<p>I don't have enough credit hours left to major in education (early childhood or elementary) but after I graduate with my B.A. in International Studies I want to teach. I live and go to school in Florida and want to become certified here...and possibly Virginia (to be closer to family). What is the best way to get about this? What should I do now to become better prepared and how tough is it to find a job as a teacher or teacher's assistant with this alternative route? Any advice, suggestions, etc... is greatly appreciated! Thanks!</p>
<p>You need to check the teacher credentialing requirements in the location where you would like to teach.</p>
<p>It depends on the state, but here are the three main options:
- Masters in education or teaching specifically geared towards people without undergrad teaching - These vary by state, but generally take 2 years to complete, with some student teaching in there as well</p>
<p>2) Concurrent masters and teaching - Some states will allow you to teach full-time if you are enrolled part time in a master’s teaching program and have a school willing to hire you. This is probably the most challenging unless you are in a specific program (as described below), because you’ll be competing against fully certified teachers and would need to convince a school that what you bring to the table is better than those other teachers</p>
<p>3) Alternative certification teaching programs (Teach For America, TNTP/NYC Teaching Fellows) - these programs are essentially option 2, except that you are backed by the weight of a program that will help you get a job and really facilitate the start of a teaching career. I’m in an alt cert program in NYC (NYC Teaching Fellows), so if you have specific questions about how these work, I can try to answer them</p>
<p>I would love to know more about the TNTP/NYC Teaching Fellows program. Are there specific grades to work with, how competitive is the program, and what are they looking for in their teachers? Thanks so much!</p>
<p>TNTP and NYC Teaching Fellows recruit exclusively for high need areas, which are usually middle and high school, and SpEd, math, and science (and some English). I do know that there were fellows selected for elementary SpEd, if that’s the age group you want and you don’t mind working with SpEd students. </p>
<p>The programs are reasonably competitive, less than Teach for America, but I think there’s something like a 10-15% acceptance rate. The rigor of the programs does vary. NYCTF is the most rigorous in terms of interview process (application, phone interview, in person interview) and actual training (NY state requires all of us to do a masters while we teach), while other are less so. I interviewed with TNTP Charlotte, and was accepted after submitting my application and having a ~30 phone interview, and NC does not require teachers to do a masters for alternative certification, so in that program you only need to take a certification course.</p>
<p>What they really look for in applicants is a belief that all students are capable of being successful if given the right tools, and a belief that 100% of responsibility for student success belongs to the teacher. They also want teachers to be EXTREMELY responsive to feedback. I will say that most of the fellows that actually made it through summer training are a fair bit more cynical than that, and realize that being a “transformative teacher” is not something that is going to happen in a person’s first, second, or even tenth year teaching. The major benefit of these programs is that NYCTF at least subsidizes the masters degree heavily, so that out of pocket costs end up being ~$8000 for the entire degree, as compared to paying fully out of pocket or with loans, so even if you think that a lot of that stuff is BS, it’s worth it to suffer through it.</p>