Teaching Today - Is It Worth It?

Lesson planning, mentoring, teaching, grading, etc. These are just a few of the things our educators do on a daily basis.

Educators are 100% underpaid and overworked. In a perfect world, they would be paid more for all of the hard work they put in day in and day out. 

Some teachers work two or more hours each day after the school day ends because they no longer have a planning period that they need. It’s no longer a 40-hour work week when you’re spending upwards of 60 hours on a job that gives little back to you. 

Most teachers use their personal time and money to put together a classroom that meets their students’ needs. They use time at home to prepare for their next class, and they use their income to obtain the necessary materials for their classroom and the curriculum.

Why? It’s time for this to end.

To answer the prompt for this post - yes, teaching is worth it, but more and more teachers are starting to ask themselves this question each day. 

The national average teacher salary for public elementary & secondary school was $63,645 for the 2019-2020 school year, according to the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics.

Here is some hard truth: people do not want to become teachers when they see the pay. This means there are less students pursuing higher education for teaching, which leads to less individuals seeking jobs in education, and so on. The number of fresh graduates available to fill the demand for teachers is decreasing as times goes on. If educators start to get paid more, more people will want to enter the profession.

“Teachers are 3x more likely to get another job than other U.S. workers.”

In many states today, you could get a job at a popular fast food restaurant and make more money starting out than you would as an educator. How crazy is that?!

What’s even crazier is that teachers are having to get second jobs to supplement their income. According to a 2019 National Education Association article, teachers are three times more likely to get another job than other U.S. workers. 

Some do this during the school year, working on weekends or weeknights, while others aim to take on summer jobs during their “break,” just to make ends meet. Some might even take on a third job.

The amount of work educators do and the impact they have is ultimately undermined by the financial stress caused outside of the classroom, as well as the lack of students’ motivation and  commitment toward their grades. Educators are pushing themselves further than ever before and deserve to see a raise in pay.

A higher pay for teachers can even result in better student performance. A study done in 2000 shows that a better investment in education for teachers and students leads to lower dropout rates, higher wages, and an increase in student achievement. 

The correlation here could be a result of many things, whether that is better quality of teachers or more general, adult support for students. Either way, let’s pay our teachers more.

If scholars have been crunching numbers on this for two decades, what is the hold up? The Red for Ed movement has been gaining momentum and has been particularly huge in North Carolina, where members “now hold key positions in state level institutions… with wider reach and greater influence,” according to their website.

As progress continues to be made, there is still a long road ahead. Schools have vacancies for teaching positions, current teachers are on the hunt for non-education jobs, and this profession that individuals once loved is slowly becoming less desirable. 

Everyone remembers their favorite teacher and the impact they have had on their lives. That’s just one aspect of what makes this such a rewarding career. However, a change needs to be made in order to encourage more students to take this path.

All it takes is a simple solution: investing more money in education and educators. 

Going Into Year 4: A Conversation with Ms. Herron

As the new school year begins, it’s always important to look at it as a fresh start and an exciting new beginning. I had the opportunity to speak with a young teacher about her experience in education. 

Chelsea Herron, 25, is looking forward to what her fourth year of teaching will bring. 

What do you teach, where do you teach, and how long have you been teaching? 

I teach English at West Cabarrus High School, and I am going into my fourth year!

What is your ‘why’?

As a teacher, I have a unique opportunity to shape the future through my students, the future of the world literally sits in my classroom. It's so exciting to see a student master a standard, like how to cite a text or determine a theme, but it is a different, more rewarding feeling to see them open up and become compassionate towards their classmates, people who they might not have ever spoken to if it weren’t for my classroom. It is my greatest hope that through creating an inclusive culture in my classroom, it will have a ripple effect on the world. 

School starts this coming week, how are you preparing for another school year?

Now that I’m in my fourth year of teaching and considered a real teacher, haha, I am focusing on the details to prepare for this coming school year. I think the first couple years of teaching are just trying to keep your head above water; going into this school year, I’m feeling pretty good about my swimming abilities. I know the standards by heart, I know which texts I’m using and I’m feeling confident in them, I know which classroom management strategies to use. So to answer your question, I am fine-tuning my teaching practices in order to prepare. I have figured out what does and doesn’t work for my teaching style and I’m excited to put those things into action this school year!

What is your favorite thing to teach, and why?

My favorite lesson would have to be Postcards from Odysseus. The Odyssey gets a bad wrap, but I’ve always found it to be a class favorite. As we read about Odysseus’ journey home to Ithaca, my students will inevitably have a couple favorite places that he stops at - The Land of the Cyclops usually takes the crown. Once we begin wrapping up the unit, I have students pick a location that we read about and write a postcard to Ithaca, from Odysseus’ point of view. In the postcard, they write about what happened at that location, it is a great way to teach summarizing and key details. Then they have to get artsy and draw on the front of the postcard what the location looks like in their head. Their favorite part is when we actually mail the postcards to Ithaca. I’ve had a couple of students who have ended up with pen pals and they think it's the coolest thing.

Do you have any advice for new teachers?

My best advice would be to form those relationships with your students. A student might hate writing, but if they respect you, they’ll write anything you ask them to. A student might not be the best reader, but if they know you believe in them, they’ll try their hardest to read Shakespeare. A student might not care at all about what diction is, but if they know you care, they’ll give diction a try. So much pressure is put on standardized testing and which teacher will have the best exam scores, and that stuff is important, but none of that matters if we don’t know who our students are outside of the classroom, who they go home to, if they even have somewhere to go home to. The relationships matter, build them. 

What do you think makes a classroom successful?

Referring back to my previous response, I believe relationships make a classroom successful. I have made it one of my teacher responsibilities to have all of my students’ names memorized within the first three days of school. When I stand outside of my classroom and greet students as they’re walking in, I greet them with specific details and then I always make sure to include their name; it’s a small gesture that goes such a long way - “Hey Payton, I love your Yeezys.”, “How are you today, Ricardo?”, “Congrats on winning your basketball game last night, Emonie!” If kids feel noticed, appreciated, and cared for, they’ll do anything for you, they’ll even write that research paper they dread so much. 

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Thanks, Chelsea! If you’re an educator and want to share your story, we are all ears! Send us a DM on Twitter or Instagram @leapedlive. Have a great start to your year!

8 Ways to Encourage Student Success in the Classroom

You probably already have tons of engaging activities in your teaching repertoire, from educational games to dynamic study guides. However, it takes more than a few activities to help your students be the best, most successful version of themselves.

So, How Can Teachers Help Students be Successful?

Here are eight ways that you can promote your students’ success:

Be Clear and Transparent

Be upfront about what you expect from your students and what will be covered over the course of the class. Keep everyone in the loop about any changes or updates in the curriculum as you move forward. With everyone on the same page, there won’t be too many surprises, and you can guarantee that nobody is left behind.

Let Your Students Set the Pace of the Class

Before you really dive into your curriculum, start off with a quiz to figure out where your students are at with the material. Does anything need to be focused on more? Could you spend less time on a certain topic? Once you gauge their knowledge a little bit, you’ll be able to teach them more effectively.

Be Accessible

Emailing, tutoring after school, and even using lunch times are all ways for students to reach you outside of class. When you make yourself more available to students, you are showing them that you truly care about their learning. If you do open your email inbox or offer tutoring to them, be sure to reply in a timely manner or stay consistent with your tutor schedule. They want to know that you are true to your word!

Show a Genuine Interest in the Students

This point goes along with the previous one, because increasing your availability shows them how much you care about their efforts. They might be stubborn sometimes and not always realize it, but their confidence will continue to rise when they notice that you will not give up on them. 

Incorporate Engaging Learning Activities

Yes, play the games! Assign fun projects where students can create a comic strip about an important event. Play your own version of ‘Jeopardy’ with class material. Get creative when you engage the students with different activities to stimulate their minds. High School English Teacher Chelsea Herron knows how important engagement is.

“There definitely needs to be an emphasis on student engagement. From my experience, I think that comes from being up to date on the latest trends or technology and making them relevant and worthwhile for the students.”

Watch and see how excited they get about something that would otherwise be labeled boring or mundane.

Give Your Students Feedback

Tell them why they got the math problem wrong. Explain it to them. Tell them what they can do to improve their writing skills, or how they can study more efficiently. Help your students by constantly pushing them to do their best with their work.

Make Everything Meaningful

All of your content should be related and mean something; Projects, quizzes, tests, and activities should align with what your students need to know to pass the class. As long as they are absorbing relevant information throughout the course, you’re doing your job.

Set High Expectations

Let your students know that you expect them to ace your class! Tell them that you want them to succeed, and that you will do everything in your power to make sure that happens. Tell them that you are in their corner. You are rooting for them!

And, last but not least, here is a bonus idea: have FUN!

Show your class that you have a sense of humor by having fun while you teach. If you’re giving students the tools to succeed, and maybe some occasional tough love, you will gain their respect and watch them do great things.

How will you promote success in your classroom? Let us know - leave a comment, or message us on Instagram @leapedlive. We would love to hear your ideas!