Pre-School Teaching

What I Knew.....

Before I started the I- Search project for English I had already had an idea of what I wanted my career to be in the future. I knew that I wanted to work with younger children somehow. I also knew that I wanted to be able to be creative at my job. I knew a little bit about Pre- School teaching after I decided to do my project on this career because my mother is a Pre -School teacher's aid. I knew that Pre- School teaching is not an easy thing to do and it takes a lot of patience and teaching skills. I also knew that teaching younger children would involve a lot of psychology background skills. I had already known that younger children are very energetic and I knew right away that if I wanted to be a pre- school teacher I would have to have a lot of energy.

What I Wanted to Know.....

Throughout the I - Search I was hoping to find out if Pre- School teaching is really a career that I am interested in. I also wanted to know what skills it took to be a teacher and if I think I am capable of achieving those skills in my future. Through doing this project I hoped to find out what a Pre- School teacher does everyday and if there is more to it then most people see. I was interested in what type of person it takes to be a teacher for younger children. I wanted to know what types of benefits a Pre- School teacher gets and if Pre- school teaching would be able to fulfill my life style and if I would be happy with the career choice I will make sometime in the future. I wanted to find out how much paperwork came with the job, if there was even any, and how long it takes a teacher to fill out this paperwork each day. Over all I had a lot of questions that I wanted to know the answers to about Pre - School teaching.

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The Search

When I first heard about the I -Search project and what was required I had somewhat of an idea of what career I wanted to research. I knew even before I took all of the Choices tests that I was a person who is very social, artistic and creative. I also knew that the only way I am to be happy in the future is if I can be able to put these skills to work in my career. I then took the career choice test and saw that my results were just as I thought they would be. The test results said that my top three interest areas were Artistic, Social and enterprising. The test also showed that my top two work values were achievement and recognition. Some of the careers that the test recommended to look into in my future were elementary teaching, Pre- School teaching, radio or television announcer, Teachers aid, or a veterinary Technician. Another career test that I took said I should look into a career in Art design and communications, Health services, or Service Careers. After completing the last few tests I had seen that trough my results I needed to find a hands on job that I could be creative at and keep busy with. I then knew that Pre - School teaching was a career that should fit with my skills and personal qualities.

After I had selected my career of pre- School teaching I had to look it up in the Occupational Outlook Handbook. Through reading this I had discovered that the average salary of a pre- school teacher is only on average about $37,300. I also learned that the occupational outlook for pre - school teaching is very good due to the expected increase in the amount of children throughout the future. Now I knew that if I do choose to go into pre- school teaching or teaching of any sort there will most likely be a need for teachers and I will most likely be able to find a job quickly in the future.

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By reading more in the Occupational Outlook Handbook I learned what the job duties are for a Pre- School teacher. If you are a pre-school teacher you are someone who works with children 5 and younger. A pre-school teacher attends children's basic needs. They also organize activities that stimulate the children's physical, emotional, intellectual and social growth.

Through the handbook I learned that the education and training required to be a pre-school teacher varies widely in different states and schools. Some states however require a child development associate credential and a bachelor's degree. All states however have what is called state teacher certifications that are required in order to teach. These certifications however vary widely in different states.

Once I had read a little more about pre school- teaching from the Occupational Outlook Handbook I had to create an interview form so that I could interview different teachers about their jobs. In my forms I first asked the basic questions such as, how much education is required, what is the job outlook, what kind of hours I could expect, if there is any formal training required beyond high school required and what courses I should take now in high school to help me get the job. After I had asked the basic questions about the job I decided to ask a few specific questions about the job such as how many children are in a typical class, how many teachers are in one class room, and if any work is required at home.

The next step in my long search was finding places where I could have the interview forms filled out. By going online and doing a "Google" search I found a list of ten different pre-schools in the Utica area where I could send my interview forms to.

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The last step in sending out the forms was to write a business letter to go along with my forms. In my business letter I included that I was a sophomore at Poland Central doing a reach activity on pre-school teaching and would appreciate it if someone could fill out the interview form. I then had the letters mailed out as soon as possible to allow enough time for the letters to get returned to me before my search ended. Even though at the end of my research activity I had still not received any forms back that I had sent out.

In order to get more information on my career I was required to go to a day of job shadowing. For my job shadow I choose to go to St. Mary's Nursery and pre-school in Utica. I set up a shadow day to shadow a pre-school teacher named Mrs. Chris Rutski for May 18 2005.

On my visit to St. Mary's Pre-school I got to observe a typical day of pre-school teaching. I observed a class of 16 children in total that were age's three to four. Throughout the period of the day which was 6 hours the children did a craft and worksheet, read a book , play both outside and inside, took a 40 minute nap, Completed the morning calendar and still had free time to play.

Throughout this experience