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cosaxteacher said in January 17th, 2009 at 11:31 pm

Well, most elementary school teachers teach all the subjects from English, social studies, math, science, etc. Once you get into middle school and high school, you will be teaching one or a few subjects (e.g. if you are a social studies teacher, you’ll teach a couple different subjects that fall under the umbrella of social studies). The biggest cons I see with your choice of subjects to teach is that there are tons of people for those subjects. I get told all the time the better subjects to get a job are in math and science (for middle school/high school). Hope that helps.

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Caroline Baroline said in January 19th, 2009 at 12:37 pm

Well the main difference is the age group and the level of what you teach. It is totally up to you! If you like younger kids and would enjoy teaching kids to read or enhancing easier and more basic writing skills then you should go for Elementary. If you prefer older kids and would like to teach trickier and more advanced lessons you should do Middle or High school. But there are so many options within the catagories. If you want to be more focused on Reading and Writing I Would either be a middle school english teacher which will ONLY be english ad writing or specialize in Reading or Writing at middle or elementary school. You could teach a special reading class that just focusses on enhancing kids reading and writing skills.

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Sarah said in January 22nd, 2009 at 8:23 pm

Aside from grades 6-12 specializing in just one subject, there is one huge difference. PUBERTY. If you don’t mind it and like to be around young teens who think they are adults, 6-12 might be for you. I like this ages ability to “get” jokes and think more critically about subjects. This aged student is moving towards independence, which is nice. On the other hand, younger kids are sweet and will almost always love you. However, you have to deal a lot more with parents (younger kids like to stretch the truth or pass blame- “she didn’t tell me it was due”) and there cognitive abilities are less developed. The younger you go, the more pronounced that is. By first or second grade, they even struggle to stay in their seats or not make their classmates cry. I would think as a person entering the teaching field from journalism, you would do well with Jr. High or High School English (or something related.) That being said, if you just love little kids, I am sure you could do well with elementary as well.