Elementary School Teacher Job Description

Series Summary

Elementary school teachers are faced with the responsibility of molding young minds into educated individuals. Covering a range of subjects such as science, mathematics, language arts, social studies, art and music, elementary school teachers often use creative methods of teaching to maintain children's attention. Once a teacher learns to effectively manage a classroom, the children are more likely to absorb the curriculum. Elementary school teaching jobs offer opportunities to influence and educate future generations. In this free career video series, a third grade teacher describes her job as an elementary school teacher. Get a detailed job description, and learn about teacher salary opportunities and necessary qualifications. Weigh the pros and cons of a teaching career, and find out how this third grade teacher found her current profession. Through hard days and funny moments, becoming an elementary school teacher requires passion and dedication.

Video Transcript

"And this might not be a word we all know--reluctant. Let's spell it first. It's R-E-L-U-C-T-A-N-T. Reluctant. Let's do a syllable count on that one. Can we? Re-luc-tant. How many syllables does it have? An elementary school teacher--I'm sure we're all familiar with it from our own childhood, but it's actually changed a lot. Because today, instead of giving instruction most of the day, we create, we facilitate instruction, so the students can learn on their own. So we're teaching them not only the curriculum to learn, but also how to learn on their own. We're responsible for planning the lessons for the week, for preparing the activities for the week, for grading papers, for keeping in contact with parents, for providing the instruction--district mandated curriculum, administering standardized tests. It doesn't really stop. For instance, in math, we also start with a manipulative project before we move on to a pen and paper project, so that they can get the idea with their hands on something prior to having to do it with pen and paper. Grading papers, taking students to class, taking students to lunch. Discipline, if you need to contact the parents about anything that your student has done. Taking notes and files for behavior issues is always important. Discussing with the principal what you can do to better a student's academic situation. I personally would rather be a teacher than a principal because I like the idea of being able to deal with the children on a day to day basis. Principals have a lot of responsibility dealing with the district as well as parents who aren't always happy with the situation, or students who aren't always doing the best that they can. So, in terms of that, teaching is a lot happier a position because you're dealing with sixteen to twenty kids who are relatively well-behaved all day."