Temporary_User

Alright, well after High school I took a year off to work and see what life brings me.
I realized that work sucks and theres no getting out of that.
So I decided to get my ass in school again so I can atleast make some more money working.
A teacher or professor seems like the ideal job for me. (summer/spring break)
Is there any teachers on the board here? I remember in high school it seemed like they all hated their job and wished they did something else. Is this normal and everyone goes through it or does teaching really suck that bad?
How about professors? are there anyone on here what's it like and how do you become one? Is it just more schooling?
So I start school here in Sept. (basic classes for now) but that is what Im thinking im going to major in.
any tips or maybe other ideas?

la petite moi

I'm not a teacher, but I think in order to be one you have to really like kids- and as my French teacher told me, you MUST have patience. If you don't think you could do that, I would say go for the extra schooling and become a professor. When you teach university or college, people are there because they want to be, usually.

As for becoming a teacher, you have to get a bachelor's degree, and then student teach for a year, I think (which is unpaid work, usually). Then you can start teaching on your own, if you are seen fit to teach by some teaching guru.

yakimushi

To become a teacher (in Ohio) you need a 4 year Bachelors in education. In getting the degree you are set up to take all of the state certification tests, or Praxis tests. If I remember correctly, there are three levels. Depending on your specialization (early childhood, middle childhood, secondary) you will take different Praxis exams.

You also have to student teach for a semester under a mentoring teacher and a supervising educator. It may be longer (a year) in some states.

My gf just did all this in the past year and will be teaching 7th grade life science in August. To be a substitute teacher (in Ohio) you need to have a Bachelors degree in anything.

I also understand that some schools will accept people with a Masters degree as long as they can pass the Praxis exams. But again, it all depends on the state.

For teaching college it takes a Masters degree (at least) and lots and lots of ass kissing and or publishing. If you don't give the school a reason to keep you they won't. There are lots of folks that want the cushy life of a professor.

Well, thats my take on it. I'm sure more informed people can add quite a bit to what I've had to say.

la petite moi

I wouldn't say a prof has a 'cushy' life. The prof I have now in English works at two schools- a community college and a university. She says she wants to move, but she doesn't make enough money. That doesn't sound too cushy to me. However, I agree that it takes a LOT of time and 'ass kissing' to become a professor.

wilbjammin

There are several kinds of degrees you can get to become a teacher... if you want to teach high school or middle school you'd need a bachelor's in education or about a year's worth of graduate level classes.

I just finished student-teaching and I loved it and hated it. I found that I loved the kids in both middle school and high school, and I really have a passion for what I teach. The difficulty comes in getting through everything as fast as you need to, having to pay extra attention to NCLB and state standards, grading papers, spending extra time in meetings, dealing with parents and special needs students, and the most difficult thing of all for me is knowing each day that I could have done a better job than I had done. If you want to do something that is very challenging and time consuming, then become a teacher. Don't become a teacher if you think it is easy, because it isn't.

If you are just finishing high school, I'd suggest that you take a variety of courses and see what kinds of classes you like the most. Then, either major in something that you really like and go an extra year to get your master's or certificate, or find a school that has an undergraduate degree.

Personally, I found the most fulfilling classes I took to not be education classes, but my other undergraduate classes. I can't imagine trying to be a high school teacher without having a liberal arts undergraduate degree that allowed me to get the content knowledge that will give me much more to draw upon in my teaching.

The first 2 years of your undergraduate degree don't have to be focused on any major for you to get through just fine with any degree. I changed my major after a year, and I graduated on time. My best advice is to just try some things out before you decide on anything.

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Derwood

To be a college professor you almost have to have a terminal degree. My best friend has a PhD and is still being rejected by most schools he applies to teach. It's a very competitive job market. I am currently applying for professor jobs and I'm lucky to even get an acknowledgment that I sent in the application materials much less an interview.

Most university departments will also require you to do research or have essays or the like published on a regular basis. This means a lot of work outside of just teaching.

Once you get a tenure track position, however, things are much better. Once you get tenure, you're totally set. It's just getting the job that's hard.

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Yakk

Professors are researchers. The teaching part is "on the side", less important to their career advancement.

It does take work (or sometimes luck) to make money. Easy money gets snapped up by people really quickly until it goes away.

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Last edited by JHVH : 10-29-4004 BC at 09:00 PM. Reason: Time for a rest.

maleficent

I taught, on a volunteer basis, in NYC for a few years, at an alternative evening high school, and like the Army, it was the toughest job I'd ever love. It was hard. Volunteering got me around the pesky need for a Masters Degree (some states require it, a Bachelor's isn't enough for public schools - -private schools are less choosey)

It's hard work, but if you love it, it's worth it. In my assignment I had 7 students in the evenings I worked (3 nights, 2 hours a night) Not exactly a full time job, but it's a rush to see them get interested in something. One of the kids, I still remain in contact with, and is graduating from college next year (not bad for a total screw up, who got tossed out of no less than 4 NYC public schools)

You won't get rich financially teaching, but you get rewarded in other ways.

My mother was a teacher on all levels, and when she retired 15 years ago, she was a professor on a University level. There were days that she'd get frustrated, not with the kids, but with Administration, your hands get tied a lot, and unless you're a drone, and jsut do what you are told, it can get annoying and you want to move on. She much preferred middle school to the little kids or the high school kids.

If there's a subject that you get excited about (Math was mine) then teach - because your excitement is worth everything, the students pick up -- you will have one or two students that make the drudgery worthwhile.

If I had the motivation to go back to school and pursue my Masters, I'd love to teach fulltime. (just would have to figure out how to support myself)

Summer breaks? Most teachers will have part time jobs lined up for that because it's tough to live on that salary, your bills don't stop for the summer when you aren't working. It's also not a 9 - 3 day, teachers work late grading papers, planning lessons, improving their own education, it's a lot more than what you see in the classroom.

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lurkette

I taught undergrads while I was getting my MA, and I really enjoyed it.

If you're going to teach elementary/high school, you need to be prepared for a good deal of frustration, so you'd really better love those kids, want to make a difference, and love what you're teaching.

Being a professor, as others have said, is primarily about being a researcher and secondarily about teaching, although if you go to a smaller, liberal arts college the teaching takes center stage more. You still have to publish and show that you're involved in advancing the field.

Here's what I would do if I were you:
1. Look for a field you really like. Being passionate about the subject matter is the most important thing whatever you're going to do.
2. Start taking some education courses now so you'll be prepared. You'll probably want to do a subject major (English, math, Physics, Art, whatever) in combination with an Education major.
3. Down the road, if you decide that teaching is not for you, you can always drop the education courses and just carry on with your subject major.

You might want to go interview some teachers and professors - pick your favorite teachers from elementary/high school and professors you relate to in your field in college - and find out how they got where they are, what they like/don't like about their jobs.

I think being a teacher is very worthwhile, and can be a great career if you know what you're getting into. Good luck to you!

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Cycler

It is always a challenge and never routine by any stretch of the imgination. Wether it is parents, kids, or the all knowing administration something or someone is always going nuts.<p>That being said I soent my first year in a special needs classroom I taught Elem. thru HS. Thst was frustrating and extremely rewarding on a minute by minute basis. I figured out that teaching wasn't for me and applied for the counsleing job at the Elem. I guess that has been a fit since I just finished my third year there. The younger kids are alot easier to reach than the older, middle school, or HS kids. Not so bitter and screwed up by their parents. Help them while they still can be helped.<p>My Degrees are a BA in Psychology and a Master in Counseling and Student Personne. 7 years.

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Paq

not sure where you are, but in SC, there are a few things that you can do to become a teacher.

easiest is BA-education degree, 4 yrs including student teaching, take your praxis, pass all the exams, and you're pretty much guaranteed a job bc of the teacher shortage. This one also pays teh least when you first start.

next up BA-education plus 15 hrs of grad work. same as before plus an extra year of grad work. Pay jumps considerably.

Next up BA in anything, then an MA in education. this one is great bc you can get a strong liberal arts undergrad, then focus on education. or you can get a strong whatever undergrad and focus on education. generally, this one si 6 yrs, 4 for BA, 2 for MA. This one can be modified so you can teach at a tech school. Just get the MA in another field, history, physics, whatever, and you can generally teach in a technical/community college. If you get the MA in art, you can generally teach in a 4 yr college if you're just great.

next is ph.d which is supposed to get you into academia, but currently, there are more ph.d's than there are professors. Dont' count on getting a tenure track college position, most schools are in a hiring freeze unless they really need someone to replace someone else. It's almost horrendous at how difficult it is to get a job.


and the last survey i saw showed that teachers work an average of 65 hrs/week, so don't think it's too easy Most do get a summer break if they dont' opt to teach summer school, but even then, you have to get thigns in order for the next semester. it's not the life of hte perpetual procrastinator

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Rodney

Just finished student-teaching in a five-quarter program in California that gives you a master's degree in education and a teaching credential simultaneously. Rough? You got no idea.

Anyway, as folks have said in most places you must have a four-year degree, then take a (usually) one-year teaching credential program that includes both classes and student teaching. And between the bachelor's and the credential program you have to take and pass one or more tests that prove your knowledge in the subject area you wish to teach in.

I'm going into teaching with a lot of life experience under my belt, and even so I must say that it will be a challenge. I've had some really great days in the classroom, where the kids are excited and learning and everything's ticking along, and some days that were stone bummers. I've seen teachers who are keeping the joy alive 30 years in, and I've seen others burning out before my eyes.

It's a damn hard job. Why do it? Because it's real. It's realer than anything except maybe an operating room. It's a damn sight realer that sitting in a cube massaging numbers or making a marketing plan for another server the world doesn't need, or QAing a hairy piece of logistics software. You see kids come into the classroom and you see them go out at the end of the year, and some of them are doing a hell of a lot better than they were, as people as well as as students, and you know it's because of _you._ I had a mother give me a wallet for helping her daughter get past some behavioral problems and buckle down to work. Best present I ever had.

As for getting summers off, it depends on the cost of living where you are, and how much they pay teachers. It isn't a high pay job. Where I live, the cost of housing is quite high, and a great many teachers teach summer school or other summer programs, or teach in after school programs as well as their regular classes to get by. So a lot of teachers, especially those with families to support, don't get all that much time off.

Aladdin Sane

I taught history for 13 years to high school students. Most of that was spent in schools with all the well-known characteristics of inner-city schools.
It was mostly a nightmare. Low pay, little respect, long hours, unreasonable demands from parents and administrators. Shootings and stabings. Fights. Threats. Lots of stress. It takes a very unique kind of person to be a successful teacher.

I am still in the education field (publishing) but now I love my job. And the truth is I would have never gotten my present job without the 13 years experience as a teacher.

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