Almost at the Survey!!

So far I have not gotten any results but I have gone to my old school and talked to a few of my old teachers who were extremely interested in taking the survey for me. They will take the survey which will help me understand the "ins and outs" of being a teacher. There are so many different components of being a teacher that people never truly know all of it. People have a lot of assumptions about teachers these days but no one understands how much a teacher really does for their students as well as the school. By doing this survey I will see the responses from different grade levels, different ages of the teacher, different schools, different summer jobs, and much more. Doing this survey will give me a good feel for my future goals in life- being a teacher. In my last post there are the majority of questions I will ask. I have added a few more to that list to help me learn more about becoming a teacher. 

Questions on Why to Become a Teacher!

Within the next two weeks I plan on surveying some teachers and learning more about their job. Here are some questions I may ask: 

1. What grade do you teach? 

2. Did you graduate from college with a Bachelor or Master's Degree? 

3. What did you major and/or minor in? 

4. On a scale from 1-5 how happy are you with the benefits of a teacher? 

5. Do you agree or disagree with your pension plan? 

6. On a scale from 1-5 how much do you love your job? 

7. How many hours of homework do you have a night? a) 1-2 b) 3-4 c) 4-5 d) over 6 hours 

8. Do you need to get a summer job to keep supporting your needs in the summer? 

9. Do you agree or disagree with the income you make a year? 

10. How many years have you been working to get the income you are making now? 

11. What is the difference between what you started off making as a teacher to now? a) 2,000-4,000 b) 5,000-7,000 c) 8,000-10,000 d) over 10,000 dollars

12. Would you recommend me becoming a teacher? 

13. Do you have any advice or tips for me to know before becoming a teacher?

2nd Quarter Project!

For my Quarter 2 project I will be surveying teachers in all different grades levels such as Pre-school, Elementary, Middle and High school. I will ask some questions to teachers at IHA and the rest at my old school, Visitation Academy. In my survey I will be asking teachers different questions about their every day life within their job. Some questions I will be asking are about their income and pension to see if they agree or disagree with it. Also I will be asking these teachers about their benefits and if it is worth being a teacher with the work load. Next I will ask the teachers if they have a higher degree of education such as Masters degree rather than just a Bachelors degree. Lastly I will be asking the teachers if they have to get another job in the summer because they are off and do not get paid in the summer. I’m doing it this way because it will give me a better feel about how teachers feel about their job, income, benefits, retirement, and work load. The survey will help me see how teachers feel about their job and since I want to become a teacher, see what I can do to enjoy my job more.

 

Quarter 2

EDUCATION

For my quarter two assignment I will be going out and surveying different teachers talking to them about Education. I will ask a variety of questions to see their view on pension, pay, retirement, their classroom environment and much more. Not only will I be surveying Catholic school teachers but also I will try to find some public school teachers and see the difference between the two different environments. Also I would do case studies of individuals and see what they say about Education. 

The Teacher Song

     This funny and entertaining video I found is all about the daily lives of teachers. At the beginning it was showing all the things teachers do for their students everyday. Also in the video it shows all of the conflicts the teacher faces everyday. Not only is the teachers job to teach you but it is also to shape you into the person you are suppose to be. They teach you your manors such as sharing, caring and being respectful to everyone. Then the transition in the video is that the students are actually learning, enjoying school and behaving better all because of how wonderful the teacher is. Although teaching may get frustrating at times as shown in this video, she also states how rewarding it is at the end of the day. 
      I thought this was a great way to sum up the job of a teacher. As I've stated many times throughout my blog, teachers are not appreciated. More people should watch this video and see what teachers go through each and everyday and lets see how many people change their mind about teachers. 

What Was Your Dream Job?

Did you play teacher growing up? Was that your dream job when you were a kid? Well teaching is still my dream job. Growing up I played school every day with my brother, my cousins, and sometimes even just my stuffed animals. Every birthday or holiday it would be another excuse to get more teacher supplies. I had blackboards, chalk, name tags, bells, stickers- you name it, I had it. Then when my little sister was born I thought it was the perfect opportunity to be her "teacher". Right before she went to kindergarten I would sit with her and make her practice her letters, numbers, name, address, every day. She hated me for it then, but now thanks me for it. Teachers are not just people who teach in a classroom about Math, Science, English, or History, they also are people just teaching others how to do new things. Coaches, parents, priests, bosses all can be considered teachers. At some point or another they teach you how to do something that you do not know how to do. That is why becoming a teacher is so important to me. I will be impacting so many children's lives that it makes it all worth it. I do not care about the money or the work that I will have to do because in the end the reward is the children succeeding for the rest of their lives because of the things I taught them. Appreciate your teachers and all that they do for you. You will not realize how important they are until much later on in life but thank them every chance you get. 

For Better or Worse?

    A huge debate these days concerns whether teachers should spend time and effort on getting their master's degree. Some say that uprising teachers should get higher education because you will get paid more and others say not to because they want to get rid of higher salaries for the teachers with higher education. The three main reasons for wanting to get rid of paying teachers with master's degrees are because of tight school budgets, no connection between a master's degree and a students performance and Obama's administration wanting to compensate teachers based on student performance not degree level. Kathleen Wilson who is an associate professor for the Colleges of Education and Human Services, is in favor of the master's degree program because she feels that it widens the teachers knowledge of how to be in a classroom environment. How is it that teachers with just a bachelors degree can get a job over a teacher with a masters degree? It is because some schools just do not want to pay new teachers more money because of their higher education. How is that fair? If those teachers spent the money and time to get a higher degree then they should be paid more for it. 

I feel that teachers should be paid more money if they have a higher degree. Teachers these days are being treated unfairly and taking this away from them too would just be cruel. Not all teachers get their masters for the money, some actually want to widen their education and learn more so that they can be beneficial in a child's life. This is very frustrating for those high school students who want to become teachers and are not sure whether they should go through the five year program and get their masters, myself included.

   

Teachers Have Big Hearts

I feel as if this comic explains teachers very well. Teachers often do not get enough credit for their job. People think because they get summers off and get paid for holidays that their job is less meaningful. Little do they know they are wrong. Who do children spend 7 to 8 hours with a day? A teacher. Sometimes even more than their parents if they work late and have a nanny. Teachers can be seen as a mother-figure. Like in the comic, it says that teachers have the biggest hearts. Which I believe is 100% true because even if a child does something wrong or does not do their homework, a teacher easily forgives them and will sometimes give them a warning the first time. Teachers are not out to get students, instead they are there to teach and to be a guide to their students. I never had a teacher I did not like or become close to. I see all my teachers as someone I can go to and occasionally joke around with when it is appropriate. Someday I would like for my students to look up to me too. 

Teachers Are People Too

Teachers these days do not get enough credit for the things they do. This video helps express a normal day in the life of a teacher. Not only do teachers need to teach students but they also need to be role models so their students can look up to them. There is always those few who act up in class and make the teacher's job a lot harder than it should be. In cases like those it is the teachers job to discipline them just as a parent would in that situation. A teacher is a huge part of child's life and by reprimanding them when they do something wrong is only preparing them for life. In this video the students show little to no respect for the teacher which could be a huge problem in a real-life situation. School should not be seen as a punishment. Teachers are not there to be mean and scary, they are there to give guidance and help prepare students for what is to come in their life.  

Public vs. Private

A big decision teachers have to make is whether they want to teach in a private or public school. There are four main differences between the two which are facilities, class size, teaching, and budgets. The facilities in a private school reflect the success of the school's development team or if they generate alumni support. The facilities in a public school however are funded by the city in which the school is located which helps when they need to fix something within the school. The class size in private schools is much better than public. There is more individual attention due to the class sizes being smaller. Public school has way more students in a class room because the public school system takes everyone from the area. Teaching in a public school the teachers are paid better than being in a private school. Private schools usually take teachers who have degrees in a certain subject rather than an education degree whom public schools usually hire. Since the local town's taxes pay for the majority of public education, the school budget is political business. The only way private school's receive money is through tuition. If private schools need more money the first thing they do is raise the tuition to help with the school. These are just a few of the things teachers have to take into consideration when deciding what school system they wish to teach in. Either way, teaching itself will be much more rewarding than the money earned. 

Teacher's Tenure

Tenure is when an employee is given a permanent position. Tenure for teachers has been around for many years and New Jersey is trying to make it better. In a recent article from NJ.com , the teacher tenure bill passed legislature and is expected to become statewide by the fall of 2014. In order for a teacher to be tenured they have to be evaluated and the students have to take a test on what they were taught. This helps decide whether or not the teacher is teaching the students sufficiently. Students tend to give certain titles to teachers such as "The Mean Teacher" or "The Boring Teacher" but now with this new bill there will be no need for name calling anymore. Instead those teachers will not be guaranteed a job while other teachers who pass the test will receive tenure and will have a secure job teaching for the rest of their life. 

I feel that this is a good way to make sure a teacher is doing their job and helping the students as best as they possibly can. At sometime in everyone's life they have had teacher who was a "Do it yourself Teacher" meaning that you learned nothing in the class but had to teach yourself so you could pass the class. By having this new bill it will reduce the stress that is put on the students to succeed in the class because now they will learn right way. Newer teachers will now have something to work for and once they achieve this next goal in their life they will forever have a promising job. 

Why Education?

I chose Education as my topic because not only is it a very interesting topic but it is also what I would like to pursue later in life. Since I was a little girl I have always wanted to be a teacher. I feel like by researching Education I will learn more about the topic and it will widen my view on it as well. My topic is going to focus on a couple different things such as public school vs. catholic school, teacher tenures, and a few other thingsE.