College 100       

                                                                         Informational                   Interview

                                  As I walked up the lonely halls, beyond the big blue doors
of Beatty Elementary School. I heard a loud bell. Suddenly
hundreds of children came thrashing by me. Some tall, some short,
but all of them had smiles knowing that they were on their home
and tomorrow was the last thing on their minds. 
     As I walked through a orange door I saw sweet Mrs. Georgia
Haxton, a fourth grade elementary-teacher. There she stood by a
small green chalkboard, preparing her daily schedule for each
subject. Creativily she used valentine candy hearts to show the
children how to categorize, count, and use them in a color graph. 
     She greeted me with a big smile, and open arms, as if we
were long lost friends. She asked me to take a tiny seat at the
tiny table. As I sat, a cool breeze hit me, But there wasn't a
window in sight. The air from the vent blew the hand made wind-
socks that hung from the ceiling. The class room was clean,
bright and full of colors. As she brought out pictures of her
students our conversation began.
     We began to talk about her job duties, she explained how
each teacher would take a turn at watching the children in the
play yard. Which, originally I had thought that was one of the
easiest parts of teaching. When I expressed that opinion, she
laughed aloud, and said "That is where the children are most
active, so they are more prone to get hurt or hurt each other.
That's what I think is one of the worst parts of teaching-
discipline." She continued to explain, "The best part of the job
is often the hardest- the children. It all depends on their daily
attitude. If your going to work with children the three top
quality's are,  knowledge of your work, compassion and empathy
for your students. Although class could be fun, and playing with
the children could be great, the stress level at times could be
extremely high. Teachers have paper work, parents, students, and
principals to think about on a daily bases. Becoming a teacher is
no fun and games, after four years of college with your B.A. you
continue your education for another year in teaching class." Mrs.
Haxton worked in an office and put herself through school and
completed another sixty units in special education. If it wasn't
for her extra special ed. training, Mrs. Haxton feels she
wouldn't have been hired when she first started teaching. Only
three teachers were hired in her district and she was one of
them. Now, she feels that since there are more students, and 
therefor a higher demand for teachers. The job outlook is very
good for present and  future.
     Originally the idea of being an elementary teacher sounded
really appealing, But after learning that it was as much about
socialization as education, I Began to lose my zeal for the Idea.
I think that if I were to teach, it would be at college level.
Where I could be more focused on the material at hand, and not
have to worry if seat one is kicking seat two. In closing the
whole experience was very educational.    
vid-kid