How Do I Become A Teacher?

Choosing to Become a Teacher Can Lead to a Rewarding Career Path

If you have ever asked yourself, “How do I become a teacher,” there are many routes to this career path. People who want to make a living by educating children and preparing the future can take online classes or courses in a classroom to meet the educational requirements of becoming a teacher.

Life as a Teacher

Being a teacher allows adults to make a living studying and educating others on their favorite academic subjects. These subjects also include mechanics, woodworking, art, theater, and music. Preschool, elementary, middle school, and high school classes give future teachers the option to select the age range of children or teens they feel most comfortable working with. Some people prefer teaching basic tools and lessons to small children while others enjoy shaping and refining academic pursuits in older kids. A teacher is able to enjoy instructing, guiding, and providing encouragement to children by making learning engaging and interesting.

Educational Requirements to Become a Teacher

If you are interested in becoming a preschool teacher, the requirements are less strict for teaching this age group of children than they are for older ages. To work for some preschools or childcare facilities, it is only necessary to have an Associate’s degree in child development. Other facilities may require a Bachelor’s degree in child development or early education in order to consider hiring an individual.

Elementary and high school teachers must have a minimum degree of a Bachelor’s degree in education or a very closely-related field. Substitute teachers do not have to have a Bachelor’s degree, but they must meet the amount of college credit hours required by their specific state in order to qualify for this position. Becoming an elementary, middle school, or high school teacher will also mean that a person must intern as a teacher or an assistant teacher as part of his or her mandatory educational requirements.

To teach at a vocational technical school, college, or university, a minimum of a Master’s degree must be obtained. In many colleges and universities, a Doctorate’s degree is required before a person is able to work as a college or university professor. With these types of teaching careers, interning as an advanced educator is also mandatory.

Career Rewards as a Teacher

Teachers often enjoy long-term contracts, government benefits that include health, dental, and vision insurance, along with a retirement fund. Upon graduation from an educational degree program, an individual can then submit resumes through online job boards for teaching positions in their area. If the person wants to move out of state to accept a teaching position, it may be necessary to pass a state educator’s exam in order to be qualified to teach in a new state.

Salaries for teachers are heavily dependent upon where the person has accepted a job, what age group the person is teaching, and the education and experience a person has. Salaries for elementary, middle school, and high school teachers range in the thirty thousand dollar salary range. Higher salaries can be made if a person has obtained a Master’s degree and assists with administrative school duties in addition to teaching.