What It's Like to be a High School Teacher

Are you in that stage in which you know you want to be a teacher but are unsure of which grade you’d like to teach? Or, do you know that you already want to teach teenagers? If you answered yes to either of these questions, this interview is for you. We interviewed Cali Pantazis who teaches high school in New York City about what it’s like to work in her field, and what advice she has for those interested in pursuing it themselves. Here’s what it’s really like to be a high school teacher.

How did you know you wanted to be a high school teacher?
I knew I wanted to be a high school teacher after I had experience working with teenagers at a summer camp. The teenage years are usually the toughest and most transformative part of a person’s life and I wanted to help support and help teenagers grow into successful adults. I also know how influential some of my high school teachers were for me and I wanted to be able to do the same.

What’s the most challenging aspect of being a high school teacher as a millennial?
As a millennial you need to know where to draw the line between you and your students. It’s definitely very easy to get along with them and have some similar interests when it comes to music, food, places to go, etcetera. Your students always want to know every little thing about you so you need to decide at what point you are willing to share and what point you aren’t. You want to be able to draw connections with them but they also respect you and you need to be able to keep that respect instead of telling them every little detail of what you did on the weekend.

How do you become a public school teacher?
To become a public school teacher there are a lot of paths one can take depending on when you decided to go into the field. If it was in college you can go to a teacher-credited preparation program, also known as any college or university that has education as a major and a teacher certification office. You can also do the same through a Master’s program. If it’s later on in life, you can apply for Teach For America or some teacher fellowship where you can work and complete your master’s at the same time in order to get a certification. To teach in New York City, you need to apply for New York State certification and then also complete the New York City teacher application. Through the New York City teacher application portal, you can see and apply for job openings. Bottom line is that there is a lot of paperwork and a lot of information that you need to keep straight. If you are interested in becoming a teacher you should start early so that way you can start applying in April for the next school year.

What are the benefits of working as a high school teacher?
The benefits are working somewhere where every day is completely different. No two days are alike in what you teach, how your students react, what school programs are going on, trips, etcetera. You can have multiple passions. For instance, I teach math, but I also advise student council or a club. You essentially get all the pros of being in high school without the teenage angst. As far as medical benefits and things like that, you automatically get into the United Federation of Teachers and the union.

What are the drawbacks of working as a high school teacher?
You end up wearing a lot of hats, so you need to be flexible and good at a lot of different things. Examples include talking with people, collaborating with other teachers, meeting with parents, being a good improviser since every day is different, staying calm in crisis scenarios, and more. So if you aren’t comfortable with that you can get burnt out quick. Also good teachers end up caring a lot and giving a lot of themselves so you need to be careful to take time for yourself otherwise you will burn out quickly, and there is a lot of work. I really despise the saying, “if you can’t do, you teach” because teachers do a lot of things and have a lot of responsibilities. Yes, we get the summers off but every day you end up taking your work home with you whether it’s grading papers, thinking about a difficult situation with a student, writing college recommendation letters, etcetera. It is a job that requires a lot of you, but it is all worth it.

What’s a typical day like?
Like I said before it can all kinda change and no day is typical. For me a “typical day” includes teaching all of my sections of math, so about 80 students, using my prep period to either grade or prepare for the next day’s lesson. Additionally, I will attend a meeting with other teachers to either talk about students or a staff meeting of sorts where the conversation always centers around what can we do to make our school community and students better. Mix all that in with an assembly here or there, a fire drill, a shelter-in-place drill, spirit week, parent-teacher conferences, etcetera.

What advice do you have for other millennials thinking of becoming a high school teacher?
Make sure you student teach and get the most out of it that you can. Don’t just sit in the corner and observe, “get your hands dirty” and get involved in the classroom that you are in. Also don’t be afraid to take risks, always look to be inspired by the world around you and think about what it is that you want to share with your future students. Treat your classroom like your home, make it feel inviting and safe to anyone who walks into it. When you do land the job at the school that you want, go all in. Don’t just do the bare minimum and leave when the last bell rings, the best teachers are the ones who get in early and leave late.