How2Day: Teachers' Daily Duties

Teachers play an important role in the lives of children and adolescents, by preparing them for life and providing them with the knowledge they need to move on to college or to be successful in a career. Teachers do not just teach, though. They have other duties that are essential to their success in the classroom. Teachers perform these daily duties in addition to the classroom instruction they provide.

Most teachers who work in middle school or high school set aside an hour during each workday to plan for other classes. Many teachers arrive early at school each day to plan for the day's activities. Planning duties involve reviewing lesson plans and going over material that may be handed out to students. Planning sessions are also used to grade assignments that have already been completed and turned in.

Teachers also impose discipline on students who break classroom or school rules. This duty involves making students serve detention, complete additional assignments or even visit the principal's office, where punishment is usually meted out for more serious offenses. Some teachers serve on disciplinary committees, while others are assigned to detention duty. This usually involves staying after school and supervising the students who have been assigned to serve detention that day.

Although teachers "teach," it may be more accurate to say teachers provide instruction to students. Instruction is as much leading by example as it is imparting knowledge through lectures or written assignments. Teachers often provide hands-on instruction to students, especially in elementary schools, where the young students may not have fully developed all of their cognitive and motor skills. Art teachers provide hands-on instruction through the process of demonstration. Physical education teachers instruct by sometimes participating in the activities they assign to students. These activities are all among teachers' daily duties.

Teachers often work with other teachers and school administrators on specific projects that are either academic or extracurricular in nature. Teachers' duties include attending meetings where school administrators discuss coming events, and lay out school goals and objectives that faculty members are expected to meet. Teachers also collaborate with one another in sponsoring various clubs and activities for students.

With the advent of the Internet and email, teachers now can communicate daily with parents regarding the progress of their children. Children who are falling behind in classes may have an email alert sent to their parents to stave off potential failure in the course. Teachers also field questions from parents via email and phone calls regarding their children's work. Parents may also have questions regarding disciplinary action a teacher has taken against a child, and teachers answer these as well.

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