why pick this class for a job shadow?
During my junior year in high school I help Miss Peters class in Washington Elementary here in California for half of the semester so I can safely say I know what the profession has in store. First thing when the kids come through that door is greet the teacher as they put away their backpacks against the wall as they begin to sit on the rug covered with small boxes of blue tape across from it. Coming back to Mrs. Peters class after the summer has officially been over has been a little bit of a challenge new kids new faces to see; I've seen the kids who were in Miss Peters class who are now from kindergarten to first grade. realizing as I looking back on the years that my whole childhood has transformed and I am now a adult with responsibility.
Why would I be with miss Peters again, I love children, seeing the enthusiasm from these children somehow brings a little fire in me being so young and willing to learn brings me back to the times when I was a kindergartner I used to love learning and I still do from this day , each day these kids learn more , they might as well may learn more than me.
What I've learned during his experience have not change my view of this profession. Even if the kids have their ups and downs and may show up by expressions of anger or sadness it does not change the fact that these kids are here to learn I have an understanding that these children will one day might not decide to stay in school but a teachers job is not just to keep them in school but their job as a teacher is to make sure that the child is happy with life, even if he or she does not choose to stay and learn.
Mrs.peters deals with a lot of children calling her and depending on her to learn and help them progress as students even if the child doesn't want her to , she will always want their best intrastate at hand. She seems want every last one of her kids want in life and even if the day comes she retires she says she would love to come back as a sub and help on her spare time with children. I've enjoyed being her shadow for the day , seeing the kids i helped teach the year before tilling me they wish they were back in kinder makes me wonder if its the same feeling when Mrs.peters old students tell her the same. Am glad to share this experience with perimeters and I am Happy to say I am wanting to do this line of work in the near future or not yet I've still have no idea what my future has inshore for me but what ever i do i will make sure of making it come true.
Job Shadow questions
I've had asked Mrs. Peters 10 questions and she answered in her whon words
What qualities does a person need to process to be in this type of position? her response was "The basic qualities for teaching children is be a role model set a good example be patient with the child and enjoy working with them as the years go by and also to be a lifelong learner".
What training or education is required for this type of work her replied "They call it a bachelor's degree in liberal studies and also you need your teaching credential which was an additional 2 years".
How do you say jobs in the field changing in the future? "I really don't think they're going to change too much as they're just going to evolve I mean we have more technology now than we had before so technology is going to be one we are more or facilitating more rather than you know teaching like it used to be in the olden days but there's always going to be a need for teachers technology is never going to replace us" she exclaimed .
Do you work overtime? "Always a minimum of 2 hours a day and always in the summer , you're planning you're preparing and as well as researching for the year to come".
How did you get started in this field? "I was a teacher's assistant in an elementary school for 3rd grade but I always knew I wanted to be a teacher because I had a third grade teacher that inspired me to be like her she just made learning fun and enjoyable so I looked up to her"
What was the most rewarding part of your job? "The most rewarding part of my job is always seeing how much the child has learned throughout the year especially in Kinder because sometimes they come with nothing and they grow so much both physically mentally emotionally and that's just the best reward of them all".
Do you take work home? "I used to more than I do now but I do take some work home there's always homework for us to do either correcting papers creating like I said planning just trying to stay ahead hopefully"
What professional organizations will help me to meet people in this field and there not more about it " Depending on your grade level there's different teachers associations like for kindergarten there's a kindergarten Association so that's a good place where you can go to the newsletters or ideas and different sorts like that but just going to different districts and volunteering but I think would be the best way to learn and meet people in the profession volunteering is key ".
How much flexibility do you have in terms of dress hours of work and vacation time? i asked her, in detailed she told me this "Um in regards to flexibility if you need to take time off you are entitled to your sick leave so you have either sick days you have personal necessity or you have discretionary days I work a lot and I want to say 11 days a year to our discretionary what you can use for anything you want like you don't have to give a reason why you're going to be upset sick leave is when you're sick and personal necessity is like when you have appointments are going to be out of town things like that I'm so in regards to flexibility I think we had some time to do that in terms of dress you do have to dress professional you can't be dressing provocatively so now you know you have to wear your neck you're showing cleavage no short skirts short shorts they don't allow jeans but on Fridays we dress down for games based on the principle of discretion dressing professionally see-through blouses we have the summer supposedly we do have them off"
How does the economy affect your job? "the economy does affect our job because we do get State funding for it Federal funding so sometimes when there's not enough money to pay for certain programs or cut for example we had a while back we had class size reduction which meant we were allowed to have 20 children in the class that's funding is no longer available so now we went up to 27 which does increase the workload so we service more children with less resources"
the love for the memories
The time I've spent with the kids I shadowed was one of the best things about wanting to do the same stuff as Mrs.P. The kids are always so happy (at times) not a worry in the world yet. seeing their bright smiles everyday knowing a teachers work will never be done for every year there will be a new bunch of kids with unknown about the thing I would have to teach them. the kids and seeing their little faces light up and when I saw my old students from the year before when I went to help Mrs.p before. They where so happy to see me they literary jumped at me. I under stand what it must feel like to let go to really care about someone else education those kids are the futuer as well as me we are all the future of the world around us.