I've noticed that plenty of folks on this forum are teachers, so I got curious...

1) Which levels/age groups do you teach?
2) What are your subjects?
3) How's work started this semester or are you still looking forward to meeting your new students?

Here are my own answers:

1) I work in a small adult high school and teach students aged 16- ; mostly 10th graders, immigrants and working adults.
2) I have a degree in physics, but sadly this year I'll only have one physics class as my older colleague prefers them most. So mostly I'll be teaching grade 7-9 and high school mathematics, plus some basic chemistry and IT. It's a bit of this and that, but I'm not complaining - at least I won't get bored!
3) I welcomed our new class of 10th graders in this week and it was all very nice - mostly humorous and well behaving yoofs of which only two or three showed negative attitudes towards everything and everyone. We'll see how their studies start. Also met some new adult students whose classes start full speed in September. Highly motivated people! Looking forward to this year!

Just popping in -- not a teacher but a parent of a few students (one of which starts K this fall )

Before I lose track of this thread -- a big THANK YOU to all the teachers out there as you start another year of teaching the gifted and not so gifted students!! Being over involved in my kid's education has taught me many things, but the most important is that the individuals who take on the task of teaching them are angels in every sense of the word.

Thanks again for another great year!!!

1) Which levels/age groups do you teach?
2) What are your subjects?
3) How's work started this semester or are you still looking forward to meeting your new students?

1) I teach college
2) composition and video game studies (for real!)
3) still waiting, but very eager. We start monday

First of all thanks for the kudos from Shelby 947. I teach in Ontario Canada and the former Harris/Eaves governments cultivated such a culture of blame and finger-pointing towards teachers not to mention a vastly sweeping new curriculum in every subject at every grade level that had to be implemented immediately with very few resources, that we have never recovered. We hear about the one thing we did wrong, never the one hundred things we did right. 12 years later, depleted moral ,frustration and teacher burnout are still sadly highly evident all over the province.

But you didn't ask for the politics...so here is the info:

a and b) I am a resource teacher for Grades 5-8 in a 451 student school. That means I develop and implement the individual education plans for special education students. I have autistic, developmentally challenged, bi-polar, mildly intellectually challenged, ADHD and many other behaviour issues, learning disabled and gifted - 46 identified and 15 being monitored...oh and I only work mornings. I am to assist the poor classroom teachers in trying to meet the needs of all these children plus deliver the curriculum appropriate to not only their grade level but adapted, modified, accomodated and sometimes entirely different curriculum for the severely delayed and gifted students....and yes this is in the "regular" classroom. Furthermore, our educational assistants are now assigned only to behavioural (danger to self or others) or physically challenged children. This is due to a flawed funding formula that doesn't allow for the reality of increasing numbers of special education students in a board that is experiencing declining enrollment overall. That means my developmentally delayed students in Grade Eight who function at about a Grade 1-2 academic level and an oh..six year old emotional level, will be without their EA's for the first time since kindergarten.

I also do "informal" testing, communicate results of formal testing by psychometrists, prepare transition plans for moving to high school, apply for, train and evaluate students who need adaptive technology such as computers or FM sound systems. I assist teachers in evaluating these students and in writing their report cards. I may provide alternate testing methods such as oral or on the computer for some students. I may work with a group on a particular area, so I need to know the curriculum for all my grades. I observe and work with students in class and in the resource room as needed, and help with referrals to doctors, psychiatrists, special educational facilities etc. etc. etc. I also put flowers in the staff room, bake muffins, send "you can cope" cards to teachers, tie shoes, organize binders, clean desks and generally try to help everyone keep at least their nose if not their entire head above water!

To summarize..the latest document from my board "the role of the resource teacher' is two pages long and has about 53 differing responsibilities listed. My paperwork such as the IEP's is mostly considered to be legal documents and must be filed by a certain date, implemented, reviewed and evaluated over the course of a year with a formal document for each of the three terms developed, sent home for approval from parents and filed.

Did I mention I work only mornings?

c) I am returning to work after a two year leave of absence for medical reasons. My role changes so often and so fast, I feel like a brand new teacher again and am appropriately nervous but a little excited. I have developed a very detailed plan for myself that outlines to myself how I will manage to remember that 1) I am being paid half-time so I am to remember to work half-time! 2) My mental and physical health are still in recovery so I must take care of myself if I am to take care of others 3) I will continue to pursue the interests and friendships I have developed and not get sucked back into being a teacher 24/7! 4) I am good at my job..I am good at my job...I am good at my job!

WELL YOU ASKED! Hope you aren't sorry LOL ( and yes sometimes I wonder who is helping me keep my nose above water)

1 I teach in an elementary school

2. I will be teaching 1st grade this year. I have previously taught kindergarten and second.

3. School starts September 3rd for the kids so I am frantically getting my room ready. I am soooooooooooooooooo excited and cannot wait to meet my students!!!

AWWWWWWW That was sweet. Thanks very much!

1. I'm an adjunct visiting professor (or some other weird title like that) at Illinois. I'm teaching intro courses.

2. Introduction to Biological Anthropology/Archaeology. Next semester I'm up for Intro to World Archaeology.

3. Starts next week. To give a preview though, I've already had a couple of "I don't believe in evolution" emails. Great, already told them that this class wasn't going to be about debating evolution and unless they're a young earth creationist they'll do fine in the other GE courses like geology or geography. If not, there's always psychology. Hopefully they take the hint.

At least they told me by email and not in front of class and then have me try to hold in my smart *** comments, such as "that's okay, I don't believe in gravity, but I still like to take physics". One time that did happen to me and all I said was "Wow, you are in the wrong class". Most of class just started laughing and the kid shut up.

Do you sometimes wonder if they even look at what they sign up for, or if they just throw darts at the course catalog? This past some I had several students in an Intro to Games Studies class that never played video games, and didn't particularly care for them!

1) Which levels/age groups do you teach? High school...all grades.

2) What are your subjects? I am a special education teacher and directly teach two Algebra I classes for freshmen, but I also have three Academic Support courses (like directed study halls) where I work with all grades.

3) How's work started this semester or are you still looking forward to meeting your new students? We don't start school until Sept. 2nd. I am excited about seeing the kids again and meeting the new freshmen, but I also have not been able to get into my classroom yet because I am visiting my sister out of state and I will only have one day before school starts to get in there. So, as I'm sure you can imagine, that's freaking me out a bit!

1) I teach at an inner city high school, and am fortunate enough to have all seniors this year!

2) I teach English.

3) We are just finishing up our fourth week, believe it or not! Already halfway through the first quarter!

Thanks for the replies so far! Very interesting to read about the starts to the "school" year on different levels. I'm wishing you all the best, dear colleagues!

Oh, and I forgot to add that as I work in an adult high school, I usually go to work between 2-5 pm and leave around 8-9 pm. I've gotten quite used to the hours but of course it sometimes sucks if my hubby happens to come home from his work when I'm just leaving for mine. It's like we are working in two different shifts. I'll probably apply for a day school job next year...

The plus side is that we have five periods in a year and I'll start the first one with classes only on tue/thu. So it's a four day weekend for six weeks!

with that! Heh heh...

1) Which levels/age groups do you teach?

I teach adult women-ages 16 to great grandmothers. I am currently, however, tossing around the idea of a children's class...or mother/daughter class, for younger girls.

2) What are your subjects?

I teach Middle Eastern Dance. Think of the class as a workout, a dance class, a history lesson, and a music class. (They learn to play specific rhythms with sagat, and to recognize and react to specific Middle Eastern music rhythms that are not commonly used in American music.)
I teach American cabaret, Egyptian, Turkish, Greek, and American Tribal Style, and other folkoric styles. I also teach balancing (sword, basket, etc.), sagat (finger cymbals), and veil.

3) How's work started this semester or are you still looking forward to meeting your new students?
I usually have a new beginning course start every 2-3 months, and the ones who stay with it progress to higher levels after that. It is a field where you never "graduate". There is always more to learn, and more to perfect. One is forever a student, even when they are a teacher.

I teach:

At a University
Sociology and Critical Thinking
We don't start until September 3