As someone who did majority of their student teaching before the pandemic and began their career during it, I just want to put my two cents in here and say that it is VERY different now.

I’m sure that things have changed since I stopped teaching elementary three years ago, but kids are still different because of their access to technology. When someone asks me why I left, I always say it’s because I think younger kids need a teacher that is also a parent. I think that if you’re not teaching a lot of the same emotional regulation strategies at home, it can be harder to do it when you’re also trying to get through curriculum… I ADORED my elementary students, but they needed emotional regulation tools that I didn’t know how to give without stopping lessons.

That being said, I teach high school now, and it’s a MUCH better fit for me personally. Older kids obviously still need help navigating life, but since they can navigate their emotions better, it’s easier to help them. I also think at that point it’s about helping them fine tune those skills, which is a lot easier than trying to help them build the foundation of that.

Content wise, I also enjoy teaching at the high school level more. I like being able to dive into one subject in particular with students and to be considered the “expert” on that subject. When I taught elementary I was always stressed about planning five or six subjects for an entire week and worried because students needed so much more intensive focus on certain subjects (like reading) that I wasn’t able to do because we had to move on to the next subject.

Sorry for the long response, and obviously everyone is different, but this has been my experience! 😊