A Day in the Life of an Elementary School Teacher

If fond memories from elementary school have you vying to spend the rest of your working days in a classroom, and recollections of six-hour days make you want to jump the next train to chalkboard-land, you may be planning on becoming an elementary school teacher. But, before you start sending advance payments to the elementary education program at your nearest university, it's best to stop and learn what a day in the life of an elementary teacher really looks like.

An Elementary Teacher Job Description

Contrary to the fuzzy memories of your youth, teaching a classroom full of 5- to 12-year-olds is quite different from simply being one of the kids wiggling in a miniature orange chair. Teachers spend hours each week planning, prepping, grading, conferencing and supporting the children who benefit from their care.

However, if you think the potential to take summers off, enjoy long holiday breaks and schedule appointments at four in the afternoon are some of teaching's best perks, you are absolutely right! The Bureau or Labor Statistics reported that in 2006 Elementary school teachers enjoyed working an average of over 600 hours (or 30 percent) less per year for their full-time job than average workers in the United States. And they still demand competitive salaries.

But, how do they spend the hours they do work? In short, they spend it richly. In only six to seven short years, they are tasked with the responsibility of providing an effective elementary school education to each child that passes through their doors. So, they pack each day with the kind of experiences, relationships, skill-building exercises and, yes, lessons that equip young students to succeed. See the schedule below for an example of how one 5th grade teacher spends his days to get an idea of what an elementary school job description really is—by day!

Elementary School Teacher Daily Schedule

• 7:15 – Arrive; get coffee
• 7:30 – Early meeting (full-faculty, upper elementary, student council, parent conference…) and any last-minute preparations
• 8:10 – Pledge of Allegiance
• 8:15 – Take attendance; do lunch count; make announcements; look at any notes from home (while helpers pass out any needed materials)
• 8:25 – English lesson
• 9:00 – Library, computers, art or physical education, depending on the day
• 9:25 – Social Studies lesson
• 10:10 – 20-minute snack/recess for students on the playground; review daily tasks with teacher's assistant (T.A.); take a short break (sometimes individual help, paper-grading or prepping items for upcoming lessons take up this break)
• 10:30 – Review of math facts with timed drill; T.A. meets with struggling students or small groups
• 11:15 – Spelling/Spelling Game
• 11:40 – Lunch/Recess (Two teachers alternate on lunch duty, serving every other day); 20-minute teacher break
• 12:30 – Band lessons take some students out of class; remaining students enjoy story time (those in class summarize story for those who were not present), play enrichment games, work on homework or read silently
• 1:15 – Reading lesson
• 1:40 – Science lesson
• 2:20 – Choir takes another few students out of class; assign teams of four to organizational tasks that maintain a smoothly-functioning classroom
• 2:35 – Quick game, if time permits
• 2:40 – Go out to car line; optional one-hour study hall begins in classroom
• 3:00 – After-school care begins (provided by a separate team of workers)
• 4:00 – Parent conference (when needed); grade papers; input grades online; prepare for next day's activities (Wednesdays – prepare lesson-plans for the following week)
• By 6:00 – Go home, bringing any unfinished work (as little as possible)

The Effects of Elementary School Education

Elementary school teachers spend more time with a given child on a school day than anyone else in that child's life. They are in a unique position to affect children's lives by providing a positive atmosphere for self-expression and self-worth, and fostering their students' talents, strengths and characteristics.

So, yes, if elementary school memories put a gleam in your eye, and if the thought of teaching twenty 10-year olds how to dissect owl pellets sounds like a great time, you should take a serious look at a career in elementary education. The opportunity to touch the lives of hundreds of students by offering your time, experience, knowledge and understanding, may just make you the next Mr. Jeffs, Mrs. Hodgison, or Miss Fielding that changes the lives of the next generation.