Teachers, please come in
cocojack10
member
I'm contimplating a career change. With the kiddies coming, I'm starting to become heartbroken about not being with them ALL the time. I've always wanted to be a teacher, but wasn't allowed to study Education. So, I've made a proposition to Dh - I stay home w/ babies when they arrive, and get my teacher's certification during spring/summer so I can begin teaching come next Fall. Plus, if I get a job in a great private school (ie, Gulliver) then kids can go to school for FREE, so that is a huge thing, which I think is really selling him on the idea.
The topic is on the table, and no decisions have been made either way but I want to gather some information in the meantime.
I have my Bachelors and Masters degrees in Accounting. What would I need to be able to teach? Is it a certificate? Is there any classes that need to be taken, or just a state exam? Is the certificate subject specific? How about admin jobs? Does private and public schools have different requirements for teachers?
THANKS!
"If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane" -- Jimmy Buffett
Re: Teachers, please come in
My undergrad was in Business and I got certified to teach elementary. I was a TA while doing my undergrad so it helped me get experience and complete my certification process. At the time, there was a shortage of teachers, so I basically passed the exams and got the certificate. However, I think they are a little stricter on the coursework required to obtain the certificate now. The coursework depends on what you want to teach. For you, it would probably be easiest to get into teaching math/business at the middle/high school level. But, if you want to do elementary, it is still possible.
You can find more info here on getting state certification for teaching in FL public/charter schools: https://www.fldoe.org/edcert/level3.asp I think for private schools, they may have different criteria depending on whether they are parochial or just secular.
I love my job and I'm glad I did the switch when I was younger. I'm now a reading coach at a middle/hgh and I'm trying to get into administration preferrably back in an elementary school. I did my Master's in Reading Education and then got ceritified for Educational Leadership (you can get a Master's degree in Leadership or certification if you have another Master's in Ed). From my experience, though, administrators are "on-call" all the time, especially, in a middle/high. At the charter schools, they don't get the summers off. So, if you really want the extra time with the babies, a teacher's schedule is much more stable and routine on a daily basis.
Jackie, I can't give you any answers on the teaching requirements, but I know there are several people on here who can and will be a lot of help.
BUT, I can offer up my two cents (if you are interested) with respect to jumping out of the work force entirely for a short time.
I am not a teacher, but ask you know, an accountant. I know that going from accounting to teaching will come with a pretty significant paycut and from what I hear these days, good teaching jobs are really hard to come by.
After I had my daughter, I took 2 full years off to be with her. I couldn't imagine going back after 3 months, and eventhough the choice was forced upon me, I think, in retrospect, it was the best choice for everyone in my family. I can only imagine how much more intense things will be with twins.
I decided to go back to work after I put her in a morning pre-school program, and I truly had no problem finding a job (having credentials similar to yours) even with the 2 year gap. It was not a hinderance at all. I did not find the ideal position (as I am leaving here after 2.5 years) but I was pretty content for the first year. I had a pretty good work life balance and was happy to be using my professional skills again. In a perfect world, I would like to have gotten a part time job, but I am a worrier and chose the full time salary over the part-time flexibility.
I have another accountant friend who has successfully started her own practice consulting on QuickBooks installations. She sets her own hours and is available for her kids whenever they need her and makes amazing money too.
I guess what I am trying to say is do your research, if teaching is what you love, go for it, but if you think teaching is a good choice only because of schedules and tuition, you may want to keep it as a back up only. Teachers work so hard when not on the clock, I could never put in as much time, energy and emotion as they do.
Regardless, you will find out what works best for you and yours. Good luck!
just an fyi - i'm certified to teach business in middle/high school levels and it is IMPOSSIBLE to find a job within that area. most business teachers have been there for years and the positions schools want to fill are vocational (math, reading, english).
i have taken the sae in elem ed grades k-6 twice, both times didnt pass by 10 points. its not easy to teach yourself through an exam of all so many grades and so many subjects. i plan to retake the exam again but the prices have gone sky high on exam taking thus making it harder for me. also now you also need the general knowledge exam and a state mandatory course. before the year is over i plan to submit for a substitute teacher and see how i can get my foot in the door of any school.
gl jackie let us know how it goes.
Not yet a teacher, but working on it
My undergrad is in PoliSci and I took the certification exam for social sciences 6-12 and passed and got my temp certification. You can only have the temp one once and then need to get the permanent cert. You do need to take certain required classes to have that. I decided that if I was going to be taking classes anyway I may as well get a degree out of it. I found a program at Nova which is online and takes 10 months to complete for a MS in Ed (my specialization will be social sciences, but you can do anything).
Good luck!!!!
Very informative, thanks ladies!
I've never been a huge fan of Accounting, but it was the only subject that sorta called my attention in HS, so I went for it in college. Like I said, I've always wanted to be a teacher. I love hanging out w/ my little cousins/niece/nephew and teaching them new things... and seeing their little faces light up when they learn something new fascinates me. I know it isn't all sugarplums, but I think it is a very emotionally rewarding job (unlike Accounting). Yes, I do realize it will be a HUGE paycut, which is why it is a huge decision for Dh and I to make... not going to happen overnight.
And I'm actually more interested in teaching Elem... maybe math, science, grammer. Not sure if you can choose the subject at that level, or responsible for all subjects. I'm also aware that it won't be as easy as just applying for a job and viola, it appears. LOL If life were only that easy.
At the end of the day, if I still stay in Acc (8:30-5:30 - more like 6 or 6:30 job), I know the kids will be just fine. Hey, my parents did it and I survived.... and I know there are millions of families out there also surviving. But of course a mom wants to be w/ their kids as much as possible. I want to be able to take them to their soccer and baseball practices, and attend their weekday games, and I'm sure everyone here can relate.
Again, thanks so much for all the responses, very appreciated.
"If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane" -- Jimmy Buffett
jackie, if you want to get certified to teach science, i have the study guide!!! lol
The first thing you need to do is figure out which subject you want to teach, then take the Subject Area Exam for it. Once you pass that, you take the General Knowledge exam (it's like the CLAST.) After that is passed, you have to take a 6 hour on-line training class before you can go on interviews/apply for jobs. all the info is at the fldoe.org website and at the FTCE/FELE website! Also, it's no longer necessary to go downtown for anything until a school hires you and you need to get fingerprinted.
After you take the SAE and you obtain your temporary certificate, you have 3 years to complete the courses needed to obtain a permanent certifcate. If you don't finish in the 3 years, the county will fire you (they don't offer the extensions anymore, unfortunately) and you can't get a temp again... you have to complete your stuff and then apply for the permanent one!
As for private schools, the Archdiocese of Miami has a link for job openings in their private schools. The upside to private school is that kids go for free... the reason they go for free, however, is that teh pay is poop!! It's MUCH lower than public school!!
Good luck!!!
In that case, then I think you should go for it! You can't really choose the subjects you want to teach in elementary. You pretty much teach all of them, but more and more schools are departmentalizing in elementary. My last two years in the classroom I taught math and science to 2nd/3rd graders and those were my best teaching years b/c those are my favorite subjects and grade levels (I know, Ironic that I got my master's in reading, lol). They had another teacher for reading, language arts, and social studies. They also had separate art, music, Spanish, and PE teachers. But, those subjects require specific certification in those areas.
You're right, you can do the 9 to 5 and still be there for your kids. My parents did it. They both worked full-time and made it to all our events and took us to our extra-curricular activities in the evenings or on weekends. I stayed in afterschool until almost 6 everyday, but I didn't care. I was having fun with my friends and I'd get my homework done so my parents focused on just spending time with us instead of doing homework/projects. The irony is that in the next few years, I expect to be in administration. So, I won't really have those "great" teaching hours to have the extra time with my kids.
here is another program to get your teacher's cert as long as you have a bachelor's degree in anything!
https://www.teachinflorida.com/Preparation/EducatorPreparationInstitutes/tabid/187/Default.aspx
Jackie, my mom was a teacher my entire life and I stayed in afterschool until almost 6 everyday. Because of the amount of work you have to do outside of the classroom (grading, planning, etc...) she had to stay at school until 5-6 at night (she taught middle school.) lol My mom was home on the weekends ands ummer with us, my dad's an accountant and worked from 6am-11pm A LOT, she spent a lot of that time grading!! I remember having to go wtih her on teacher work days because, even though kids got the day off, she didn't!! My day off was spent watching tv in the teacher's lounge lol
I had the same issue, Education wasn't something that my family thought I should study. I got a BA in English and an MBA. Thing is I didn't want to work in business, tried it, but it wasn't my thing. After I had DD I think I realized that no one was going to stop me from becoming a teacher if that's what I wanted to do. When you become an adult you see things more clearly and you don't worry so much about what everyone else will say.
So here's what I did in case it helps. I actually applied for the Statement of Eligibility which you need prior to getting a temp certificate (you need to get an actual job to get the cert). I then used that Statement to get in to education classes at FIU and MDC. I went ahead and took all the classes Ie needed for certification (there were only 6). Then I took the GK (General Knowledge) and my SAE in English 6-12 and passed both. I only need the PE (Professional Ed) now. Once I get hired I'll get my temp cert and then after I teach for a year (the only other requirement for me) I'll get my full certificate.
If you're not sure about the tests (which now cost more than $150 each) I'd def recommend taking the classes first, plus then you'll be ready once you start to teach. Check out MDC program b/c they have weekend condensed classes which are great. Also, they have a program for people who want to teach math/science that you complete in a year I think and then you're guaranteed a job when you finish. Best of luck!
You need to take the FTCE exam, for your teaching certification for the state. It depends what field you are going for. There is Pre-K to Primary and K-12 certification. For public school you need to take the FTCE and I believe some extra education classes.
As for private schools, I'm not sure what the requirements are. Maybe, all you need is your AA, I think it depends the private school you are looking at in order to work.
Go to Florida department of education website, it should give u more info. Good Luck!
Thanks again everyone for your wealth of information!
wrenr - Thanks for the MDC rec... I had forgotten that they offer a degree in Education now.
Lots to research in the upcoming wks/months!
"If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane" -- Jimmy Buffett
statement of elligibility?? i don't need that and my degree is not what i got my certification in. maybe i missed something *running back to look at the fldoe website* lol
Hmm... the doe website says that i need a temp certificate prior to getting hired and doing fingerprinting. uugghh..
nevermind.... i got it
lol
i teach for a private catholic high school in miami. i will get tuition for free for my kids if I stay there, however it is NOT that way at every private school. I applied at Gulliver but wouldnt have taught there as students of faculty do not automatically get free tuition. Faculty have to be there a certain number of years before getting reduced tuition and then its only a portion off for awhile, not totally free (If i am not mistaken you get 10% off for every year you work....but that only takes effect after a year or two - I'm not sure) and since the tuition in 20K a year......well, I still wouldnt be able to afford his tuition next year!
Also, if you get hired at a private school you don't neccessarily need your certificate, many private schools have someone who helps those teachers without their certificate get it assuming you have your statement of eligibility....any other questions feel free to send me a message :)HTH
can i send you a private message to see if your school is hiring? lol totally kidding :-D
I was trying to get you the link for the program cause I had it in my favorites but something's up with their website and it's not working. In any case, definitely check MDC out. They have a program that's specifically for career changers. If you have your statement of eligibility you can take condensed classes that go for 3 weekends each. Depending when you start, you could get a few done before the babies are here. MDC is also a lot cheaper than FIU and they give you a lot less hassle than FIU. You can sign up for classes at the same time as everyone. At FIU you'd be a non-degree seeker and you can't register till all other students have tried so you usually don't get a space.
Britishbride: Saw someone already answered your question about the Statement of Eligibility, but if you have any others let me know.
Ah, good to know. I have a family friend that started working at Gulliver a few yrs ago, and from what she explained, she got free tuition... maybe she estimated by the time her daughter got there, it would be free?
Thanks for the heads up.
"If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane" -- Jimmy Buffett