Teaching Elementary Education

Teaching Elementary Education Successfully  

Ok, so you have your teaching certificate, and you are looking forward to your job teaching elementary education. Does your certificate guarantee you success? Unfortunately, the answer is definitely No, although your training will be a big help. Once you are trained, and out in your own classroom, you are responsible for the well being and education of a class full of young children, and although there are other teachers in the school that you can turn to for help and advice, there will not be a great deal of time for you to do this, since the life of an elementary school teacher is full to the brim. We'll take a look further at what constitutes a successful teacher.

For some teachers, success equates to being liked by the students.

However, particularly at high school level, students like teachers that they can manipulate, and take advantage of! For example some teachers are suckers for answering students' devious questions, even answering them instead of handing out the test that was planned for that particular day. However, at the younger end in elementary school, children need a friendly, loveable teacher, one that they can talk to, one they feel very comfortable with. There is nothing worse than a student being afraid to ask a teacher a question, whether that fear comes from worries about being made to look like a fool for asking, or a fear of reprisal. At the elementary school age, children need to be able to ask questions, seek answers to satisfy their curiosity about all sorts of things. I agree that students need to know when it is an appropriate time to ask questions, and this is something that needs to be established in your classroom early on in the school year.

Elementary students love to have a routine that they are comfortable with, but that doesn't mean that every minute of every day has to be time tabled. There has to be some flexibility to handle a change if this is necessary. Children like to think they have some control in their lives, and a routine helps to establishes this. If after lunch day they always have story time, they know that at this time they are required to sit still and listen carefully. They know what is expected of them in certain situations at certain times of the day.

Teaching elementary education needs careful planning, so that the whole curriculum is covered during the school year for each subject.

There is the advantage that some subjects overlap. For example, music can be listened to in a physical education class, and movement and rhythm experienced, or dancing encouraged. But besides teaching actual subjects like math and spelling, an elementary education needs to teach other skills, like cooperation, being responsible, dealing with feelings of anger or disappointment, learning to ask for help, learning about bullying, learning about friendships and learning what is acceptable and what is not, and another important one, learning to appreciate yourself for who you are and what you can do. All of these and more need to be addressed probably many, many times during the school year.

Yes, the job of teaching elementary education is a difficult one, not because the subject matter is hard, but because the future success of these children depends to some degree on the success that you have in your classroom. You can have a tremendous influence over their young lives, and this trust must not be abused in any way. On the other hand, teaching elementary education can be hugely rewarding as you record the success that each child is having due to your teaching. It can be the start of a wonderful life.