How to become a teacher

I have always been going back and forth between whether I want to teach elementary or high school. If anyone would like to explain what I would need to major in to teach elementary and what I would need to major in to become a high school history teacher that would be great! Also is there any way to go to school now and choose which grade level to choose later on? Added bonus if anyone wants to give any insight on history classes!

Teacher certification approved programs are at the state level. You can look at your "board of education’ website. They should have (may be buried) a list of schools in that state and what program certifications they offer.

Have you worked with children or teens before? Even babysitting? That might help you decide.

Elementary Education usually covers K-5 grades. Some states have a separate middle school endorsement (6-8). High school is called secondary education. For high school you pick a subject area & take classes in that subject, For teacher certification you also have to take classes that teach you how to teach that subject, educational psychology classes, education policy classes, and others that I’m forgetting. This should be on your state’s board of ed website. You can also look up a specific school and see what is offered. The school might have a sample 4 year plan you can look at.

So if you want to teach elementary kids you would major in Elementary Education. High school would be xyz major with 2nd ed added. For History you would major in “History” with the 2nd ed add on classes. You would need to fill your teacher certification requirement which might mean taking certain history classes covering a particular time periods.

I do want to add that History 2nd ed might be under the Social Studies teacher certification.

Are you still in high school or are you in college?

Many private and some public universities no longer offer an undergraduate major in education. You major in the discipline of your choice in arts and sciences and take a sequence of courses leading to teacher certification.

And some schools are sneaky. I have found some 2nd ed subjects listed on the states’ board of ed as approved. Then I go to school’s website to find more about it and I find that it is at the Master’s level not undergrad.

Thank you so much! I’ll definitely check out the board of education website. I am entering my senior year of high school. I checked out the majors list for the university I am looking and they offer a major in History Education which I am assuming is what I would major on if I choose to teach high school.

Yes, I would assume that… but if you can read the description of the major that would help clarify.

FYI
-. your state may call the board of education something else. You could just ask one of your hs social studies teachers the name of the website.

  • When you find the website, see if there are multiple steps for certification while you are in college. Example: In our state there is a basic skill test taken after freshman year for education majors. To opt out, a student could use their ACT with writing composite score (assuming their score was high enough). But some universities don’t require the ACT with writing for admissions. So some students only have the basic ACT. That kind of stuff would be nice to know…

What state are you looking to teach in? That makes all the difference. In my state, NY, MerryLee’s advice wouldn’t necessarily be correct.

Also in NY and was thinking the same as rebeccar.

I’m majoring in Early Childhood/ Childhood Education (Dual Cert) so I will be certified in birth-6th grade. I have a concentration in history (30) and started taking my education classes as a freshman.

History is A LOT of work! Many of my classes have dense readings and a lot of writing. But focus more on writing which I love. I’ve taken

Race and Class in America
The Holocaust
Business and Society
The History of Human Rights
American History from 1812
American History to 1812
The Bible: Myth and History
Medieval Society

And I can’t remember the rest off the top of my head

Thank you! I will most likely be teaching in Nevada.