To have a school teacher career, some of the unofficial qualifications are that you should love kids since you will be spending your whole day with them. Some of the activities you will do as a school teacher is have parent-teacher conferences, prepare lesson plans and carry out grading for exams and homework. Your career as a school teacher can grow in a number of different directions. You can rise up to hold management positions in a school.
How to become a school teacher
Begin by doing volunteer jobs with children and make sure that you have documentary evidence to support this.
Enroll for a bachelor of education course in a University or College. Specialize in the area you want to teach, whether it is elementary educationor high school education. For high school education, choose two subject areas you want to specialize in. Then you need to do an accredited teacher education program. Most states require that you at least have a master’s degree. Then you will need to pass a state test or PRAXIS test to become a licensed teacher. The PRAXIS exam, tests basic Mathematics, English and writing skills.
Types, description, information
There are two types of school teachers: Elementary and high school.
Become an elementary school teacher if you like dealing with kids, have a lot of patience and stamina. This will require that in college or postgraduate program, you major in elementary education.
Become a high school teacher if you like working with young adults and help shape their lives.
Qualifications: Courses, Training, Certification
As a prerequisite, some colleges will demand that you should have done at least a minimum of 80 hours volunteer service with children before you can be admitted to a degree program. This is to help you understand kids and the classroom experience better. If you have not done this individually, some colleges offer a student teaching time period before you commence your degree course.
It will take you at least 4 years to complete an education program. There are also provisional and emergency teaching credentials for those who are working in areas that have a shortage of teachers. Employment based teacher training enables colleges to train one as they are still employed as teachers.
To do a postgraduate course, it is a prerequisite to have a GPA of 3.0 and above and have passed the PRAXIS test.
Schools and Colleges That offer Bachelor of Education
Queens University
Nippsing University
York University
University of British Columbia
Ashford University-Offers an online certification course
Job Opportunities, Salaries and Recruitment
You can make as much as $20,000 on a job depending on factors such as where the district you are teaching in is located and how badly they need teachers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that the average salary for school teachers, whether they are teaching in elementary, middle school or high school is $49,000. The highly paid school teachers earn $76,000 upwards. The 12 week teacher vacations are usually paid for. You can earn more money by doing extra classes over the summer vacation.