Elementary Schools in New York

This is from J.Lee. She is an elementary school teacher in NewYork.

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- Your name J. Lee
- Where you live new york
- Your Position/Title teacher
- Years of experiences as an educator 1 1/2 yrs.
- The grade or level, subject you are teaching or taught 3rd grade

- How are schools divided in your country?
in Korea - elementary-middle-high school
in the US - pre-K, K-5 , or K-8 PS/IS, high school

- The differences between the reasons for public schools and the reasons for private schools?
providing variety extracurricular activities, low teacher-student ratio , flexibility in expenditure and curriculum planning, more parent involvement?

- What are extracurricular activities in your school?
chorus, music(band), ballroom dancing, chess, fitness club, gymnastics, baton twirlers, book clubs, etc must be more that I don't know.


- What kinds of subjects do your students learn in school? How many?
reading, writing, math, art, computers, studio in a school (art based on social studies curriculum), NY philharmonic(music), gym, etc


Tell us anything else about curricula in your country/state.

- Funding for schools?
dunno-we're an empowerment school- have flexibility in budget planning and expenditure.

- The social and economic status of teachers/professors in your school area?
mostly middle class.

- How is the foreign language/bilingual education managed in schools?
ESL

- How important is teaching foreign languages? How many languages are
taught in schools?
none

- How supportive the principal and parents in your school district?
extremely supportive.

Reggie Robbins- ESL tutor- was a teacher for 20 years

- Why did I choose to be an educator? When I was in college I worked part time in a school for juvenile delinquent girls. As I got to know the girls I was deeply moved by their struggle to find their place in this world and how they probably would never have a good life. How difficult their lives had been. I use to think if only a teacher had touched their lives in a positive way when they were younger...maybe they would not be locked up know. At that time I changed my major and got my masters degree in education. -
How satisfied are you with your job? I taught elementary school for a time and then got involved in teaching ESL. I love teaching ESL. I have learned more from my students than I have ever taught them. My next step is that I hope to begin teaching English in Haiti (for 2 or 3 months a year).
Are you glad you chose teaching as a profession? Absolutely!!!!
Is your job rewarding to you? Very much Why?- I really like all my students. And I have learned so much from all of them.
What level of stress do you feel at your job? When I first started teaching a TOEFL class I felt a lot of stress but now almost no stress at all.
Do you ever feel burn-out?- Not now that I am tutoring and not teaching in the classroom.
What age do you plan to retire? I plan on retiring when I am too old to be able to hear my students or I fall asleep in the middle of a lesson.

Regina