(Take your child to work day 2019)

One career I think would be interesting is a teacher. I enjoy being with younger children, and I consider myself good with them. If I could choose,  would be an elementary or middle school teacher. Mainly because I love getting to know younger kids, and because usually you have a set amount for the whole year, or multiple years. The thing I remember the strongest about middle and elementary is the ‘communities’ or divisions. I understand high school is supposed to represent University, where you have multiple classes all over the building. And there are many positives to that; you meet many more new people, new teachers, and you get to go all over the school. It’s just that for me personally, I enjoy feeling comfortable with my peers. I enjoy having the feeling of ‘family’ in a way. In my middle school it was like the Hunger Games, all the communities their own separate district, which I personally really enjoyed.

I’m passionate about this career because it would be nice to make an impact on a child/children. And I know that is such a strong statement. I think a teacher is such an important job, one of the most important. Besides the fact that they teach you the topics and the skills that you need in life, they have the ability to influence younger generations.

This work entails many skills, obviously being comfortable in your academics or whatever topic you are teaching, public speaking, and lots of patience. Becoming a teacher isn’t something you can do automatically out of high school. A high school diploma is necessary for college, which is the second step. Teaching requires at minimum a bachelor’s degree, and it depends on what kind of teaching you plan to do. High school teachers most likely also get a degree in a certain subject, and preschool teachers require a 2 year degree program on early child development. With all that work, the average salary for a high school teacher is $59737 Canadian, and again, it depends on what grades they teach.

Technology is evolving fast. Soon, robots or other forms of technology will replace many of the jobs people have today. It is possible, or is going to be possible for robots to have enough knowledge to teach. But there are many qualities that require people to have the job of teaching, especially with younger kids. Simply giving a lesson may become a job for an automaton, but building trust and bonds are the specialties of humans. I think elementary school are the most important years of schooling. Sure, the grades you get there aren’t going to affect your chances for university, but it’s cool to think about how each school builds you up for the next. Elementary prepares you for middle, middle prepares you for high, high school prepares you for university, university prepares you for the world. Elementary school is the starting block. It focuses less on academics and more on making friends and gaining speaking skills, which is also very important. I think teachers will be in demand in the future, because no robot will ever be able to top a human teaching in humane skills such as being welcoming, having a positive attitude, and being considerate.

I really enjoy this Ted Talk. She speaks about being a positive teacher, and she says; “kids don’t learn from people they don’t like,” which of course, when we’re older we’ll learn to tolerate, but younger kids can be stubborn. She talks about how she handles failing students to bring them up, instead of down. This kind of mindfulness adds to my argument that no robot can beat a human as a teacher.