Any teachers around? Please help with a 7 question survey

[xSilverPhinx]

I have a some coursework to do which involves interviewing teachers and thought I'd get a better view of the bigger picture by including you all in it The more input and answers I get the better for a generalised understanding.

If anyone is or was currently involved in teaching (any subject), please help. People with enough patience to answer these are hard to come by...

1) Which subject do you teach and at what level? (elementary, middle high school etc)
2) How long have you been teaching?
3) What's your life like as a teacher?
4) Do you find teaching pleasurable? If so, in which situations?
5) How do you motivate your students to learn and take interest in your subject?
6) Which are the biggest difficulties in teaching?
7) Do you utilise innovative and/or creative strategies when teaching your subject?

[ThinkAnarchy]

I'm not a teacher, but I could ask one of my family members who is the next time I'm around. When is it due, since I can't promise I will see him in the next two weeks. He is also a special ed teacher, so I'm not sure if that would work for this survey.

[Whitney]

Getting my husband to take the time to answer a survey may be difficult...but I can answer most of those questions just from hearing about his day for a few years now.  I'll send him an email and see if he gets around to it but if not let me know if you want me to answer for him.

[OldGit]

1) Which subject do you teach and at what level? German and French, ages 11 - 18.

2) How long have you been teaching?  When I retired, 27 years.

3) What's your life like as a teacher?  Exhausting, hopeless drudgery.

4) Do you find teaching pleasurable? I loved interacting with the kids.  Forcing the less able ones into an unsuitable mould was never fun.

5) How do you motivate your students to learn and take interest in your subject?  Enthusiastic teaching (the able ones); threats (the majority).

6) Which are the biggest difficulties in teaching?  Parents, senior teachers, losing the will to live.

7) Do you utilise innovative and/or creative strategies when teaching your subject?  Getting through the day - anyhow - took all the energy I had.

[Amicale]

1) Which subject do you teach and at what level? (elementary, middle high school etc) English as a second language, adults (really anyone 16 and up; students range in age from 17 to mid-40s)

2) How long have you been teaching? A year and a half.

3) What's your life like as a teacher? Hectic, but a lot of fun. I love planning lessons that are tailored to students and their specific needs and preferences.

4) Do you find teaching pleasurable? If so, in which situations? Yes, it can definitely be pleasurable, especially when a student doesn't understand a concept, and then when it's explained more thoroughly, it suddenly 'clicks' and they get it. I love those lightbulb moments.

5) How do you motivate your students to learn and take interest in your subject? I have the flexibility of not sticking to a specific curriculum; instead, I can tailor my own to their needs, so it's a lot easier to help them be motivated when we're covering material that will be of use to them -- ie, conversational English, business English, etc.

6) Which are the biggest difficulties in teaching? Oddly enough, explaining very small words that we take for granted is the most difficult! Trying to explain what "at" or "to" or "the" means when you have someone who is at a basic beginner level can get very interesting! That being said, it's a fun challenge, and I like to try to give them lots of examples so that the definitions stick and they understand the context.


7) Do you utilise innovative and/or creative strategies when teaching your subject? I try to. I'm able to use audio, visual aids, videos, and different activities so that the work we do isn't so formulaic. I also try to make sure we have fun, every lesson. The main benefit of teaching adults is that there is no power dynamic in place; it's not me 'over' them, it's just two adults, chatting like friends.

Hope that helped a bit.

[xSilverPhinx]

I'm not a teacher, but I could ask one of my family members who is the next time I'm around. When is it due, since I can't promise I will see him in the next two weeks. He is also a special ed teacher, so I'm not sure if that would work for this survey.

It's due Monday, and if you can get him to answer, it'll be greatly appreciated. Don't feel too pressured though

Getting my husband to take the time to answer a survey may be difficult...but I can answer most of those questions just from hearing about his day for a few years now.  I'll send him an email and see if he gets around to it but if not let me know if you want me to answer for him.

Many of my family also teach, and I would answer some of questions for them, so it's no problem really if you can't get him to answer and would like to help out yourself.

OldGit and Amicale, thanks for answering

So far two language teachers, my whole family (except for myself) also teach English as a second language, both tailored to specific students and needs and in language schools, they describe it to be very similar to how you did, Amicale.

[Whitney]

Ok, I'll update this if he responds himself:

1) Which subject do you teach and at what level? (elementary, middle high school etc)
Social Studies
2) How long have you been teaching?
3 years (or maybe it is 4)
3) What's your life like as a teacher?
You get up before the sun, have some coffee and go to the classroom.  Then you spend your day teaching multiple classes the same thing over and over again; some class groups are better than others.
4) Do you find teaching pleasurable? If so, in which situations?
Yes, when the kids are interested (or can be convinced to be interested) in learning.
5) How do you motivate your students to learn and take interest in your subject?
Special projects that allow them to make things that support the topics being covered.
6) Which are the biggest difficulties in teaching?
hormones...it's middle school.
7) Do you utilise innovative and/or creative strategies when teaching your subject?
See 5.