Help! I have been in the mortgage industry for about 5 years now. I have worked full time and gone to school at night and am going to get my bachelors in the spring in business management. I have been thinking of double majoring in history (I would only have to take 7 more classes to fulfill those requirements) because I figured that that could open up a new avenue for me to teach. Do you need to have your bachelors in a specific area or does it need to be in education? Can I teach if I am working towards a masters? Please help!
AlmostMrsKelly
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Re: help! I want to become a teacher
i'm not a teacher so i know nothing for sure. i thought your bachelor's had to be in ed but i could be wrong. my friend is a teacher and she got hired as soon as she got her bachelor's degree... then she went to school part time and worked towards her masters.
kam0813
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Re: help! I want to become a teacher
you don't HAVE to have your bachelor's degree in education....you can try and become a NYC teach fellow...they can help you get into a classroom and do whatever is necessary to get your master's
ziamaria
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Re: help! I want to become a teacher
you can major in history and teach middle/high but u have to get your masters in ed. check into the fellowship programs. if i could go back i would have gotten my degree in non ed b/c some districts are so desperate they pay for you to get your ed cert...some of the classes would be helpful, but NOTHING prepares you fully for your first year!
lisa813
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Re: help! I want to become a teacher
Thanks... can you tell I am in one of those moods that I need to win the lotto??? lol.
Goldi1021
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Re: help! I want to become a teacher
Your undergrad degree does NOT need to be in education.
My undergraduate degree is in Television, Radio and Film Production. My Masters program was in Special Education that was a dual certificate program (elementary education and special education). I did ALL of my education credits on the graduate level and as a result, my masters was over 50 credits as opposed to around 30. HOWEVER, I had many undergraduate credits from the liberal arts core that NY State accepted to fulfill state requirements for certification (Science, Social Sciences, English, Foreign Language etc.) I never took math as an undergrad, so while I did my masters at Hofstra, I went across the street to Nassau Community College and took 6 credits of math that the state would accept because it was significantly less expensive.
lisa813
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Re: help! I want to become a teacher
Don't laugh but what is a teacher fellowship?
ziamaria
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Re: help! I want to become a teacher
i think u can check out teachny dot com to see more info about it but from what i understand, you apply, submit an essay and have to qualify for the program. they set you up at a school and you work/go to school while they pay you salary and your classes.
AMGBride2008
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Re: help! I want to become a teacher
I have a friend who was a music industry major and minored in history and he took the NYS teachers cert. test 'just to see' . Well he passed and now he's a teacher and going to get his maters at night.
Nikki24591
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Re: help! I want to become a teacher
Teaching Fellows is a program in NYC that helps pay for your masters if you teach in a 'Hi-Need' school. Usually they place you in a school that has low test and graduation rates. I personally did not do this program. My bachelor's is in english and my master's is in Education. However I teach in a SURR school in NYC and we have several fellows who seem to like the program. Go to their website and you will find more information; or teachNYC.org has information too.
kgs11
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Re: help! I want to become a teacher
if your bachelors is not in ed it will be very difficult for you to get a teaching job right away without having your teaching license.
if you want to start teaching right away:
the only options i can see are subbing while getting your masters in ed or applying for 'teach for america' or the 'new york city teaching fellows' both of which will pay for your masters in ed, as long as you sign a three year commitment letter with them.
the only down side for the fellowship is that you are usually placed in high need areas (think bilingual special education) in high need schools (think east new york). sometimes you get lucky and wind up in a decent area.
hope this info helped! we need more good teachers! good luck!
tropicalbride07
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Re: help! I want to become a teacher
my undergrad was not in education, but in a closely related field. I went back for my masters in Phys ed and I get my teaching certificate was well.
weddingbunny
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Re: help! I want to become a teacher
Posted by kgs11
if your bachelors is not in ed it will be very difficult for you to get a teaching job right away without having your teaching license.
well, technically you can't legally teach in a public school without a teaching license, period. Unless you're only going to apply for private school jobs or a program like Teach for America, etc, you have to be licensed.
My BA is in English. My MA will be in English. I have no degree in Education. I did a certification program in Education as an undergrad and did my student teaching, etc, through that, but it wasn't a major, so therefore not a degree program. I am currently a week into my first year of teaching.
So, no, it's not about what specific degree you have. It's just about making sure you have a program that in some way gets you certified and gives you the credentials and experience that you'll need to teach. And then just expect to have to sub or do a leave replacement for a while, or teach in a high needs school... teaching is a tough field to get started in, and you have to be willing to take what you can get.
ejm1219
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Re: help! I want to become a teacher
If you want to be a social studies teacher - you have to have social studies credits and education credits. But in my opinion - it is very difficult to get a ss teacher job on LI!
