Teachers

What do you need to do to become a teacher? I know you need to get your masters in education, but is it just general education in the specific subject you would be teaching (like english education)? If you want to teach english, do you need to have gotten your bachelors in english or in anything? Anything else I need to know? This is for fh btw. Thanks so much ladies!

Hi!

The requirements depend on whether you have a BA in Education already, or if you majored in a different subject area, your Masters should be in Education.

It also depends on whether you want to teach:
• early childhood and early elementary (pre-k-2)
• elementary ed (k-5 or k-6)
• secondary ed (7-12)

The NYC Dept of Ed has a website with this info..... check out the 'Teach NY' section. NYC Dept of Ed -- Teach NY

You can also check out the NYS Certification requirements here:
TEACH ONLINE SERVICES

The NYS Teacher Preparation Programs -- different colleges offer different teaching tracks:
NYS Teacher Preparation Programs

Usually you'll take classes in a subject area that you want to teach, plus overall education classes too. If you have a BA in English, you'll probably take Masters classes in Education, plus any classes in English that coincide with what you'll be teaching.

I went a different route than most teachers I know, b/c I hadn't planned to be a teacher. I had a BA in Psych, so I HAD to take my MSEd in Elementary Education, no choice in subject area, because I did not have any ed classes as an undergrad. I LOVE books, so I did a specialization in Children's Literature. Queens College had different 'tracks' depending on what area of interest you had.

If you're totally into Math or Science, know that you'll be 'wanted' by the Dept of Ed..... there's always a shortage of Math and Science teachers, so they're always looking for applicants!!

Then there are written teaching exams you must take (a few in a certain order) to fulfill NY State certification requirements. There's the LAST, ATS-W, and Content Specialty tests. All of these tests require pre-registration and fees (usually over $100 each). The State no longer requires applicants to make a video (I'm under the old requirements, so I had to do this in June). But now, to replace the video, applicants have to fulfill a certain amount of Professional Developement hours every certain amount of years to keep their licenses.

Then there's the whole fingerprinting part of the deal too. I forget which dept does that though.

HTH!

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Posted by soontoobemrsk

He has a bunch of classes in english but not the right make-up of classes to get a minor in english. But this would be satisfactory and then get a masters in english?

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I'd say to check with the college where he got his degree, because the education dept there may require him to have a particular concentration of classes. The Masters would have to be in Education, if he does not have a BA in Education.

He doesn't have to have a BA in English, but he does have to have the 30 or 36 English credits like other people have posted and a Masters in Education. In addition to taking classes, he can also test out of some of the credits he needs.

Go to the website for where he is looking to teach. The process is different for NYC vs LI. There are also programs for people who are interested in making a career change. I did the NYC Teaching Fellows program last year. The program has its positives and negatives, but it is definitely one of the best out there for career changers. You do have to ocmmit to workin for at least 2 years in NYC or you'll have to pay back you education (they pay for the majority of your masters). There's also a program called Teach For America.

Good luck. FM me if you need more info or have other questions.

you have to have a min. of i think 30 credits in your area of specialization (english, social studies, etc.) and there are some requirements for basic courses within those areas. then you also have to have the degree in education with student teaching. when people do this undergrad, they actually complete a dual major--one in ed and the other in the subject area.

teaching is a tough market these days. the areas with the best job prospects are ESL, world language, and special ed.

Empire College has a great masters in education program the first year is online courses so you keep your job.
Check out the old westbury campus... very similar to teaching fellows but for long island

If he has a Bachelor's in anything besides education he should apply for the NYC Teaching Fellows. They always need prospective English teachers.
I was a Math NYC teaching fellow. My Bachelor's was in business and then I wanted to become a teacher. So the fellows made it possible for me to become a math teacher.

You begin teaching on a full teachers salary after about 6-8 weeks of training. You earn your masters while teaching on a full salary.

It is honestly the best approach to becoming a teacher if it wasn't your first choice. The NYC schools are not AS bad as people make it out to be.

Check out their website http://www.nycteachingfellows.org/ or FM me if you have more questions.