Do I want to be a teacher??

1. Do I want to be a teacher?? Good Question!!

2. Rewards in Teaching • Intrinsic • Existing within ourselves • Satisfying for personal, emotional or intellectual reasons • Want to help young people learn & develop, smiling students • Contributing to society & making a world a better place • Personally challenging & stimulating • Insight, knowledge into other • Occupational status

3. Rewards in Teaching • Extrinsic Rewards • Outside forces • Summer vacations & job security • Work schedule • Positive places to work • Surrounded by people like you (optimistic about the future)

4. Challenges in Teaching • #1 – Finding a job • Funding • Position, student demographics, location • Elementary teacher – up 9% • High school – lower than elementary • Working Conditions • Responsible for 20-30 students & their safety • Different classes • Limited time to plan • Limited bathroom breaks • Adult conversations

5. Complexities of Classrooms • Simultaneous • Tasks & events occur at the same time • Unpredictable • Events take unexpected turns • Best created lesson plan – does NOT guarantee a great lesson • Public • Everything is observable! • Ignore it, discuss it, correct it – it is out there!! • Immediate • Events – frequently & quickly • 800-1500 decisions – daily • Multidimensional • Soo many things going on

6. Multiple Roles of Teaching • Creating Productive Learning Environments • Safe & inviting, focuses on learning and provides opportunities for social and personal growth • Values, expectations, learning experiences • Working with Parents • Parents must be involved to maximize learning • Home environment – POWERFUL influence • Parent involvement – student more positive attitudes, create fewer management problems!!! (more like to go to college, complete homework, graduate) • Need to understand home environment • Teachers are more positive & have higher expectations for parents • Collaborating with Colleagues • Now you are a team • Many principals view collaboration as one of the most essential characteristics of an effective teacher

7. Teaching • Teacher efficacy – teachers’ belief in their ability to promote learning and make a difference in students’ lives, regardless of background or home conditions • Good kindergarten teachers vs. bad ones • Students were more likely to own a home, earn more over a life time & have a sizable retirement savings! • Teacher salary • Face it – not many go into for the money (b/c there is little there • If teachers made more money, survey showed the percentage of high performing graduates would go into teaching

8. The Teaching Profession • Are teachers professional?? • How do you know?

9. What does being a PROFESSIONAL mean? • A specialized body of knowledge • Autonomy • Emphasis on decision making & reflection • Ethical standards for conduct

10. A specialized body of knowledge • Professional use a specialized body of knowledge in serving their clients • Knowledge of content • Knowing your content • Pedagogical content knowledge • Allow others to understand the content knowledge • General pedagogical knowledge • Ability to maintain an orderly & learning-focused classroom, guide student learning using skilled questioning • Knowledge of learners & learning • Differences • Plan lessons accordingly

11. Autonomy • With knowledge come autonomy, the capacity to control one’s own professional life. • Make decisions • Some suggest that teaching is not a profession due to the lack of decision making • States/districts decide: • What teachers teach (curriculum) • How is student understanding measured (assessments) • What students should know or be able to do after completing an area of study (standards) You do have some control on how you teach it, how you decide to assess your students

12. Emphasis on Decision Making & Reflection • You will have to rely yourself (assess your own decisions) • Reflection – the act of thinking about and analyzing your actions • Reflective teachers – thoughtful & critical about their teaching (what worked well last time, what didn’t, what interested the students, etc.) • Essential – improves our teaching & helps us develop professionally

13. Professional Ethics • Read example page 21

14. Professional Ethics • Ethics – sets of moral standards for acceptable professional behavior • Will help you to know how to act • National Education Association (NEA) code of ethics – addressed the issue of how teachers should interact with students

15. Are teachers professionals?? • Not everyone will agree that they are • Lack of rigorous training • Lack of autonomy

16. Diversity • Your classroom will have students from diverse background • In 2011, the majority of students in CA public schools were Hispanic • Percentages of white students will decrease • Students’ socioeconomic status – combination of parents’ income, level of education and jobs • Differ • Strongly affect their learning

17. Diversity • Learner who are mature, others slow at developing • Self confident vs hesitant, shy vs loud, obnoxious • Learning problems • All can affect students’ success in your class • Your response – will influence how much they learn, how they feel about school & your own teaching • Many beginning teachers feel ill-prepared

18. Teaching in Rural Schools • 1900 – 60% of the population lived in rural areas, today 16% • Schools much smaller than urban & suburban schools • 2007 – 327 one-teacher, one-room schools still remained • Students: • Tend to be less culturally diverse (changing & varies state to state) • 26% are members of minority groups • Poverty – BIG issue especially in the South and South West • More than 40% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch

19. Teaching in Rural Schools • Advantages • Strong sense of community • Schools – social center for the community • Communication with parents – often easier • Innovation and change easier to accomplish • Disadvantages: • Often aren’t able to offer all of the services found in larger school districts

20. Teaching in Suburban Schools • Majority of the population lives here • Growing tax base = more money for the schools • Smaller class size & greater access to resources • More diverse than rural areas • Well-educated professionals working in high-tech industries • Average household income – higher than urban & rural • Most of the highest achieving schools • Many family select their neighborhoods based on the reputations of the schools • Teaching here – HIGHLY desirable – finding a job = challenging

21. Teaching in Urban School • Our Nation’s 100 largest school districts represent less than 1% of all districts but are responsible for educating 16% of our students. • Employ more than a sixth of the nation’s teachers • Students: • 80% are members of cultural minorities • More than 65% eligible for free/reduced lunch • 1 of 5 enrolled in programs for students who do not speak English as a native language

22. Challenges to teaching in Urban Schools • More challenging • Low academic standards, scarce resources, lack of parental support & poverty – Major obstacles to successful teaching • Teachers are often underprepared for the challenges they face • Negative stereotypes = very dangerous – no matter the circumstance

23. Look at table 1.3 • Page 28 – sums up the three different areas