Reflection of Video

I enjoyed watching the video about becoming a teacher.  The advice they give in the video is very important advice.  When they say, "make sure you like kids because you are going to be around them all the time" and "if you don't think this is for you, then move on to something else."  Both of these statements are very powerful.  I feel that some people get into the profession for summers off, health benefits, good pay, and for many holidays off.  These are not good reasons for getting into this profession and in this case, I agree that these people should move on to another profession.

They bring up the concept of planning in the video.  Two of the teachers say, "I didn't realize how much planning goes into being a teacher."  The male math teacher said, "I thought my math teacher just gave out tests and graded them.  I didn't realize how much goes into planning for the test."  As students we don't understand all the hard work and time involved in planning and preparing lessons and tests that teachers put in.  I thought teachers had it easy because most of the teachers I've had just stand in front of their classes and lecture, write notes, give homework, and give periodic assessments.  Teaching is much more involved than what I ever thought it was.

Teaching is an ever-changing and evolving profession.  The manner in which classrooms were set up and run in the 1970's versus how they are run today is very different.  There is much more accountability today and we have much more advanced technology today.  The classroom, teachers, and students have to adapt and change just to keep up with other competitive nations and countries that are more successful than we are in education.

The male math teacher seemed to be intimidated about being 23 years old and having 18 year old students.  It seemed that he had to prove himself to his students through his knowledge and expertise of math.