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nyed Former classroom teacher who moved over to the educational publishing industry

A typical day begins at least 30 minutes prior to your students' arrival which varies by school (anywhere between 7:30 AM - 8:45 AM). The key to a successful day is having everything set out and ready for the students before them come into the classroom. Most days begin with a group meeting where you review activities from the previous day and plan for that day's schedule. You will typically need to have prepared lessons for reading, writing and mathematics every day. Social studies and science on the early elementary level is often only 2-4 days a week. You'll find yourself constantly moving from whole-group to small-group activities and one-on-one instruction. There is almost always a "fire" to put out so you need to be prepared for anything. (Humor and physical health are so important to the position!) After the students leave for the day, you may have parent or staff meetings to attend. Otherwise, you'll most likely be planning for the next day, decorating the classroom (bulletin boards and artwork displays figure prominently in early elementary classrooms) or correcting homework.

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kteachmn

A typical work day includes getting to school early in order to make sure that all of your copying and lesson plans are complete before the students arrive because a recipe for disaster is not being prepared for the day. The day continues with several lessons in the different subject areas and a variety of individual, group and whole class activities. There is very little time to think about anything else and the success of those lessons depends largely on your planning, organization and classroom management. Not only do you need to be able to deliver the lesson is a variety of formats, but you need to establish a culture for learning. During your "required" 8 hours of work, 5 1/2 of those hours are working with students. You get a 30 minute lunch, 30 minutes before and after school and an hour of prep during the day. A good amount of prep time is taken up with meetings and checking in with students who need extra attention, but each day goes very fast. After the children leave you are focused on getting your plans ready to do this all again the next day and most teachers bring home the correcting to do either at night or on the weekends.

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Teresa Papoutsis

Unfortunately, administering discipline takes too much time out of the teaching day. It also drains the teacher physically and emotionally. It is so frustrating to have students who are eager to learn and have to be held back by those who cause commotion and disrespect.

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