Elementary Teacher Resume—Examples and 25+ Writing Tips

From your captivating lesson plans to your empathetic personality to your classroom management skills—you know you’d make the best elementary teacher.

But the school doesn’t know it yet.

To score that teaching interview, you’ll need to show the school you’re the top candidate with a perfect elementary teacher resume.

No problem.

In this guide:

• The best elementary teacher resume sample to land top school jobs.
• How to personalize a school resume to the elementary teacher job description.
• How to make resumes for teaching positions to score primary school interviews.
• Expert advice and examples to increase your chance of getting the school job you want.

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Haven't found what you're looking for? Check all our Resume Samples.

Elementary Teacher Resume Sample You Can Copy and Use

You just saw our take on a pitch-perfect sample elementary teaching resume.

Now— 

Here’s how to create an elementary teacher resume for yourself:

1. Sort Out the Resume Format for Primary Teachers First

A good teacher won’t just walk into a 1st-grade classroom and wing it.

Likewise, a good elementary teacher resume needs to have its layout in order before content is added.

So—

Here’s how to format primary teacher resume templates:

• Format your resume using the reverse-chronological layout, putting the most recent items first in dated resume sections, such as work history and education.
• Choose a legible resume font, and stick to an 11pt or 12pt font size for the main text.
• Use 1-inch resume margins around the entire document.
• Know what to include in a resume—leave out anything that is irrelevant to the teaching job.

Keep your resume design as simple as possible. In today's recruiting world, when you apply to a job, your resume is typically uploaded to an Applicant Tracking System. If your resume format is overly complicated, it might parse into the database incorrectly. That said, if your resume reads incorrectly, it is likely to be skipped over by the recruiter screening it, or it will come out funky looking, creating a poor impression.

Expert Hint: Use the PDF format when saving resumes. Microsoft Word docs sometimes appear weird and distorted, depending on the device the principal chooses to view it on, so save your teaching resume as a PDF unless the job description says otherwise.

2. Start with an Elementary Teacher Resume Objective or Summary

When you first walk into your homeroom class in the morning, you want your kids to perk up and pay close attention to you.

Well— 

The resume objective or career summary needs to work the same magic on the principal reading it.

Which opening paragraph is right to use?

When you’ve years of teaching experience, use the resume career summary. 

As the name suggests, a summary paragraph summarizes your teaching background, educational skills, and classroom expertise. To prove you’re not just giving vacuous statements like the other candidates, add in a key achievement using numbers from your teaching job history.

Here’s how to write an elementary school teacher resume summary:

Elementary Teacher Resume Examples—Summary Statement

The good example above is from a resume tailored for one particular job ad, because generic resumes are passed-over resumes. Numbers are added to prove you’re as capable as you say.

But— 

What Happens When You’ve No Experience in Teaching Jobs?

Use the resume career objective. 

The career objective paragraph, rather than focusing on your lack of teaching experience, gives your skills and background in a way that translates well into the teaching job. It also relays your career goals as an elementary teacher. Finally, it adds a quantifiable accomplishment to seal the deal.

Here’s how to write an elementary education resume objective statement:

Elementary Teacher’s Resume Examples—Objective Statement 

As in the last elementary teacher resumes samples, the good example here is just right—it’s tailored to the specific teaching job and shows how the skills developed from another position easily translate into teaching skills. 

Expert Hint: Write the heading statement at the end, after you complete the other teaching resume sections below. This way, you’ll be able to come up with the most effective opening paragraph possible.

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3. Ace Your Elementary Teacher Job Description and Teaching Skills Section

Now it’s time for the core of any resume for elementary teachers— 

The employment history area.

Here’s how to write an elementary teacher job description that aces their exam:

• List your current or most recent teaching position (or other job) first, going backward in reverse-chronological order. 
• For each job listing on your elementary education resume, add your professional title, the dates you were employed, the name of the school or other company, and its location.
• Give several job responsibilities in a way that is most relevant to the elementary teaching position.
• Add an accomplishment or two using numbers to quantify just how well you handled the job.

Here are two examples of elementary teaching job descriptions:

Elementary Teacher Job Description Examples

See the differences there?

The good example gives detailed accounts of past teaching responsibilities and tasks, as well as quantifiable achievements to knock it out of the park. 

It gets a gold star sticker compared to the “unsatisfactory” score of the second one.

Also— 

Many of the schools which use current technology utilize an ATS (applicant tracking system) in their employment process. The ATS helps the administrators sort through the many teacher resumes by parsing them for resume keywords.

The elementary teacher resumes without the right keywords get expelled from the candidate pool.

How to locate the right resume keywords for an elementary school job? 

Look back at the teacher job description, first. If you scroll down to the job responsibilities section, it tells you exactly what the school is looking for in their new elementary teacher, just like a cheat sheet.

Expert Hint: In the United States, there’s an ever-increasing shortage of teachers in public schools. If you can woo the principal with a great resume, you have a great chance of securing that elementary school teaching position.

Next up is the resume skills section.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that employment of kindergarten and elementary school teachers is expected to increase by 7% between 2020 and 2030.

To ensure your elementary school teacher’s resume doesn’t get lost in that massive competition, you’ll need a skills section that shows the principal you’re their best bet.

Here is a list of example elementary teacher resume skills:

20+ Sample Teacher Resume Skills & Proficiencies

• Elementary Grade-Level Literature
• Elementary Grade-Level Arithmetic
• Elementary Grade-Level Science
• Elementary Grade-Level History
• Elementary Grade-Level Art
• Elementary Grade-Level Physical Education
• Curriculum & Assessment
• Educational Technology (e.g., Smart Boards, Virtual Learning)
• Computer-Based Instruction
• Integrated Learning Systems
• First Aid, CPR, and AEDs
• Teaching Students With Special Needs
• Teaching Gifted and Talented Students
• Classroom Management
• Educational Growth and Development
• Verbal & Written Communication Skills
• Interpersonal Skills & Collaborative Spirit
• Empathetic & Compassionate Demeanor
• Innovative & Creative Attitude
• Teaching & Instructional Skills
• Effective Leadership Methods

Like a homework assignment, don’t simply take a list like this and use it within your elementary teacher resume template.

Rather, look once more at the teaching job responsibilities in the employment listing. List the teaching skills you have which are also mentioned there—those are the ones they’re searching for. 

Expert Hint: Primary school teachers should showcase a generous mixture of both hard skills and soft skills on their resume. Hard skills, such as computer skills or CPR know-how, are a perfect complement to soft skills, such as empathy and patience.

4. Turn the Education Section Into the Reason the School Hires You

Every elementary teacher needs a minimum level of education before they’re allowed to become an educator.

But it’s not enough to just have it— 

You’ve got to document your educational background correctly if your elementary teaching resume is to be effective.

Here’s how to organize your education section on resumes for elementary teachers:

Elementary School Teaching Resume Education Section

Here’s how to properly lay out the education section:

• Like the work history section, add the most advanced degree at the top.
• Include your degree name, the university you attended, its location, and the date of your completion or graduation.
• Adding relevant coursework to your resume is a great way to get some more keywords onto your resume while also showing them you’re skilled in specific areas.
• If you have any relevant academic achievements, awards, or extracurricular activities, add those as a subsection.

Expert Hint: Since an elementary teacher is required to at least hold a bachelor’s degree, there is no need to include high school on the resume.

5. Add Some Electives on Your Elementary Teacher Resume With Extra Sections

Want to earn extra credit on this most important homework assignment?

Include an additional section or two onto your elementary teaching resume template.

Here are a few of the best extra sections to consider adding, as well as elementary teachers resume samples of each one:

Certifications & Licenses

• National Board Certificate
• Alternative Teacher Certificate
• State-Approved Teaching Certificate Program
• State Educator Certification
• State Reading, Writing, and Mathematics Competency Examination

Teaching Organizations & School Associations

• The Association for Experiential Education (AEE)
• Association of American Educators (AAE)
• Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)
• National Education Association (NEA)

Activities, Hobbies & Interests

• Tutoring Arithmetic
• Captaining Little League Softball Team
• Traveling & Geography
• Reading Early American Literature

Proficiency in Foreign Languages 

• Estonian: Native Proficiency
• Mandarin: Professional Working Proficiency
• Portuguese: Intermediate Conversational Proficiency
• Wolof: Beginner’s Proficiency

Expert Hint: Don’t forget to include an elementary teacher cover letter with your resume. A cover letter is necessary for teaching jobs, because more than half of school administrators and principals won’t consider your resume without it. 

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Key Points

Let’s review— 

Here’s how to write a perfect elementary teacher resume:

• Format the elementary education resume template before you start writing.
• Open with a compelling elementary teacher resume objective or summary statement to intrigue them into reading further.
• Detail your past teaching experience or other employment history in your job description area.
• Give an achievement or two, with numbers, to verify your teaching abilities.
• Document the elementary teacher resume skills most relevant to the job description.
• Include an education section which includes related coursework.
• Add an extra section, such as certifications or languages, to round out your elementary school teacher resume.
• Don’t forget to attach an Teacher Cover Letter or an Elementary Teacher Cover Letter before you send it off.

Got any questions on how to add accomplishments onto an entry-level elementary teacher resume? Need more sample elementary teacher resumes? Let’s chat below in the comments, and thanks for reading!