.  In high school not so much.  In both levels you will have fights, bullying, and all the drama.

I would say try to do some pre-student teaching in both levels.  That way you can get more experience in both.  Also if you can start substituting you will be able to work in all grade levels which gives you even more experience.

Answer 2

It depends on whether you like working with the smaller children. Do you like being able to have a little more fun in the classroom? Or would you rather be able to discipline the kids that need to be disciplined? It's really a choice of what age group would you rather spend you time with.

Answer 3

Elemetery it is alot nicer, little kids will like you and its more fun, and also alot less papers to grade! ; )

Answer 4

In my opinion, it all depends on a few things. You need to ask yourself a few questions before making such a big decision.

One, if you were to teach elementary school, do you like teaching little kids? Dealing with bullying issues, and all of the responsibilities that come a long with it. I think that if you enjoy being around smaller children, working in an elementary school would be a good choice for you.

On the other hand, if you enjoy being around (most of the time) mature students, I suggest teaching in a high school. You would have the liberty of teaching different students all day, then you would while you were with the same students in an elementary school for most of the classes.

I feel that if you would like to go in to teaching different subjects, instead of just English, then you should teach elementary because that would allow both you and the students to grow. On the other hand, if you specialize in English language arts, maybe you should stick to do what's best.

Best of luck in your decision, and I'm sure you will become a great teacher!

Answer 5

I personally choose elementary education.  You might be wise to get more experience in both and then choose.  At the college I went to there were a lot of classes that overlapped.  Take these classes first so you don't waste time and volunteeer in different schools.  this is the best way to make an informed decision that you can live with.  They are so different, you are bound to find that you like one more then the other.

Answer 6

I would def teach elemantary school high schoolers can be so cold hearted and mean i think you will get a lot more out of it if you teach elemantarty