Example Career: Secondary School Teachers

Career Description

Teach one or more subjects to students at the secondary school level.

What Job Titles Secondary School Teachers Might Have

• English Teacher
• Mathematics Instructor (Math Instructor)
• Social Studies Teacher
• Teacher

What Secondary School Teachers Do

• Prepare materials and classrooms for class activities.
• Instruct through lectures, discussions, and demonstrations in one or more subjects, such as English, mathematics, or social studies.
• Establish clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects, and communicate those objectives to students.
• Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order among students.
• Adapt teaching methods and instructional materials to meet students' varying needs and interests.
• Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.
• Observe and evaluate students' performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
• Plan and conduct activities for a balanced program of instruction, demonstration, and work time that provides students with opportunities to observe, question, and investigate.
• Confer with parents or guardians, other teachers, counselors, and administrators to resolve students' behavioral and academic problems.
• Assign and grade class work and homework.
• Prepare, administer, and grade tests and assignments to evaluate students' progress.
• Prepare students for later grades by encouraging them to explore learning opportunities and to persevere with challenging tasks.
• Use computers, audio-visual aids, and other equipment and materials to supplement presentations.
• Instruct and monitor students in the use of equipment and materials to prevent injuries and damage.
• Enforce all administration policies and rules governing students.
• Guide and counsel students with adjustments, academic problems, or special academic interests.
• Meet with other professionals to discuss individual students' needs and progress.
• Prepare and implement remedial programs for students requiring extra help.
• Meet with parents and guardians to discuss their children's progress and to determine priorities for their children and their resource needs.
• Prepare objectives and outlines for courses of study, following curriculum guidelines or requirements of states and schools.
• Confer with other staff members to plan and schedule lessons promoting learning, following approved curricula.
• Collaborate with other teachers and administrators in the development, evaluation, and revision of secondary school programs.
• Prepare reports on students and activities as required by administration.
• Prepare for assigned classes, and show written evidence of preparation upon request of immediate supervisors.
• Plan and supervise class projects, field trips, visits by guest speakers, or other experiential activities, and guide students in learning from those activities.
• Attend professional meetings, educational conferences, and teacher training workshops to maintain and improve professional competence.
• Perform administrative duties, such as school library assistance, hall and cafeteria monitoring, and bus loading and unloading.
• Attend staff meetings and serve on committees, as required.
• Select, store, order, issue, and inventory classroom equipment, materials, and supplies.
• Sponsor extracurricular activities, such as clubs, student organizations, and academic contests.
• Administer standardized ability and achievement tests, and interpret results to determine students' strengths and needs.
• Provide students with disabilities with assistive devices, supportive technology, and assistance accessing facilities such as restrooms.

What Secondary School Teachers Should Be Good At

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).

What Secondary School Teachers Need to Learn

• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
• Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.