On the Upside...

It’s a terrible no-win situation, it seems, for many teachers. They can possibly lose their jobs or endure lower paychecks which can lead to resignations or losing personal property that is not free of debt.  Although it is true that there are numerous negative activities affecting our teachers, I would like to look at a different view; a view that will encourage me to become a teacher, not run from the idea of becoming a teacher.

While researching for positive ideas that supported teaching as a career, I came across an article in “Politics,” In this article, Michelle Obama presents her idea of what teachers do for students as individuals. The First Lady reminds us that we all have had a teacher impact us in some great way in our past. Indeed, I have had a few teachers that made a great impact in my life in many different ways.  It is truly amazing how one person, in such a short amount of time, can impact a person like me.

I would love to make an impact like this in someone’s life; who wouldn’t?  Further research in “Politics” shows that each passing year, we are losing more and more of our experienced teachers, due to the fact that most of them are part of the baby boomers generation and are nearing age of retirement. In addition to this, we are also losing teachers that are new to the teaching field due to our economy causing paycuts and lay offs. However, this is today’s economy but, it can change and improve at any given moment. Let’s look at positive things to help me change my mind about not becoming a teacher.

People, such as myself, who have the drive to teach and the leadership that can lead our students to places they will need to be for the future are needed now more than ever. We need precisely this kind of leadership in our classrooms to give these students, of this day and age, the chance to thrive in their future. Having a good education is no longer a choice in our nation; it is a necessity. So, why not become a teacher and be apart of the great change in our future?

In the next five years there will be a shortage of teachers across the nation due to the baby boomers retiring and their positions will need to be filled by new teachers. Granted this may be my invitation to take a new course and go for it; tobecome the teacher I want to be.

To sum it up, there are definitely going to be downfalls to any career choice that I make; but there will be positive elements in all of them, too. I feel that a teacher shortage in the next five years could be Someone’s way of telling me, “This is what you need to do, Crysti. This is it.” Maybe I will have to look past some of my early research of pay cuts and layoffs and get on with this education to teach or maybe I just need to do further research to make it clearer to me what I need to be looking at to find what I can truly do for students.

What to do?

I have many days when I sit and wonder about what to do with my future-career. Teaching elementary aged students has been a career choice for me in the past and remains heavy on my mind still today. I started to pursue my degree for teaching when all the lay offs and pay cuts began in many school districts around the nation. While researching this article had statistics that jumped out at me, "Thousands of Teachers Face Layoffs."Districts in California have given pink slips to 22,000 teachers; Illinois has given 17,000 pink slips; and, New York has warned 15,000 teachers that their jobs would be gone by June 2011. Yet, is it necessarily true that these statistics would hurt my career in teaching if I were to pursue with the degree? My teaching degree will have been completed in late 2014; will these problems come to a rest by then?

     A career in teaching would not be successful for me to begin if numbers exceed 22,000 pink slips, imagine the number of students that will be shuttled into classrooms, surpassing the usual limit of 19 students per classroom when I was a student. Teaching gives our younger generation of students the knowledge and the skills needed to be successful. Students’ learning is in jeopardy when classroom size is too high and the nation’s best teachers are underpaid or warned of losing their jobs, thus jeopardizing teacher retention and effectiveness.

     Some readers may challenge Saturn Smith’s view in, "Thousands of Teachers Face Layoffs," that there is talent across America and it is in our classrooms. I agree with Smith, effective teachers have a talent to teach in ways that are beneficial to students. One thing that makes a good teacher is the ability and desire to help others while at the same time not taking credit for it. Teachers who have this drive and philosophy are being laid off or absorbing cuts in pay. Due to sever budget cuts, teachers who have the desire to help a student succeed, are reclassified to just a pay-check or just another warm body in a building.  I am disgusted with today’s way of trying to fix our country. It is affecting what could be a resolution to our future; it’s affecting students and keeping people, like me, from becoming teachers.