I'm a graduate student and I'm in a crisis. I'm really not liking my program and right now I'm wishing I would have listened to my gut and had done by BS in Education.
I have a question for all teachers: Can you teach say early elementary ed. (or any teaching in general) with a BA in something other than education and have a Masters not in Education?
Please help me out. I'm 22 and trying to figure out what to do with my life and not wanting to make the wrong decision and waste a lot of money!
Thank you so much in advance ladies. Any advice you could give me I would really appreciate!
Nicole
donegal419
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Re: NWR: Calling All Teachers!! Help!
you can teach pre-school with a non-related degree, but the pay is terrible. private schools can hire you with other degrees. but you will not get hired by a public school district with no education course work and a NY state teaching certificate. . . which are usually gained through a Bachelor's or Masters in Education.
go to nysed.gov/tcert
here are the requirements for teaching...perhaps you can just take a certain amount of courses, to get the certificate?
also go to the teachers board on LI Families...there are a lot of us on there.
snowcat
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Re: NWR: Calling All Teachers!! Help!
at least one of your degrees needs to be in Education...there is a program w/ the city that allows you to teach and get your masters in edu. at the same time- I think its NY fellowship for teachers or teachamerica, or something like that- a friend of mine did that and got certified in one year, while working.
betani
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Re: NWR: Calling All Teachers!! Help!
you can, but you kinda have to take the back door and there are a few options for that.
#1 - teach in a private school - the bad thing is that they don't pay as well as public schools, the benefits aren't that good, and it takes MANY years of teaching there to cover your student teaching hours if you ever want to teach in public schools.
#2 - an alternative certification program. the main ones to look into are teach for america and the nyc teaching fellows (nyctf.org - this is the one i'm doing). you apply, interview, and if you're accepted get certified over the summer and begin teaching in september (or january if you're doing the midyear program). you have to work in a nyc school for two years and while you're there they pay for a masters in education. after your two years you can teach wherever and add on certifications in different subjects/grades if you have the credits for it.
#3 - complete your education credits. this USUALLY takes about a year. either send your transcripts to the state department of education or go to your local boces (the faster route) and have them looked at. they'll then get back to you with what classes you need to take in order to become certified. you'll have to take those classes and do your student teaching hours, then you can apply for certification and teach.
hth a bit! if you have any questions on nyctf or anything else, let me know!
weddingbunny
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Re: NWR: Calling All Teachers!! Help!
I don't have either degree in education, but I did my certification through a 'program' during undergrad that was basically the equivalent of a minor, plus student teaching. You might be able to find something like that.
Otherwise, yeah, you're left with private schools, although some of those do look for teaching degrees and certs.
November 08 Bride
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Re: NWR: Calling All Teachers!! Help!
You should apply for New York teaching Fellows. Thats what I did. I have a BS in English and I applied and got accepted. I worked in a school while they subsidized my masters program in education. If you dont get accepted you can always go for masters in education through Touro college or college of St. Rose for pretty cheap. You could also be a substitute teacher with just a bachelors in any area. If you need more info you can fm me.
jaep129
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Re: NWR: Calling All Teachers!! Help!
One you are getting married on my birthday!!! Second, I am secondary certified but I think prob only daycare and preschool. To teach k-12 you need to have a degree in Ed either a BA or MA (if your BA is in Ed then you still have to have a MA that can be in anything.) Good luck!!!
Munchkn16
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Re: NWR: Calling All Teachers!! Help!
You can teach w/o a master's in education, but in that case you'd have to have your bachelors in teaching and pass all the certification exams.
jaep129
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Re: NWR: Calling All Teachers!! Help!
Really in all of my education classes and at the school I work at I have always been told eventually you will have to get a masters. Wow. I wish I knew that! Thanks for the info.
sophisticat13
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Re: NWR: Calling All Teachers!! Help!
Posted by snowcat
at least one of your degrees needs to be in Education...there is a program w/ the city that allows you to teach and get your masters in edu. at the same time- I think its NY fellowship for teachers or teachamerica, or something like that- a friend of mine did that and got certified in one year, while working.
Ditto...I used to teach in the city and there were a lot of teachers that had their BA or BS in something other than teaching, but were getting their master's in education.
(Totally NR: I like the name 'snowcat'- it's cute:)!!!LOL)
sophisticat13
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Re: NWR: Calling All Teachers!! Help!
Posted by jaep129
Really in all of my education classes and at the school I work at I have always been told eventually you will have to get a masters. Wow. I wish I knew that! Thanks for the info.
To teach in NY in the public schools it is the law that eventually you will have to get a master's degree... I am not sure of the timeline anymore, sorry...when I was going for my master's we had up to 10 years after we secured a position to finish it.
SummerBride10
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Re: NWR: Calling All Teachers!! Help!
Once you have your initial certification, you have 3 years to get your professional certification.
Not sure if its an option (and the pay is terrible) but maybe you might want to T.A?
justustwo48
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Re: NWR: Calling All Teachers!! Thanks for the help!
Thank you so much ladies for all of your help and information!! Sorry I haven't responded back sooner but I got busy with work and class.
I think I'm going to stop the Master's program I'm in now at the end of this year and either 1). find a MA program in Education that had rolling admission or 2). work for a year while subbing to get in a classroom while working on my admissions stuff to start a program in Fall '09 (and hopefully do this in Georgia so I can live with FH and get familiar with the districts there!)
Thank you again ladies! I think I have finally found what I am passionate about and I am so excited to work on becoming a teacher!!
betani
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Re: NWR: Calling All Teachers!! Thanks for the help!
Posted by justustwo48
Thank you so much ladies for all of your help and information!! Sorry I haven't responded back sooner but I got busy with work and class.
I think I'm going to stop the Master's program I'm in now at the end of this year and either 1). find a MA program in Education that had rolling admission or 2). work for a year while subbing to get in a classroom while working on my admissions stuff to start a program in Fall '09 (and hopefully do this in Georgia so I can live with FH and get familiar with the districts there!)
Thank you again ladies! I think I have finally found what I am passionate about and I am so excited to work on becoming a teacher!!
if you're moving to georgia you might want to look into programs down there. i know a lot of states have teaching fellow programs similar to the nyc one as well as big incentives for nys certified teachers to work in their schools. just something to think about.
