Poll of the Day > For those of you lot who are in the profession of teaching, what students do you

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teach? Did you need a teaching degree in order to qualify for teaching these students? Did you need any other sort of teaching certification?

I must have these answers.
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I did teach in CA, and yes I needed both a degree and to go through a year long program, I had to pass the CSETS, the RICA and a buncha other tests as well. In addition you have to have 200 hours of observation (watching other teachers teach) and go through a 3-6 month program where you teach a class and are observed by the original teacher.

I initially taught 4th grade, then for my student teaching (The part that is observed) I taught 1st and 3rd, and then taught 3rd directly after that. I planned on teaching secondary math and computer science but never got around to it before my wife got sick and we moved to washington as soon as she was well.

I have not bothered to get my credentials here, I dont' think I will be teaching again.

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I teach high school math, physics, and general science.

Yes, I needed two university degrees. One bachelor's degree in my teaching area (I have a B.Sc with a major in mathematics), and a bachelor of education (I majored in mathematics education) as well.

In my province, you are certified when you meet the above standards, have at least the minimum amount of classroom internship experience (I think minimum is 12 weeks, my university gave us nearly 28 weeks), and have a letter of recommendation from an accredited post secondary institution.

The job is highly rewarding but a ton of work. Average work week is about 55 hours of work for me. Weeks around report card time are usually 70+ hours.

And then you still get ignorant people bitching about how you make a gross income of $75k per year.

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faramir77 posted...

I teach high school math, physics, and general science.

Yes, I needed two university degrees. One bachelor's degree in my teaching area (I have a B.Sc with a major in mathematics), and a bachelor of education (I majored in mathematics education) as well.

In my province, you are certified when you meet the above standards, have at least the minimum amount of classroom internship experience (I think minimum is 12 weeks, my university gave us nearly 28 weeks), and have a letter of recommendation from an accredited post secondary institution.

The job is highly rewarding but a ton of work. Average work week is about 55 hours of work for me. Weeks around report card time are usually 70+ hours.

And then you still get ignorant people bitching about how you make a gross income of $75k per year.

Geez, In gilroy where I taught until 4 years ago or so, starting wages were $30,000 a year, and no raise for the first 5 years. 75k woulda been a dream!!

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I taught art and a technology class called EAST in the public school system but I also taught university art classes at night. In the summer I taught at the local arts center that didn't require a degree but I am sure it and my experience helped.

I have a bachelors of science in education, a bachelors and a masters of fine art. To teach EAST ( and I loved this program), I had to get a certification to teach it. Besides all of that we had to get various certifications for various things as the state required plus 60 hours of, (mostly useless), training a year on our own time.


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College undergrads, just bachelor's degree at the time

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wolfy42 posted...

starting wages were $30,000 a year,

That's under minimum wage in Alberta.

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I feel like a bunch of the requirements for teaching will depend on your state. I would recommend getting in touch with people associated with the school of education at your university.

I was gonna go into teaching high school math. I didnt need a teaching degree to get into teaching, but I did have to take a bunch of subject exams, observation/fieldwork hours (600 hours), and then theres an assessment called edTPA. I decided not to go into it because it felt very draining when I did student teaching (taking over one experienced teachers class). I do enjoy tutoring though.

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