Elementary Teacher: Who Would Have Thought?To tell you the truth, nobody else did either. Elementary teacher? Isn't that for people who like to make cute bulletin boards? I was going to do something great, not be a primary teacher!
I was closest to becoming an elementary teacher, so I signed up for a few more classes and student teaching. After all, I could always get a Master's Degree in something else if I hated it. Correction - I loved being a student teacher for fifth grade. I hated second grade. I had no interest, knowledge or experience with primary grades. Somehow I made it through that second student teaching experience, and was hired to teach sixth grade. Then I decided to try teaching jobs overseas, so I moved to the Middle East. I taught 7th and 8th grades in Kuwait at an American School. I then took a jog being an elementary teacher for 5th grade in Israel. It was also an American School, just outside of Tel Aviv. During that time I worked on my Masters Degree in Education, met my husband and enjoyed all the opportunities that opened up to me in international education. I went to conferences around the world, gained invaluable experience with ESL students, became very aware of cultural differences...and yes, I had a lot of fun.
When my husband and I decided to move back to America, I knew I could find a job in my old school system. I couldn't. But I did get a job in a low-income district teaching fifth grade. That was a shock. I had come from three years of being an elementary teacher for very privileged children in international schools. Now I was going to get an education in how poverty affects students.
I wanted to quit after the second day. It was really tough. Instead, I persevered. I made it, and I gained a lot of empathy for my students during that year. I was fortunate, however, to be able to move districts again and landed back where I first taught. I am still here, having taught fifth grade, third grade, and now...second grade. I am a primary teacher.
And I haven't fallen asleep during reading groups! To my joy, I discovered that I love second grade. Perhaps it is because I am now a mother to three rowdy boys. Perhaps it is because I have discovered that I have a passion for teaching children reading and writing. Maybe it is how every day brings something new, my own creativity is allowed to shine and I thrive on seeing those "light-bulb" moments that happen so often in a primary classroom.
Whatever "it" is, I wouldn't change what I do for the world.
The loves of my life, and why I have a particular fondness for rowdy boys!
Shannon Dipple
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