I am currently a teacher of English as a Second Language to adults in a private school, but I have been thinking about getting state-certified to teach ESL to children/teenagers in public schools. I know that teaching children is going to be very different from teaching adults, and I also know that the public schools are very different now than they were when I was a student. For example, there are a lot more physical security precautions. In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges you have to face as a public school teacher? Do you have sufficient freedom to educate or do you feel like you are micromanaged or have your hands tied by administration? I have always been interested in teaching the middle school level, which comes with its own uniqueness as well, but since I have been teaching adults (and love it) I have thought more about teaching high school level, older students. What advice would you give someone seeking certification?

Depends on what school district you teach in and the principal of the school. Some are great and some are awful.There is a big difference in teaching adults and children. Make sure you really want to deal with less mature students and their parents.

First, if you already have a degree, try to get a job first and get them to pay for your degree. Most districts have ways to micromanage, but they always have the problem that they want to micromanage a 1000 people by sending them a paper to fill out proving that they're effectively being micromanaged.. so you have to be sure you fill out the form verifying that you're micromanaged, because they're way to busy creating forms to actually be in the class with you.. to micromanage. ..you get use to it.

I think security has gotten a lot of extra hype. Most schools don't have students bringing in guns or knives every day, and when they do, it makes the news. Schools are still one of the safest environments for kids. That's not to say that there aren't some dangerous high schools out there, but the vast majority are alright.