<p>Now I know this idea may not appeal to most people, but at least consider it. You parents on this forum have been involved in your children's education and are experienced and knowledgable about education and your own fields. How about putting some of that to use for upcoming gererations? When I was a child, my best teachers were the much older women who had raised their families and retirees who had had other careers - General Jackson taught me algebra, Colonel Raymond taught 8th grade science, etc. I'm a mom of four, the last two leaving this summer, who has decided to trade the stress of my law career for the fun of little faces - I'm entering a teaching credential program. If you love children, care about education, and want to keep the energy and optimism of youth in your life, try teaching! Our educational system needs you. I'd recommend volunteering first if you haven't done so to make sure you like it.</p>
<p>I'm entering an MFA program in the fall, right after my last child leaves home. I want to be a writing teacher.</p>
<p>iggal: It does not work. I inquired about teaching after retirement. No one in my state can teach unless they have teaching certificates. The school system does not think. Actually, the perfect working environment for a retiree would be to split a full time teacher's job in half and have two retirees teach the same class (this would even save money to the district).</p>
<p>Ah but what she said was that she was entering a 'teaching credentials' program ... in my state we call it the <em>instant cert</em> program. There's one program which is a 10 week summer deal -- and then you get out in the fall and if you are lucky, fall right into a slot. </p>
<p>I do know someone this happened to -- got his job over Labor Day weekend and has been teaching now for over 10 years. He had a BS and MS in Bio and had worked for an environmental engineering consulting firm for maybe 15 years. </p>
<p>It's properly called the Alternate Route to Certification and allows college grads to earn a teaching certificate in relatively short order.</p>
<p>Yes, I just received my acceptance to a Cal State program - the cost is quite low, or else I wouldn't be doing it. BUT - some private and charter schools will hire without requiring a credential. I had an offer from a montessori school to teach in a three-room school where ages 5 to 13 learn in mixed-age groups. If they like your work, they will pay for further training, which you repay by a work commitment. The daughter of a friend, with just her BA, also taught children at a charter school before going to law school.
SuNa, you will have such fun reading the writings of young people. And schools need more writing instruction; it seems that children today get less feedback than we did as children, when our papers were covered with red notes. My own children were never even required to outline, a skill that proved invaluable to me.</p>
<p>Just a note of warning; teaching is not for the faint of heart - especially at urban public schools with low-income kids. Be very prepared to work very hard - be prepared to show "tough love" - but the rewards are great in terms of making a difference in children's lives. :)</p>
<p>simba,you can get your teaching certificate through alternative certification, while you have your first teaching job. You go to class evenings (a couple a week, and are observed, etc.) Many go that route. We have an engineer and a CPA who are math teachers, I gave up my law practice to teach Spanish (used out of state certification) and there is a psychologist who teaches psych, etc. You get an experienced teacher as a mentor, and although it is a lot of work, it is being done all the time.</p>
<p>As a former English teacher, let me tell you that I thought the same thing about writing. I also found out that with the large class sizes, that covering the paper in red took so much time that it was impossible to get the papers back to the kids in a reasonable amount of time. (Realize that it takes a minimum of 20minutes and more like 45 minutes if the paper is exceptionally bad, to read and grade a paper and many of us have 130-160 and more students) What we found was that we had to limit what we were grading on which set of papers. Transitions and uses of clauses this paper, intro and subject-verb agreement the next time, etc. Not the best all around, but the only reasonable way to handle it, and get to eat and sleep and have the time to prepare for the next week's classes. In the day, English teachers used to have an extra conference period a day in order to help with this. Now, they have taken that away, and added a period a day, to boot (instead of 6-period days, we now have 7-period days)! Instead of teaching 5 periods, we now teach six. And it would be better if all we had to do was teach, but everyday it seems there is some survey or form, or special request from the office, and we attend ARD's, and meet with parents, do discipline, etc.</p>
<p>I am a teacher already. To be honest, I'm looking forward to doing something different when my daughter finishes college in four years. Don't get me wrong...I love my job...but the documentation (paperwork) and meetings overshadow my work with students on some days. Teaching is not the same profession it was when WE were students. I agree that doing some volunteer work in a school would be a good idea. Or you could be a substitute. If you can stand that, you probably would like teaching.</p>
<p>ah, the songs of innocence and experience,..</p>
<p>If you like teaching, but don't have the credentials there are many other opportunites to share information with students. Most zoos, museums, aquariums have docent programs where you present information to the public. I love being a zoo docent. Many of my peers are retired teachers, and some of us never taught in a formal setting.</p>
<p>Another opportunity to teach without the formal education is through reading programs for kids with l.d.s and literacy programs for adults. I have done that too, and it is meaningful work. I think in the fall when my D has gone, I will increase my zoo hours, and maybe go back to reading tutoring again.</p>
<p>My nest isn't quite empty yet. I have many friends who are teachers and, judging from their experiences, teaching in a middle or high school situation would take more energy than I have--motivating unmotivated students, keeping class order, managing through the bureaucracy (how do you spell that word?), etc. My hats off to them!</p>
<p>I think I will continue what I am already doing--I tutor kids in math, from algebra up to and including calculus, for free. I see a need to expand into chemistry and will probably bone up on chemistry this summer. Maybe physics after that...</p>
<p>I have a degree in nursing but for the last few years have taught a pre-kindergarten class at a church run preschool. The credential requirements can be met thru courses at a cc. There are no papers to grade for preschoolers! I get a lot of satisfaction out of knowing that I am helping to get them ready to lauch into their school years.</p>
<p>Great article in NY Times by Nicholas Kristof on allowing qualified people to teach WITHOUT having to be certified. </p>
<p>There are no laws in California requiring private school teachers to have credentials. In fact, the last time I checked, there were no laws governing private schools at all--only building code laws.</p>