From SAHM to Teacher Help

I have been a certified teacher since 2005 and I am still subbing part time since I can't find a job. I have a middle and high school endorsement in English AND Social Studies as well as being highly qualified in most middle school subjects. I recommend thinking long and hard and looking into the job market before going into education. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you should be fully informed before you go for a new career.

My friend did this. She had her English bachelors degree for about 10 years, became a stay at home mom, then divorced. She contacted a local school and took the teacher certification courses, it was pretty fast, she got a job at an elementary school. So, contact local schools about their programs and what you need to do.

Here are the basic requirements and everything you need to know about becoming a teacher in Texas:

http://www.sbec.state.tx.us/sbeconline/certinfo/becometea...

Around here everyone wants to be a teacher so even the ones that have specialties are having trouble getting jobs. If I were you I would look into what is out there employment wise before you invest your time in anything.

In Texas you'll either have to go back to school to take classes for your certification, or you'll have to go through an alternative certification program. If you look on your area's education region center (if you don't know what region you're in, you can look on the TEA website to see), they should have a list of state approved alternative certification programs and links to their websites. Since you already have your degree, alternative certification is typically the easier and quicker option. However, teaching jobs are few and far between right now (hence my status as a SAHM for the past couple years), so you need to have a back-up plan for work if you can't find a job teaching. Good luck!

I would talk to someone at a college/university near you. I believe most colleges and universities offer online classes. You might have to take some of your classes on site, but you should be able to do some online. If you do want to teach, I would think the education classes would be best on campus anyway.

It's usually best to talk to someone in person, and if you meet with someone near you, they will be able to talk to you about the specifics of certification in your state.

Good luck!

You're talking about teaching like elementary school or something, right? (not being a professor like pp was talking about).

You can definitely do an online program, just make sure it's specifically for your state so that you don't have any extra hoops to jump through at the end.

Best of both worlds, see if your local (or not local) university's college of continuing education offers online courses for credentialing... you'll get the more standard school's name on your transcript, but you'll be able to do it in a way that works for you.

Good luck.

I would start with subbing. That gets you into the school system and gets you known by the people who will be hiring. They can also point you in the right direction for where to get your certificate.

If you want to be hired by a school system to teach school of any age you must first obtain a teaching degree from an actual University. You will have to check with the College of Education at the University you choose and they can tell you what classes you'll need to complete to obtain the teaching credentials. The best you can hope for without the proper education is to perhaps be a teachers aid, they move around a bit and usually manage the problem kids in the classroom so the teacher can do the actual teaching.

Since you already have a bachelors degree, if it is at all related to the education field, you would only have to do a limited list of classes plus the student teaching requirements.

If you'd like to teach in a higher education forum such as a Jr. Colloge you may not have to have an actual teaching degree. A fully tenured teacher in this situation need only have a Masters degree in the area they are interested in teaching.

In any case I would seek information from the different Universities and Colleges nearby to find out what your state might require. My FIL got his degree in Special Ed after retiring from the Navy. His degree for his Masters was in a different area so he was never able to teach the area of his interest. He substituted a few times and it was not the career he wanted so he stopped accepting calls from them.

Little late but I had a degree, went back while living in SA to UTSA, got my Baccuelareate in Education. If you are from a small town, the availability of teaching may be easier-start subbing at the school to be right there, get your foot in the door. If they know you, better chance of being hired. But it took me 2 yrs at 6 hrs per semester to finish. Also, do you have the funds to pay tuition? Start checking into financial aide!!
Many schools are lacking math/science teachers if you can handle that. But remember, teaching is not what it once was-you are responsible for so much more-another reason to start subbing!!
Teaching would be a good fit with your children's ages-possibly work in a school they attend!

Sam Houston and Lonestar do alternative cert programs for people with a bachelors. The Sam one you can do online, and do a years paid training, with a salary of $38000. Not too bad, you can do the online cert in 6 weeks, then your years training. the lonestar one is 2 years all told.
Check out the website, I looked into it last year.

Time to head back to school!

May be different in Tx... but most schools I know of (here and east coast) require an MA or MS at the least to teach. Most require doctorates. No certifications needed, just grueling competition amongst other grad students and prospective professors. Even for "just" associate professorships, and if we're talking tenure track... that's cutthroat. Tenure track positions are starting to become unicorns.

Part of a Grad Student's aid package or degree requirements, though, almost always includes TA'ing (aka teaching). You get paid for it, just not very well.

In order to be a competitive candidate for a professor job, one needs the connections and the resume of having taught during their graduate work in every school I know of EXCEPT for in certain "guest lecturer" positions... but those tend to be rarely bestowed.

The above (needing to go back to school) may be good or bad news... but here's either the bad news or the worse news:

A lot of state schools are broke. There have been hiring freezes, salary cuts, and position cuts (even whole department cuts) nationwide.

My answer may be too late. I know too many people who are unable to find teaching jobs right now. My SIL got her degree online and has had to compete against others who have degrees from a traditional school. I would check with the school district you want to teach in first and see what they have to say about openings and what they look for.

Also, teaching may be a difficult job to have with 3 kids. You may have to bring a lot of school work home (grading, preparation, etc.) and that leaves less time with your kids. After dealing with kids all day, you may not have any energy left to be patient and loving with your kids. It really depends on how you handle stress. Do you have an unlimited supply of patience? Have you helped out in the classrooms lately of your kids? Kids today are

I wonder if there is a need for other school positions that don't have to plan lessons, grade papers, meet with parents (they can take every ounce of patience you have), etc. A visit with the administration might be a good start.