High School Teacher Career

high-school-teacher-500As a high school teacher, your responsibilities go well beyond actually teaching. You will also be responsible for planning lessons, preparing materials, organizing your classroom, grading papers and tests, and communicating with parents.

In many high schools, teachers are expected to assume responsibilities that go beyond the classroom. You may be expected to sponsor an extracurricular club, coach a sport, volunteer at sporting events and dances, and serve on various committees that help the school run smoothly. You will need to coordinate with other teachers to make sure that every student receives a good education.

High School Teacher Career Snapshot

As a high school teacher, you will work in a school setting, but schools vary widely from region to region and even within school districts. You may be working in a wealthy community with top-of-the-line resources, or helping under-served students achieve in a school district where there is little to go around. Teachers usually work about 40 hours on the books, but you may end up preparing and grading outside of work hours.

Further details on a career as a high school teacher are listed below (statistics from the May 2015 Bureau of Labor Statistics):

$57,200

is the average pay for high school teachers per year.

6%

increase in employment between 2014 and 2024.

73%

have a Bachelor’s degree.

High School Teacher Education

To be a high school teacher, you will need at least a Bachelor’s degree. In most instances you will also need a teaching license, though some charter schools do not require them.

High School Teacher Job Duties

As a high school teacher, you will have a great deal of control over what your daily life looks like. You will likely spend the majority of time teaching, but what happens during those teaching hours is largely up to you–you can create activities, deliver lectures, or organize games to help students learn. Most teachers also have at least one period every day to plan their lessons.

High School Teacher Salaries

The median salary for a high school teacher according to May 2015 statistics from the BLS.gov is $57,200. The top 10% of earners will $91,190 or higher. Salary will increase with educational attainment; some schools will give teachers a raise with each additional college credit earned.

High School Teacher Job Outlook

This field is expected to grow 6% through 2024, which is in line with average job growth. Some subjects, especially those in computer related fields, may experience faster than average growth as schools move to integrate computer science into their curriculum.

High School Teacher Skills & Traits

High School Teacher Skill Set:Required Abilities:Tools Used by High School Teachers:Typical Work Activities:
• Instructing
• Speaking
• Active listening
• Reading comprehension
• Learning strategies
• Oral expression
• Written comprehension
• Oral comprehension
• Speech clarity
• Projection equipment
• Notebook computers
• Photocopiers
• Email software
• Presentation software
• Documenting information
• Training and teaching
• Developing others
• Communicating with others

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