3 answers
Cait
Student
Grundy Center, Iowa
3
Questions
Asked
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How do I become a teacher? Do I have to have a special college class?
#teacher
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3 answers
John Faig
Educator and Technologist
22
Answers
Washington, Washington
Updated
John’s Answer
There are two tracks to teaching. The first is to get an education undergraduate degree and probably a Master's degree too. Each state has its own certification for the level of students you want to teach (elementary, middle, high school). There might also be a subject-level test. If you work outside of education, some independent schools will value your experience and hire you without any certifications.
alan Schneiberg
Retired teacher and counseling psychologist
24
Answers
Sugar Hill, Georgia
Updated
alan’s Answer
The mechanics of becoming a teacher are simple. Simply get accepted to a university that has a education department and graduate with the proscribed coursework. After student teaching you would be eligible to become a licensed teacher.
However there are deeper considerations. Do you have the personal characteristics to be a successful teacher? You will need patience, the ability to work hard on your own, and a willingness to accept children’s successes and failures.
You will need to know your subject matter as well as developmental psychology. You will also need to be technologically competent. Creativity and design are also part of the demands of being a good teacher.
Sounds a bit overwhelming? After spending fifty years in the classroom I believe my career was deeply meaningful.
Good luck in your career.
However there are deeper considerations. Do you have the personal characteristics to be a successful teacher? You will need patience, the ability to work hard on your own, and a willingness to accept children’s successes and failures.
You will need to know your subject matter as well as developmental psychology. You will also need to be technologically competent. Creativity and design are also part of the demands of being a good teacher.
Sounds a bit overwhelming? After spending fifty years in the classroom I believe my career was deeply meaningful.
Good luck in your career.
Melissa Robinson
ESE (Special Education) & 504 Director @ SIATech Charter HS, Gainesville, FL
5
Answers
Updated
Melissa’s Answer
Hi Cait - students that want to become teachers in a K-12 public school district typically enroll as an education major in college (for a bachelor’s degree). In today’s educational arena, many states are requiring all teachers to have dual certification which means you have to also have the college courses to support getting dual certifications. For example, let’s say you have decided you want to teach HS English. You would need to major in English with your minor in secondary education or vice versa. All colleges are different as are states and specific districts/school systems within each state. My advice to you is to first determine where you want to teach (by selecting the state you want to teach in) then determine which age group you want to teach (elementary, middle, or HS students - there are different certifications for each of these three groups). Finally, you want to decide exactly what subject you want to teach. Once you have made those decisions, make an appointment with your HS guidance counselor before you graduate from HS. Over the summer (before heading off to college), make an upcoming appointment with your college academic advisor to discuss those decisions and select the course pathway you will need to take in order to earn your bachelors degree.
I also want to point out something John stated above about getting a masters degree. He’s absolutely 100% correct. Most districts in every state throughout the country do require teachers to earn their masters degree so you will want to find out if the state/district you’ve decided to teach in does require their teachers to earn their masters degree and how long does the district give their new teachers to accomplish that requirement. Once you have this answer, you can then let your college advisor know so together you can plot out how to accomplish that goal. Some colleges offer a combination Bachelors/Masters degrees program that allows students to complete both degrees in less time (usually a 5 year pathway). Ask your college advisor if it’s an option where you are going.
Finally, I wanted to tell you that I’m in my 19th year in the classroom (I’m a HS special education teacher and I primarily work with students who are deemed “at-risk” aka at risk of dropping out of HS). When I entered the education field back in the 2000-2001 school year, this field was VERY DIFFERENT! Teachers overall were respected by parents, school administrators, district personnel, and general most Americans. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case. Somehow between 2000 and 2019, Americans, including politicians, have decided that teachers are the reason for all of the problems in this country. Teachers are no longer respected, given the flexibility to make classroom/student/curriculum/etc decisions on our own, told we are expendable (meaning we can be done away with at any time because we bring nothing of value to classroom), and overall treated as if we’re children and not adults. The teaching profession itself has been downgraded in some states (like Florida where I live). The teaching profession used to be considered a “white collar” type of profession which means it’s the kind of job/career which requires the employee to earn a college degree or degrees in order to be hired to do the job, it requires the employee to use their brain and think through problems as well as solve those problems, and is generally considered “office work”. Blue collar jobs are generally more physical or require an employee to do some kind of physical labor such as electricians, plumbers, truck drivers, welders, beauticians, etc. The Governor of Florida back in 2011 downgraded the teaching profession from white collar to blue collar. This allows school districts in Florida to pay teachers much much less salary than they would pay teachers if the profession would have maintained their “white collar” status. Again, this is my 19th year as a special education HS teacher. I have an associates degree in Life Sciences/Biology, a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology, a Masters of Science in Education, and 27 additional graduate credits in Special Education. I’m certified to teach Special Education grades K-12 in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Florida. I’m also certified in General MS Science grades 5-9 in Pennsylvania and Florida. Finally, I am certified in Elementary Education grades K-6 in Florida. I work all year long (because of the type of school I work in) and I make $35,000 salary a year. I should be making a minimum of $60,000 a year with my college education, all the certifications I have earned, and my many years of teaching experience in the classroom. Teachers are leaving this profession by the thousands every year and no one is replacing those teachers. Every state has a teacher shortage from kindergarten up to 12th grade. The teacher shortage is getting worse in every state every new school year. My honesty opinion about entering education is- DO NOT DO IT! You will take out thousands and thousands of dollars in student loans to earn your college degrees but your salary will be so low, you will not even earn a living wage so you will not be able to pay back your student loans. Really give the teaching profession a lot of thought before making a final decision. With the amount of work we’re required to do now, the many many extra hours we have to work every week without pay just to get everything we’re required to do done, not supported by our administrators or parents, and the fact that many students today could care less about going to school- burn out is common within 5 years. Over 80% of new teachers leave the profession all together before their 5th year of teaching. This static should show you what’s going on in today’s schools....
I also want to point out something John stated above about getting a masters degree. He’s absolutely 100% correct. Most districts in every state throughout the country do require teachers to earn their masters degree so you will want to find out if the state/district you’ve decided to teach in does require their teachers to earn their masters degree and how long does the district give their new teachers to accomplish that requirement. Once you have this answer, you can then let your college advisor know so together you can plot out how to accomplish that goal. Some colleges offer a combination Bachelors/Masters degrees program that allows students to complete both degrees in less time (usually a 5 year pathway). Ask your college advisor if it’s an option where you are going.
Finally, I wanted to tell you that I’m in my 19th year in the classroom (I’m a HS special education teacher and I primarily work with students who are deemed “at-risk” aka at risk of dropping out of HS). When I entered the education field back in the 2000-2001 school year, this field was VERY DIFFERENT! Teachers overall were respected by parents, school administrators, district personnel, and general most Americans. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case. Somehow between 2000 and 2019, Americans, including politicians, have decided that teachers are the reason for all of the problems in this country. Teachers are no longer respected, given the flexibility to make classroom/student/curriculum/etc decisions on our own, told we are expendable (meaning we can be done away with at any time because we bring nothing of value to classroom), and overall treated as if we’re children and not adults. The teaching profession itself has been downgraded in some states (like Florida where I live). The teaching profession used to be considered a “white collar” type of profession which means it’s the kind of job/career which requires the employee to earn a college degree or degrees in order to be hired to do the job, it requires the employee to use their brain and think through problems as well as solve those problems, and is generally considered “office work”. Blue collar jobs are generally more physical or require an employee to do some kind of physical labor such as electricians, plumbers, truck drivers, welders, beauticians, etc. The Governor of Florida back in 2011 downgraded the teaching profession from white collar to blue collar. This allows school districts in Florida to pay teachers much much less salary than they would pay teachers if the profession would have maintained their “white collar” status. Again, this is my 19th year as a special education HS teacher. I have an associates degree in Life Sciences/Biology, a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology, a Masters of Science in Education, and 27 additional graduate credits in Special Education. I’m certified to teach Special Education grades K-12 in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Florida. I’m also certified in General MS Science grades 5-9 in Pennsylvania and Florida. Finally, I am certified in Elementary Education grades K-6 in Florida. I work all year long (because of the type of school I work in) and I make $35,000 salary a year. I should be making a minimum of $60,000 a year with my college education, all the certifications I have earned, and my many years of teaching experience in the classroom. Teachers are leaving this profession by the thousands every year and no one is replacing those teachers. Every state has a teacher shortage from kindergarten up to 12th grade. The teacher shortage is getting worse in every state every new school year. My honesty opinion about entering education is- DO NOT DO IT! You will take out thousands and thousands of dollars in student loans to earn your college degrees but your salary will be so low, you will not even earn a living wage so you will not be able to pay back your student loans. Really give the teaching profession a lot of thought before making a final decision. With the amount of work we’re required to do now, the many many extra hours we have to work every week without pay just to get everything we’re required to do done, not supported by our administrators or parents, and the fact that many students today could care less about going to school- burn out is common within 5 years. Over 80% of new teachers leave the profession all together before their 5th year of teaching. This static should show you what’s going on in today’s schools....