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Is there much demand for high school math teachers in Indiana?

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Ken’s Answer

That is a very important question regarding a very important area. However, a more important question is " How well suited am I to become a math teacher?"

Congratulations on being interested in becoming a math teacher. It takes a special person to enter this field and meet the demands which teaching presents. The first step is to get to know yourself to see if you share the personality traits which make math teachers successful. The next step is doing networking to meet and talk to and possibly shadow math teachers to see if this is something that you really want to do, as a career area could look much different on the inside than it looks from the outside.  

Ken recommends the following next steps:

The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. You might want to do this again upon entry into college, as the interpretation might differ slightly due to the course offering of the school. However, do not wait until entering college, as the information from the test will help to determine the courses that you take in high school. Too many students, due to poor planning, end up paying for courses in college which they could have taken for free in high school.
Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person at your high school and college who tracks and works with graduates to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. You can locate them by asking your school academic advisor, favorite teachers, and the reference librarian at your local library. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
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Igal’s Answer

I earned a credential for teaching high-school math in California. I can tell you that demand for math teachers in this state is very high. I don't know about Indiana specifically, but my impression is that most states, if not all, could use more high-school math teachers. Here's one reason why that might be: people who are very good at math can often find careers that are better-paying than teaching.

To me, demand is not the real question here. But here are 2 that I think must be considered.

Are you very good at math (including branches like calculus, linear algebra, statistics, probability, etc.)? Would you like to teach it to kids? If the answer to these 2 very different questions is yes, then I don't think you'll have trouble finding a teaching job.

Both these questions are key, and, as I said, very different. The first you can succeed at completely by yourself. The second you do with a group of teenagers; there is no success in it without their success.

Good luck to you!
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