1.
What made you want to become a preschool teacher?
I’d known I wanted to be a teacher ever since high school but I thought I would teach elementary school since that was my educational background. I took my first job as a part time preschool teacher because I had a new baby and wanted to be home with him I guess I got hooked!
2.
What does an average day consist of?
An “average” day doesn’t seem to come around to often at all. My typical day usually consists of the following; a monthly theme and lesson plans that include helping children develop find motor skills, large motor skills and language development. I have curriculum each week that I need to cover that is related to reading, math, handwriting skills, and phonemic development. This month’s theme for example is “All about Weather” and we are making weather books, keeping a monthly weather chart, and learning the names of different types of clouds. I said at first an average day does not happen often because we take learning opportunities as they come; for an example I saw some cumulus clouds outside the other day so we stopped class and went outside for the class to observe the clouds. Some other ways we link our learning to the real world is I poured water to make puddles of water and the kids observed how long it took for the puddle to evaporate. An “average” day consists of problem solving, teaching skills, and sometimes even hugging away a boo-boo!
3.
What education did you get for this job?
Elementary Education but some teachers can get a two year certificate in some areas of education.
4.
What are the typical hours you work?
I usually work about a forty hour week but occasionally I’ll have to work at home for something; such as cutting out shapes or planning a lesson plan I did not have time to do that day.
5.
What is about the typical salary in this area?
The average salary for a preschool is around thirty nine thousand to forty two thousand.
6.
What is your favorite part about the job?
My favorite part of the job is seeing the children progress and learns, I love to see when the light bulb goes on above their head and they finally get it.
7.
What is your least favorite part of the job?
There about three things that I really don’t like about being a preschool teacher. The first one has got to be dealing with some parents who think their child is so gifted that they need special curriculum and I’m not nurturing their gifts enough. The second has got to be paperwork. I never liked filling out papers and there is a lot of paperwork! The last one is bathroom accidents. It is just so much work to clean that up.
8.
What is an opportunity for advancement in this job?
An way to advance in this job would to be to get more education and become the director or assistant director at the preschool.