How hard is it to be an elementary school teacher? What is their work schedule?

Pay,hours and benefits are determined by district contract.I'm not a teacher but have two boys in grade school.Husband teaches high school special ed. In my opinion Grade school would be harder.You have to keep 30 kids occupied/learning and in their seats.You have to keep their attention by making learning interesting.You have to sometimes console them and be compassionate.You have to do alot of testing and assessments of learning skills and levels.You cover a wide range of learning skills of students.You have to teach all the different subjects every day.I have seen my boy's teachers working in their classrooms at 7PM and called their classroom phone 7:30AM,thinking I would leave a message and had the teacher answer.As much as I respect upper grades,husband included I have never seen that much work, devotion, time and talent.

Teachers don’t go into teaching for the money or for any easy schedule. If you love children and are excited by seeing the joy of discovery in their faces, then teaching is the right job for you! I have been teaching kindergarten for 30 years and still love it. It IS hard and stressful but totally worth it. Of course there are days when I’d rather be somewhere else, but that’s the same with any job. The level of commitment that you give to the job dictates how hard you work. I believe that a teacher has to give her students 100% each and everyday. You are teacher, mother, nurse, counselor, referee, cruise director, party planner, nutrition, safety officer and much more to these kids for 180 days each year. And I wouldn’t have it any other way! My daily schedule is this: 7:20 Arrive at school, answer emails, prepare for the next day. 8:10 Children arrive 11:05 lunch break 11:55 New group of students arrive 2:45 Children leave the building for the day Now it’s time to put away materials from today’s lessons and prepare and set up for tomorrow’s lessons, answer phone messages, emails, attend staff or committee meetings, conference with parents. 5:00 go home to answer emails, update website You never really get your vacations or summers totally off as you will need to take courses for professional development points for recertification. The nurses in our town are part of our union. I’m not sure of a nurse’s salary, but a first year teacher with no experience and no masters’ degree and right out of college makes over $41,000 this year. With a masters $45,000. Health benefits are 50/50 and retirements plans are generally pretty good. I wish you the best as you consider your career choices. Teaching is an incredibly rewarding profession. I suggest that you spend some time volunteering in an elementary school (in a variety of grades) to see if this is the right choice for you. You could even find some schools this summer that run tutoring programs if you want to get a head start.

if you become a teacher, choose kindergarten - 3rd grade

It sounds like from your statements you should go with the Nursing gig. Nurses get paid more, and are more in demand. You will have things stressing you out in teaching you never even thought of: parents, co workers, kids, etc. It sounds like your heart isn't set on being a teacher, so once again, go with the nursing.

It is a tough job. Go to www.dougwebb.webs.com. He has a book on education that will give you a good idea of what it is like.r

School nurses definitely get the shaft. I wouldn't be surprised if my district is making cuts in that department as we speak. Teaching Elem. has its ups and downs just like any other profession. It can be time consuming and emotionally draining, but the payoff is always the kids. I know plenty of teachers who spend ungodly amounts of time in their classrooms after work, but it doesn't have to be that way. Once you hit your stride, a Sunday afternoon can be spent planning for the week. You adjust as you go. Grading papers is a drag, but if you've got a good assistant who can help you, it's not so bad. You also have to learn quickly that you're not supposed to grade everything. Lots of things can just be assessed and discussed or handed back. I usually get to work around 7:30 and leave around 4:00. I work at home too, but like I said, I try to just spend Sunday afternoons or evenings planning for the week so I don't take time away from my family. Benefits are nice. I don't have dental b/c that plan seems pointless to me the way it's set up in my state. We get bonuses and stuff here and there, and a yearly pay raise is great. I know that with the crappy economy that this is changing though. My contractual hours with the school are 7:40-3:15 plus any required meetings. I have a monthly faculty meeting & committee meeting, and I think PTO meetings are like 5 times a year. There's also things like fall festivals and Reading Night and stuff. It's not bad. We get paid for 10 months of work, but you can have your check adjusted to get paid all 12 months. This year I chose to get paid for 10 and have a portion put into a special savings account for the summer. The interest wasn't that great, but it was something. :) Oh, you're also expected to go to continuing ed. I'm sure most states have a smaller requirement for beginning teachers. Your masters might even count towards your requirement. I wouldn't try to become a school nurse if I were you. Either nursing or teaching. Best wishes!

elementary school is the easiest to teach because theyre to young to be rebellious, but too mature to be unruly like preschoolers,