Career Paper

Siquig, Anne Marie

29 April 2011

ID180-08

Career Paper

Teaching

            There are many opportunities out there in the world today, but nothing catches my eye more than the profession of teaching. Teaching has always been my ideal career since I was young. This profession has many pros and cons. Of course, I like to see more of the pros in this career.

            Some pros of this profession is the time away from home, the learning experience you get from the students, the satisfaction from making a difference in a child’s life, etc… The list may go on and on but these are some points I’d like to point out. When I enter the teaching field, I know how time I’ll have free from my career. Since teachers are in school when children are in school, which tells me that I will have the summer off. Another reason why I want to become a teacher is I will get from my students when I finally get to teach them. I know that teaching them will be a two-way connection. I teach them my knowledge in exchange for theirs. This brings me to my last pro, making a difference in the child’s life. As a teacher, you will be the one person the child will rely on in making life long decisions like whether or not attending classes are worth it or not. I want to make my lessons interesting enough to the point where children are willing to learn what I teach. I want them to succeed and be able to look back and have them reminisce about how I, as a teacher, made an impact on some decisions they have made in their journey through life. Also, just seeing the children grow and learn is priceless. There’s not better feeling in the world then seeing a child learn with such enthusiasm and growing to strive to learn more. This makes the job as a teacher worthwhile. Last con I would like to point out is the fact that I will be doing one of the most important jobs in society. Everyone knows without education many leaders today would have not been leaders. They all have a good background history and as a teacher we are teaching the generations that will replace us. We are their guides for the future. We are shaping the future leaders.

            With all of these very strong points in this career field, there are also cons. Also partaking in this career I have to think about the salary and benefits I will have.  Here’s a paragraph from http://www.ehow.com/about_4588605_benefits-becoming-teacher.html that states the benefits of a teacher:

“Teachers are compensated and encouraged to continue their own education and are given frequent scholarships and loans to further their studying. This is true even of noncertified teachers, who can work as teachers' aides as they are on their way to completing their certification, which is paid for by the government. After graduation and throughout most of their careers, teachers are given the chance to attend seminars and workshops, most of which are subsidized either by the school or by the state. There is also a system of loan-forgiveness programs, in which teachers who agree to work in low-income schools can have part or all of their previous students loans canceled.”

The salary for a teacher on Guam is the lowest in the nation. Teachers can barely get by with the economy is. The average starting pay for teachers are a little over $26,000 per annum. With comparisons to the salaries and benefits from the mainland, the pay on Guam is extremely low, which is why I strongly point this out as my con.  Another con in this profession is the hours we must put into it. We work basically from 7:00 am to 2:30 pm (considering which level of education you’re teaching) and add even more hours to that since we have staff development days, workshops, so on and so forth.

            As I interviewed Philip Almonte, special education teacher, he tells me all about the experiences of a teacher. Since he is a special education teacher I thought it was more interesting to hear. He talks about how the feeling he gets when he has a student comprehending and willing to learn more about the lesson he has taught. Almonte states, “The pay may be good enough but to see my students grow and learn, that will never amount to a sum of cash.” Almonte is a new and upcoming teacher.

I personally know Philip Almonte and I thought he was a perfect person to interview due to the fact that he makes teaching look so exciting. I want to be able to see myself do that one-day. With all the pros and cons of this profession, it still makes me believe that I will still see the pros over the cons. I have always wanted to teach since I was young and I will not stop myself from getting to my dream.