Teaching Requirements

To Teach or Not To Teach

By Michaela Higgins

         No matter where you start out in life, in order to reach where you want to go there is always one thing, a teacher. Teachers are there to help guide and teach you all-important things needed to be successful in whatever may be ahead in your future. Yes, we all know that many people who want to be teachers are told about how the jobs availability is low and that the money “isn’t there”, but it shouldn’t be about the money should it? It should be about the want to in all sorts becoming that person for people to rely on. You have learned to how to help and provide for them includes an education provided by teachers and professors you have learned from and long hours of training to strengthen your credibility and skills and want nothing more than the satisfaction of seeing someone else improve with the knowledge you have learned and want to pass down.

    When it comes to teaching there are many different areas of education to choose from when it comes to becoming a teacher. It can be early education, primary education, and secondary education. In my case it would be secondary education. Secondary education is the final three to four years of formal education, or otherwise known as high school. A basic high school teacher has very similar requirement to many other teaching jobs. Depending on which level of teaching you choose to take on, it will require you to have a bachelors or masters degree. For high school teachers specifically it may only require you to obtain a bachelor’s degree rather than masters. In the Secondary Education program, you will major in the subject you intend to teach. You will earn either a Bachelor of Arts, which consists of English, Math, History and Social Science majors. Or you can earn a Bachelor of Science degree from your college, which consists of Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Mathematics and Physics depending on your major. The Secondary Education program combines education courses from the College of Education with subject-area courses offered by your major. Teaching offers you to be able to teach in different subjects and based on those subjects there are requirements given to complete when obtaining a degree.

     While working toward this degree in your four years of college you will learn You will learn educational theories and effective teaching practices, participate in field experiences, which require you to observe and participate in teaching activities at multiple schools, and will be given the chance to student teach as part of your requirements. Student teaching is considered you training when completing and education program at a college. It offers you the chance to prove the skills you have learned over the past years in preparation. You will be given the chance to plan lesson plans and then take those lesson plans and get in front of an actual classroom and show your skills in interacting with actual students. The great thing about student teaching is that you are usually accompanied by an actual certified teacher, so if at any moment you find yourself needing advice or input for improvement they can help you and challenge you to develop the abilities you’ll need to obtain in a classroom.

      Becoming a teacher can seem like a long road at some points. After obtaining your degree from your four-year college, you’ll then need to become certified. Your state will provide a test based on the subject you would want to teach. Your state will require a minimum score to earn a pass. This gives you the opportunity for you to take what you’ve learned and how strong you are in the subject you want to teach.  Once you’ve obtained certification you’ll be a fully certified educator. Once you have that certification you have to start off somewhere. This is always the toughest part, job hunting. In today’s society, finding a teaching job is very slow and the amount of jobs actually available is low. People may find this to be discouraging, but don’t let it! You’ve worked so hard for that moment, so when that moment arrives, be prepared and put yourself out there. In this job hunt there are many steps you want to follow. The first step is to have a portfolio with all your information and experience together. The more organized and impressing you are to future employers the more they will see your eagerness. The next step is to stay productive. Don’t waste your time sitting by the phone, try substitute teaching to gain more in class experience with actual students and to keep you busy while waiting for a more permanent position.

       Overall once you’ve achieved that permanent position as a teacher you will have worked hard for that full time paying job that gives you the chance to do what you love while working with students for 10 full months a year of varying hours and breaks along the  and long nights spent putting together lesson plans and then when its all over you can spend your three month summer relaxing before it all starts up again.

Works Cited : 
Chavez, Tara N. "Secondary Education." Depaul University; Majors. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.
"High School Teachers: Occupational Outlook." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, n.d. Web. 1   May 2014.

                                                                                                                                                                                                         

                                                         

                                                                             Finally Getting There

 After many long years in high school and college spent studying for various tests and long hours of training to be teacher, she was finally there. Twenty seven year old Cristina sat on her on a late August night; she was sitting looking over her lesson plans she had put together for her first day of teaching. While planning she sat anxiously and nervous for her new job. As a student in past years, she always wanted to be a teacher. To her it didn’t matter that they didn’t make as much money as some other jobs or that the availability for jobs was sparse. She cared more to help the students that were put in front of her everyday. When she decided she wanted to be a teacher, she wanted to work with specifically high school students. She wanted secondary education because these kids had the world and their future right at their feet in front of them in just a few short years. She knew what it was like to graduate high school and know what she wanted to do thanks to the teachers that guided her. She wanted that job to guide them into the world. She wanted to make sure they have the opportunity to obtain goals in their future. Her hours were doable and normal with a couple of exceptions. She starts her day at six in the morning and goes until schools over with a small lunch break to split up the day. Some days may end at the end of the school day while others she would sometimes stay after school for student help or parent/teacher meetings. She would also sometimes stay after school to make lesson plans and grade papers so she would have to drag a ton home.  Some nights she would get stressed with the amount of work she had to do or knowing how much she had to grade, but would always reward herself. That reward was the thought that after 10 long months of school with limited break time with the fact that she would have 3 months of summer break to sit back and relax. After her break she would have a whole new year with fresh faces in her future.