Do you ever wonder how often a teacher gets frustrated? What goes on behind their desks and gradebooks? Do you find yourself thinking about what teachers do during their off periods? And what are professional development days about, anyways?

Well, here's your chance to ask! If you want to ask a teacher something related to their actual profession, feel free to do so here! Any teacher can respond to your question, or you can ask for specific teachers to answer.

In case you want to ask a specific teacher, here is a list of the teachers and what they teach. (I'll have to update and correct this thread as necessary. A few I have to ask about.)

Singelli - teaches high school math

play4fun - teaches high school physics

Light Knight - teaches at a private college

rcarter2- teaches high school theatre and sciences

kramer4077 - teaches elementary school

KiyokoNee - teaches martial arts, programming, and algebra

Elara - teaches high school social studies

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The Do Not's:
1. Do not ask for help on your homework. That's not the purpose of this thread, unfortunately.
2. Do not pester a specific teacher or ask questions that would be deemed inappropriate.
3. Do not attack a teacher's character or their teaching beliefs.

I'll be the first to ask a question in my own thread.  

To be professionally courteous....

play4fun :
Light Knight :
rcarter2 :
kramer4077 :
KiyokoNee :
Elara :

Do you mind being a part of this?  If you do, I'll remove your name from the list. If you don't, can you clarify what it is you teach and to what age groups?  Thanks so much!

Also, if you know any other teachers here on vizzed, I'd love to know.  

Light Knight : 

How exactly is life as a teacher at a university? My high school teachers usually portray you guys as people who don't care. Not in a bad way, but like you teach for one session, and could really care less on what goes on, since there are many people who show up for lectures, and it isn't like a classroom mentality. Like if someone misses a lecture, you wouldn't necessarily care...it's life.

That being said, is what my high school teachers say true? Or do you actually have some relationships with some students, like being friends, etc.

Sorry if that was too bland/general.

I did not get this summon. But I will say I am more than happy to do this.

First of all, Signe, I teach at a private college, not university. And, although I don't like talking about personal information, I will be a part of your thread/forum.


Sidewinder : That will change what  you really wanted to ask but I'll answer anyway.

In a private college, the opposite is true. We have small classes and are very focus on making every student feel important.

One thing different from high school to post secondary, is that in college and universities, the teach can pretty much do what they want. There a lot less structure for them to follow, all they do is prepare the students for the test and give them the assignments they are suppose to do. So I find that a good vs. bad teaching makes a HUGE difference once you get out of school.

Singelli : What do you like the most and what to you hate the most about teaching?

GenesisJunkie :  That's a really complex answer that could take me days to answer. lol  It's definitely hard to pick a FAVORITE part about teaching.  I guess I love learning about my students and how to influence them.  The mind is an amazing thing to figure out, and I love it when I find a new way to reach my students. This year has been especially difficult for me, because this set of students seems resilient to all methods I had developed over the past 5 years of teaching.  That being said, reaching my students isn't just about teaching them to solve algebraic equations or write geometric proofs.  I believe the bigger job is to help prepare them for the real world.  This includes teaching them skills of organization, responsibility, and respect.

What do I hate the most?  This one is easy. The work load.  While there are many things about my job I dislike, the work load is tremendous for those that take their job seriously.  I can't think of many other professions that work as many hours outside the 'office'... as teachers.  I feel like I've done nothing -but- work every spare moment over the past 6 years.  There are lesson plans to write, assignments and tests to develop, projects and teaching ideas to research, papers to grade, workshops to attend, data to analyze, books to read, parents to call, emails to write.... the list goes on.  And on.

What is the range of pay roll for all of you?

Barathemos :  I'm not sure anyone wants to actually name a number on this, but the salaries of teachers vary GREATLY. There are so many factors that make a difference, such as location, degree, school type and level, and years of experience. Then, too, teachers might get paid more for teaching certain classes or taking on certain responsibilities. If you want to take ALL this into consideration, I'd say teachers (new or experienced), probably get paid a salary that ranges between $25k a year to $200k a year. (Professors with lots of experience and prestige on this end)

I'm on the low, low end of that scale, though I make more than $25k. lol

Singelli :  

How fast are your courses? My high school math teacher usually teaches one new thing a day, never really staying on one topic too long. Usually, there's a quiz maybe every 7 or 8 days, a test like 4 or 5 days after those quizzes. But it was the same last year in middle school too, in 8th grade. One topic a day, bam bam. That grade seems to be the start of this blitz-teaching, or maybe it varies between schools, district, state, etc. 
My English class drones on for days, weeks, and months at a time on one subject, but that's understandable. I just am unsure whether or not math courses are inconsistent like that, or are fast-paced, especially in high school.

And btw, what math courses do you teach? 

To everyone:

Has a student ever proven you wrong?

Sidewinder :  Well, I can't say that I speak for all math teachers, because the school I work at is a magnet school. Kids have to apply to get it, and they even take a test to show that they are 'smart enough' to be a part of our student body. While these measures aren't taken seriously any more due to funding and enrollment quotas, we're still supposed to be a rigorous school. Ideally, I do cover one topic a day, but I find more and more often lately, that doing so is just an invitation for disaster. Nonetheless... on a normal routine.. yes... I teach a new section or topic each class. We have a block schedule too, so I see each set of kids twice a week for an hour and a half. On Wednesdays I see all kids for about 30 minutes.

I do believe that most high schools are fast paced though. There's no way to teach all the content and NOT move at a fast pace.

College is even worse. We would go through 3 chapters a class in many of my college math classes. Get used to it! O.o


I teach pre-AP Algebra, pre-AP Geometry, and ACT Prep this year.  For most of my teaching career though, I taught pre-AP Algebra II/w Trig.

tgags123 :  Oh yes! Many times! Personally,I love it when they do. It re-emphasizes to the students that we ARE human, that they ARE capable, and it helps build confidence and a desire to inquire.

Barathemos : I don't think people will be posting that value on here. What I do know that those who take their job as a teacher seriously will not be teaching because of the money, but because of their passion to teach the future generation.

tgags123 : Yep. I have been shown many times of the mistakes I made in the classroom, which is good because I don't want to provide misinformation to my students, but it also tells me that my students are paying attention.

To all the teachers here.

Did any former students of your past years of a teacher visit you in class?

becerra95 : Yes!  It's kind of funny because I always thought it took years and years of teaching for that to happen. I remember my first year, watching the teacher who's room I used.... She used to get so many old students visiting, and I'd wonder when that would happen to me. XD

It did the very next year!  And it was amazing to see that the kid had gotten married and had a child of his own and everything.  Astonishing how quickly people move on after high school....

I always get visitors every year.  This week was amazing.  I got a visit from 6 students I had taught, all in the span of two days.  It made me feel so special and happy.    One of them had visited me last year as well.  She tells me now that my class was her favorite, even though she absolutely hated it when she was in my class.  She used to be such a trouble maker, and when she told me that last year, I questioned her, and she was insistent.  We had the same conversation this Friday and laughed about it.  She told me how much she had hated my class, but then when she moved on, she realized how thankful she was to have me as a teacher, and she felt remorse for the way she had treated me while in my class.

This is to all the grade school teachers here. What are your thoughts on the Common Core curriculum? Have you had to implement it yet, and if so, how is it affecting your ability to teach or your students' ability to learn?

To everybody: What is the best experience you've had in the classroom, one that has gotten you to really love your job?

Singelli : Sorry for the late reply, I'll be happy to contribute. I tend to work more as a volunteering assistant than a paid instructor, and what I teach varies from martial arts, ages four to 70, to the basics of programming, normally in JAVA or C. Due to programming having a high base of mathematical terms, I also handle a decent amount of Algebra.

I am also a college student, so I may not be able to respond promptly for a bit, as finals are coming up within the next couple weeks.

Edited for lack of maturity. ~Singelli

pray75 : Good question. Our school has been very aware of the changes that are happening in the nation concerning the Common Core. For being at a private school, the teachers tend to have a little bit more freedom in how they teach. However, we affirm that more and more the Common Core is being seen as the standard, and we are trying to slowly adjust to that. For physics, the Common Core affects the curriculum in a way that they are putting more focus on being able to understand and explain concepts more than the mathematical problem solving. This isn't as big of change since our school requires 9th graders to start with Conceptual Physics, which puts a huge emphasis on getting the concepts down. The math was all basic algebra. It is becoming more evident with my AP class, because they are changing the AP class next year to follow the vibe of the Common Core. To me, I like the change of emphasis on being able to know how to explain concepts, and it changes some parts of my lessons by putting more presentation type assignments in my curriculum. I just hope that it doesn't go the completely opposite direction and totally neglect mathematical problem solving, since that is the language of science.

supernerd117 : I'm a younger teacher, but I've already have many experiences that make me love my experience. As a physics teacher, I focus a lot on having physical, apparent demonstrations. Sometimes, I like to make it a lot more dramatic, and seeing the kids to not only be amused by my demos, but to actually learn and get something out of it is a wonderful feeling. From dropping coffee filters, to throwing eggs at the wall, to letting go of a pendulum in front of people's faces, to swinging a bucket full of water. (And I can make my excuse that I do these things for science, no matter how weird or crazy they can be)