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What do I do right after graduating college?
I' m entering college soon and I'm not sure if I am going to school to gain experience or to get a job right away. What's more valuable. I wanna work with kids in a school, either a teacher or speech pathologist.#teacher #children #school
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Doc’s Answer
Teaching is a vital and admirable career Amuna. Every state has specific requirements for teachers, and additional qualifications for public school K-12 teachers. A bachelor's degree is the minimum requirement for obtaining a teaching certification in the U.S. The average time to earn a bachelor's degree, student teaching experience, and certification, it generally takes at least 5-years to become a teacher. Bachelor's degrees are usually 4-years in duration, and student teaching and certification together can usually be completed in around a year or perhaps a little more. Most bachelor’s in education degree programs require you to spend at least a semester in a real classroom. During your student teaching experience, you’ll have the opportunity to practice managing a classroom, while still having the support of a cooperating teacher and your college professors. This real-world experience will elevate your confidence and prepare you for a successful teaching career after graduation. When choosing where to earn your bachelor’s in education degree, be sure to choose a school that has a strong student-teacher placement program.
• ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS – Public school elementary teachers must possess a bachelor's degree in elementary education. An elementary license allows a teacher to teach kindergarten through sixth grade in most states. A future teacher must also complete a supervised practicum or student teaching internship. Some states also require a teacher to earn a master's degree within a specified time after beginning teaching. Since elementary teachers instruct in all subjects, they take classes in math, reading, science, and social studies methods.
• MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHERS – A public middle school teacher must have a bachelor's degree in childhood education and complete a student teaching internship. A middle school license usually allows the teacher to teach grades five through eight. Most middle school teachers must have a certain number of credit hours in the subject area they wish to teach. This subject area may be indicated as an endorsement on their teaching certificate.
• HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS – A public high school teacher needs a bachelor's degree in the subject they are going to teach, as well as having completed a program of study in secondary education. A secondary school teaching license qualifies teachers to teach up through grade 12 but may include some middle school grades. Some high schools may look for teachers with master's degrees.
• SPEECH THERAPISTS – A master's degree is the minimum education needed to become a speech therapist, also known as 'speech-language pathologists'. These professionals often work in a clinical setting, but also might work in medical facilities, schools, research and development labs, or even clients' homes. Some speech therapists work on a contract basis and might spend a great deal of time traveling from one facility to another. Licensing is also required in most states.
Hope this helpful Amuna
Seek career advice from guidance counselors and teachers. Your high school teachers may be some of the best people to talk to about your academic or professional future.
• ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS – Public school elementary teachers must possess a bachelor's degree in elementary education. An elementary license allows a teacher to teach kindergarten through sixth grade in most states. A future teacher must also complete a supervised practicum or student teaching internship. Some states also require a teacher to earn a master's degree within a specified time after beginning teaching. Since elementary teachers instruct in all subjects, they take classes in math, reading, science, and social studies methods.
• MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHERS – A public middle school teacher must have a bachelor's degree in childhood education and complete a student teaching internship. A middle school license usually allows the teacher to teach grades five through eight. Most middle school teachers must have a certain number of credit hours in the subject area they wish to teach. This subject area may be indicated as an endorsement on their teaching certificate.
• HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS – A public high school teacher needs a bachelor's degree in the subject they are going to teach, as well as having completed a program of study in secondary education. A secondary school teaching license qualifies teachers to teach up through grade 12 but may include some middle school grades. Some high schools may look for teachers with master's degrees.
• SPEECH THERAPISTS – A master's degree is the minimum education needed to become a speech therapist, also known as 'speech-language pathologists'. These professionals often work in a clinical setting, but also might work in medical facilities, schools, research and development labs, or even clients' homes. Some speech therapists work on a contract basis and might spend a great deal of time traveling from one facility to another. Licensing is also required in most states.
Hope this helpful Amuna
Doc recommends the following next steps:
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Filipa’s Answer
We would advise you to gain some practical experience working with children (e.g. summer camps, baby sitting, volunteering in your freetime). This will help you to better understand with what ages you want to work with.
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Brandon’s Answer
Going to school to achieve your dream job of working as a teacher or speech pathologist is very admirable. Going to school would most likely be the best course of action in order to fulfill these two occupations efficiently because both of them require higher education degrees in order to work in those fields. That depends on the individual location however, since every location has different requirements. If you are still debating about what to do, I would suggest talking about it to a guidance counselor or advisor. They have the resources that can guide you to the path that you want to take. Something else I would recommend is trying to speak to people that are in those fields of work that you are interested in. Those people can give you pointers and advice to see if that is the type of occupation that you would want to work as. Some volunteer work could also help benefit, such as helping with programs dealing with children (depending on the age range you are hoping to help).
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Andy’s Answer
Teaching is a great a job to have as a goal, especially because there are so many different ways to work in education and teach!
If you go to a college with an education major or teacher-training program, chances are you'll be able to find a network of folks who work at your college (or graduated from it) who can help guide you to your first teaching job. But this is NOT the only way to the classroom! Even though being a middle school social studies teacher was (and still is!) my first job right after college, I didn't start thinking about teaching until about a year before I graduated. I studied history and film, and in my junior year of college I applied to a program called "Teach For America," which helps recruit, train, and place teachers into under-resourced classrooms. For me, this made it possible to study what I really wanted to in college and still be able to teach (without having gone to school for it)--and I'm really lucky, because I ended up teaching world history anyway! Also, across the country, there are similar programs to the one I joined that are locally-based. So if you have an idea of where you would like to live after college, you can search "alternative teaching certification programs" to get a feel of your options. Again, this only applies if you really want to teach but don't necessarily want to go to college for teaching...
Also, another answer here mentions how important it is to get experience (tutoring, volunteering, or shadowing teachers) before actually teaching yourself. I HIGHLY recommend following their advice whether you study education in college or not--I'm really happy with my path so far, but if I got to learn a little more about working with kids before I actually started doing it... I could have saved myself some stressful moments for sure!
Good luck!
If you go to a college with an education major or teacher-training program, chances are you'll be able to find a network of folks who work at your college (or graduated from it) who can help guide you to your first teaching job. But this is NOT the only way to the classroom! Even though being a middle school social studies teacher was (and still is!) my first job right after college, I didn't start thinking about teaching until about a year before I graduated. I studied history and film, and in my junior year of college I applied to a program called "Teach For America," which helps recruit, train, and place teachers into under-resourced classrooms. For me, this made it possible to study what I really wanted to in college and still be able to teach (without having gone to school for it)--and I'm really lucky, because I ended up teaching world history anyway! Also, across the country, there are similar programs to the one I joined that are locally-based. So if you have an idea of where you would like to live after college, you can search "alternative teaching certification programs" to get a feel of your options. Again, this only applies if you really want to teach but don't necessarily want to go to college for teaching...
Also, another answer here mentions how important it is to get experience (tutoring, volunteering, or shadowing teachers) before actually teaching yourself. I HIGHLY recommend following their advice whether you study education in college or not--I'm really happy with my path so far, but if I got to learn a little more about working with kids before I actually started doing it... I could have saved myself some stressful moments for sure!
Good luck!