Introduction
A 3rd-grade teacher is ideally responsible for teaching students an array of subjects. These may include math, language, science, history and arts. They must be professionally trained to teach this particular age group given their tender age along with the intricacies that come with it. Their main goal is to ensure young learners’ social and emotional development in a vibrant, positive and constructive environment. Having said so, the job of a 3rd-grade teacher demands a degree of patience and meticulousness.
Skills required for the job of a 3rd-grade teacher
- Strong interpersonal and collaboration skills
- Ability to communicate successfully with a diverse set of co-workers and students
- Excellent verbal and written skills.
- Encourages collaborative teamwork in the classroom,
- Demonstrate professional behaviour, including discretion, judgment and integrity.
- A teacher must have a clear background check.
Educational Requirements for the job of a 3rd-grade teacher:
To become a third-grade teacher, one needs to have:
- A high school diploma or a GED
- Bachelor’s degree (ideally one that includes a teacher preparation program)
- Master’s degree specializing in education
As for training and certifications, these may include:
- Pass a basic skills exam along with a subject area competency exam.
- Take the Praxis series exam which is held by the Educational Testing Services (ETS). Once you clear these, you can then apply to get a license for teaching.
- National Board Certification: This is considered an advanced credential and indeed surpasses the state license.
Upon completion of all these certifications, the National Education Association provides a teacher with all the certificates and recommendation letters, which help improve one’s chances of getting a well-paid job.
Job description of a 3rd-grade teacher – Duties and Responsibilities
- Formulate and implement curriculum based on state-required benchmarks and standards.
- Prepare lesson plans and then conduct class based on these lesson plans. Part of the job of a 3rd-grade teacher also includes updating these lesson plans throughout the academic year based on class progress and other various factors.
- Use computers, audiovisual aids, and other materials to supplement presentations.
- Establish as well as enforce rules for maintaining student behaviour and procedures for maintaining order among the students.
- Keep close contact with students’ parents and liaise with them from time to time to update them about students’ progress or share students’ concerns.
- Work closely with the administration to guarantee the well-being of students.
- Confer with other staff members to plan lessons hence promoting learning.
- Maintain detailed files for every student. A teacher must also update these files throughout the year to record the student’s progress throughout the academic year.
- Collect and grade assignments, quizzes and tests. This also includes maintaining student grade books.
- Keep classrooms engaged in group activities while still working one-on-one with students to assess them.
- Performing other administrative duties
- Monitor student performance as well as plan remedial programs if necessary.
- Collaborate with colleagues of diverse backgrounds on pedagogical approaches, curricular alignment and instructional strategies.
- Promotes multiple methods in solving problems, identifying more efficient strategies along with generalizing principles to a wide variety of applications.
- Take part in weekly department meetings and multidisciplinary team meetings, training, etc.
- Participate in any ongoing training, seminars and other relevant certifications
- Guide and counsel students. This is especially important for young learners who may face issues with adjusting to the new classroom setting
Physical demands of the job
- A 3rd-grade teacher must have specific vision abilities required by this job. This may include close vision, colour vision, as well as the ability to adjust focus.
- Working as one, you are frequently required to sit; and occasionally required to stand and walk.
- Moderate concentration/intensity includes prolonged mental effort with limited opportunity for breaks.
- Sharp memory while taking into consideration the amount and type of information to be retained by a 3rd-grade teacher.
Salary and Workload
The job of a 3rd-grade teacher typically involves working 40 hours a week. However, the working hours are mainly dependent on the school calendar. This means that a teacher will probably be working fewer hours during summers or school holidays.
While the workload may be a bit stressful but the salary of a 3rd-grade teacher is quite lucrative. A 3rd-grade teacher roughly earns $21.92 an hour and as much as $45,588 in a year. Recent statistics indicate the job of a 3rd-grade teacher is expected to grow by 3% in the next five years. Indeed, the job of a 3rd-grade teacher is quite a lucrative one!
