Hi, I am a second career teacher just starting a teacher certification program
I was a grad student in chemistry. I had to leave the program with a Masters.
As a T.A. i realized that I love teaching.
I'm currently pursing a certification in sec. chemistry and math.
Any advice for how to get myself ready for a career in teaching internationally?
I'm also an American nationally.
Advice for a future Teacher.
Re: Advice for a future Teacher.
[quote="Chemist"]Hi, I am a second career teacher just starting a teacher certification program
I was a grad student in chemistry. I had to leave the program with a Masters.
As a T.A. i realized that I love teaching.
I'm currently pursing a certification in sec. chemistry and math.
Any advice for how to get myself ready for a career in teaching internationally?
I'm also an American nationally.[/quote]
Living abroad isnt for everyone.
About the only thing you can do to "get ready" is 1) travel and 2) read up about different countries and cultures you are interested in.
Good luck.
I was a grad student in chemistry. I had to leave the program with a Masters.
As a T.A. i realized that I love teaching.
I'm currently pursing a certification in sec. chemistry and math.
Any advice for how to get myself ready for a career in teaching internationally?
I'm also an American nationally.[/quote]
Living abroad isnt for everyone.
About the only thing you can do to "get ready" is 1) travel and 2) read up about different countries and cultures you are interested in.
Good luck.
Reply
You didnt say much about yourself so some general advice:
1) Start planing now where to do your field experience (student teaching), you want to do it in an IB school. This is probably the single most influential factor on your early teaching career. If you cant get into an IB school, then the next best option is a private school.
2) Chemistry and math are very good choices and with your graduate background will make you very marketable compared to many entry level ITs. I would strongly consider and advice adding physics and to a lessor extent biology as well. Upper level hard sciences are usually dual vacancies in some combination of chemistry, physics and math.
3) Marry another teacher. While primary is the typical combination, something more in demand but not the same as yours would increase your marketability and get you invites and interviews. Upper tier schools usually interview couples first, and you don't want to loose opportunities waiting for them getting to the singles.
Dont have any kids.
4) You didnt say were you were taking your teacher education program, but after your inital certification you want to find a state that's "friendly" to ITs. Easy renewal, test based certification/endorsement, no PD, and easy upgrade to the states professional/advance certification (in dual credential states) are all advantages important to ITs.
5) Depending on your program consider your electives to be international, language or developing inquiry based education. You want to look at what is important to IE not teaching in a local public school, and many of your courses will address state specific information such as local laws, and the state curriculum.
6) What are your long term plans? If you plan on going into administration you will likely need a Masters from a university preparation program. You already have a Masters degree, so being able to work a couple of the required courses for admin certification into your course work would make any future program that much shorter. In many countries there is no formal "administration" credential, and an M.Ed is the credential.
7) If you get work study or an on campus job, you want to work in the admissions or enrollment services department. College counseling is very big right now, and "counselor" certification programs do almost nothing in regard to college advising. Having just experience alone will make you marketable in this regard.
1) Start planing now where to do your field experience (student teaching), you want to do it in an IB school. This is probably the single most influential factor on your early teaching career. If you cant get into an IB school, then the next best option is a private school.
2) Chemistry and math are very good choices and with your graduate background will make you very marketable compared to many entry level ITs. I would strongly consider and advice adding physics and to a lessor extent biology as well. Upper level hard sciences are usually dual vacancies in some combination of chemistry, physics and math.
3) Marry another teacher. While primary is the typical combination, something more in demand but not the same as yours would increase your marketability and get you invites and interviews. Upper tier schools usually interview couples first, and you don't want to loose opportunities waiting for them getting to the singles.
Dont have any kids.
4) You didnt say were you were taking your teacher education program, but after your inital certification you want to find a state that's "friendly" to ITs. Easy renewal, test based certification/endorsement, no PD, and easy upgrade to the states professional/advance certification (in dual credential states) are all advantages important to ITs.
5) Depending on your program consider your electives to be international, language or developing inquiry based education. You want to look at what is important to IE not teaching in a local public school, and many of your courses will address state specific information such as local laws, and the state curriculum.
6) What are your long term plans? If you plan on going into administration you will likely need a Masters from a university preparation program. You already have a Masters degree, so being able to work a couple of the required courses for admin certification into your course work would make any future program that much shorter. In many countries there is no formal "administration" credential, and an M.Ed is the credential.
7) If you get work study or an on campus job, you want to work in the admissions or enrollment services department. College counseling is very big right now, and "counselor" certification programs do almost nothing in regard to college advising. Having just experience alone will make you marketable in this regard.
Comment
@Chemist
Michigan isnt the most friendly state to maintain certification for an IT. Here are the issues:
1) They have a three tiered certification structure (provisional, professional and advanced).
The advanced certificate will be all but impossible for you to get outside of Michigan. You could do NB certification, but its a lot of work. Even though you wouldnt have 5 years of the appropriate evaluation to get the highly proficient ratings.
2) For renewal and advancement Michigan only recognizes State CE, District PD, and Academic course work. In an IS setting your only available option is the coursework.
3) With multiple certifications you may have to do appropriate coursework specific to each certification. Your also going to have to have your schools cooperation to document your teaching experience across multiple subjects. If your hired to teach chemistry and thats all you teach, your not building teaching experience needed for renewal and advancement in math and physics.
4) The biggest issue is that Michigan requires 20 hours of course work and passing the state test to add a certification endorsement. Thats a lot of work to build a competitive resume.
I realized your single, thats why i advised you to marry another teacher. Married teachers when asking for advice usually include some information about their spouse, you included none.
Your T.A experience isnt worth anything.
Michigan isnt the most friendly state to maintain certification for an IT. Here are the issues:
1) They have a three tiered certification structure (provisional, professional and advanced).
The advanced certificate will be all but impossible for you to get outside of Michigan. You could do NB certification, but its a lot of work. Even though you wouldnt have 5 years of the appropriate evaluation to get the highly proficient ratings.
2) For renewal and advancement Michigan only recognizes State CE, District PD, and Academic course work. In an IS setting your only available option is the coursework.
3) With multiple certifications you may have to do appropriate coursework specific to each certification. Your also going to have to have your schools cooperation to document your teaching experience across multiple subjects. If your hired to teach chemistry and thats all you teach, your not building teaching experience needed for renewal and advancement in math and physics.
4) The biggest issue is that Michigan requires 20 hours of course work and passing the state test to add a certification endorsement. Thats a lot of work to build a competitive resume.
I realized your single, thats why i advised you to marry another teacher. Married teachers when asking for advice usually include some information about their spouse, you included none.
Your T.A experience isnt worth anything.
Havent even thought about the certification guidelines like renewal etc.
I am getting mine out of Florida.
Can someone help me make sense of this?
http://www.fldoe.org/edcert/renew.asp
So I will not be working in Florida and I will have to take University classes to renew after 5 years?
I am getting mine out of Florida.
Can someone help me make sense of this?
http://www.fldoe.org/edcert/renew.asp
So I will not be working in Florida and I will have to take University classes to renew after 5 years?
Reply
@CaliPro
You need 6 hours of Academic coursework, 30 hours of PD (inservice) is equal to 3 course hours. You can't get those because there aren't really any providers outside Florida that are approved. You might be able to use IB workshops, since the Florida IBO Association is an approved provider in Florida. Otherwise NB certification will work, but its more work then the course hours. You could also return to Florida and simply retake your original certification exams for course hours.
The answer to your question though is yes your going to need to start planing on taking coursework to renew your certificate in 5 years. They do accept CLEP coursework though and you can take CLEP courses in a lot of centers around the world, you just need to be admitted to a college that accepts a lot of CLEP courses so that you can have the, put on a transcript.
Florida isn't that friendly since you need to complete separate PD for EACH certification/endorsement area you renew.
You need 6 hours of Academic coursework, 30 hours of PD (inservice) is equal to 3 course hours. You can't get those because there aren't really any providers outside Florida that are approved. You might be able to use IB workshops, since the Florida IBO Association is an approved provider in Florida. Otherwise NB certification will work, but its more work then the course hours. You could also return to Florida and simply retake your original certification exams for course hours.
The answer to your question though is yes your going to need to start planing on taking coursework to renew your certificate in 5 years. They do accept CLEP coursework though and you can take CLEP courses in a lot of centers around the world, you just need to be admitted to a college that accepts a lot of CLEP courses so that you can have the, put on a transcript.
Florida isn't that friendly since you need to complete separate PD for EACH certification/endorsement area you renew.
[quote="CaliPro"]
So I will not be working in Florida and I will have to take University classes to renew after 5 years?[/quote]
Correct. Since you wont be in Florida for DOE approved in-services, you will need 6 hours from a real university every 5 years. Unlike some other states, Florida is dead serious about following the letter of the law when it comes to renewing. They require original transcripts with no exceptions. Do not bother to try submitting "continuing education units" or any other PD offers that come through school emails and the like. It really has to be university courses from "real" schools.
So I will not be working in Florida and I will have to take University classes to renew after 5 years?[/quote]
Correct. Since you wont be in Florida for DOE approved in-services, you will need 6 hours from a real university every 5 years. Unlike some other states, Florida is dead serious about following the letter of the law when it comes to renewing. They require original transcripts with no exceptions. Do not bother to try submitting "continuing education units" or any other PD offers that come through school emails and the like. It really has to be university courses from "real" schools.
Re: Reply
[quote="PsyGuy"]@CaliPro
You need 6 hours of Academic coursework, 30 hours of PD (inservice) is equal to 3 course hours. You can't get those because there aren't really any providers outside Florida that are approved. You might be able to use IB workshops, since the Florida IBO Association is an approved provider in Florida. Otherwise NB certification will work, but its more work then the course hours. [b]You could also return to Florida and simply retake your original certification exams for course hours.[/b]
The answer to your question though is yes your going to need to start planing on taking coursework to renew your certificate in 5 years. They do accept CLEP coursework though and you can take CLEP courses in a lot of centers around the world, you just need to be admitted to a college that accepts a lot of CLEP courses so that you can have the, put on a transcript.
Florida isn't that friendly since you need to complete separate PD for EACH certification/endorsement area you renew.[/quote]
So the easiest thing to do is just return to the US and re-take the certification exams?
If that is all I need to do then no biggie.
You need 6 hours of Academic coursework, 30 hours of PD (inservice) is equal to 3 course hours. You can't get those because there aren't really any providers outside Florida that are approved. You might be able to use IB workshops, since the Florida IBO Association is an approved provider in Florida. Otherwise NB certification will work, but its more work then the course hours. [b]You could also return to Florida and simply retake your original certification exams for course hours.[/b]
The answer to your question though is yes your going to need to start planing on taking coursework to renew your certificate in 5 years. They do accept CLEP coursework though and you can take CLEP courses in a lot of centers around the world, you just need to be admitted to a college that accepts a lot of CLEP courses so that you can have the, put on a transcript.
Florida isn't that friendly since you need to complete separate PD for EACH certification/endorsement area you renew.[/quote]
So the easiest thing to do is just return to the US and re-take the certification exams?
If that is all I need to do then no biggie.
Re: Comment
Just one correction to what PsyGuy was saying. I am certified in Michigan, and it's not that difficult to maintain your certification once you have the professional license. (To move from provisional to professional, you have to do a 3-year teaching component, plus 18 hours if graduate work.) I've never heard of the "advanced" license, though. There are several older teachers who have "permanent" licenses, but that's a thing of the past.
You do not have to do coursework specific to each area of endorsement. I am certified in math and history, but I have done coursework or CEUs in only math to renew my license, then only in history the next time, and this renewal will be a combo of both. Similarly, they don't care which subject you teach. They never ask.
[quote="PsyGuy"]@Chemist
Michigan isnt the most friendly state to maintain certification for an IT. Here are the issues:
3) With multiple certifications you may have to do appropriate coursework specific to each certification. Your also going to have to have your schools cooperation to document your teaching experience across multiple subjects. If your hired to teach chemistry and thats all you teach, your not building teaching experience needed for renewal and advancement in math and physics. [/quote]
You do not have to do coursework specific to each area of endorsement. I am certified in math and history, but I have done coursework or CEUs in only math to renew my license, then only in history the next time, and this renewal will be a combo of both. Similarly, they don't care which subject you teach. They never ask.
[quote="PsyGuy"]@Chemist
Michigan isnt the most friendly state to maintain certification for an IT. Here are the issues:
3) With multiple certifications you may have to do appropriate coursework specific to each certification. Your also going to have to have your schools cooperation to document your teaching experience across multiple subjects. If your hired to teach chemistry and thats all you teach, your not building teaching experience needed for renewal and advancement in math and physics. [/quote]
Comment
@moose
Course work is an expensive and time consuming option for an IT compared to CE and PD options, and for an IT abroad academic course work to renew is as the only option is not advantageous.
Michigan has a three tier certification structure: Provisional, Professional and Advance, these will be valid starting September 2013. You can access the new rules and structure here:
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/F ... 0612_7.pdf
You will find the Advance Professional Certificate and its requirements on page 16. To summarize:
"Advanced Professional Education Certificate (after September 1, 2013)
(Initial advanced teaching license/credential; valid for up to five years)
Requirements:
* The applicant currently holds the Professional Education Certificate.
* The applicant holds national board certification or has completed a teacher
leader training or preparation program approved by the superintendent of public
instruction.
* The applicant has received 5 consecutive effective or highly effective ratings on the annual teacher evaluation in the most recent 5-year period."
You may wish to familiarize yourself with the new requirements. You can refer to the new renewal requirements on pages 13-15, with specific applicability of the professional certification starting on page 14.
Course work is an expensive and time consuming option for an IT compared to CE and PD options, and for an IT abroad academic course work to renew is as the only option is not advantageous.
Michigan has a three tier certification structure: Provisional, Professional and Advance, these will be valid starting September 2013. You can access the new rules and structure here:
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/F ... 0612_7.pdf
You will find the Advance Professional Certificate and its requirements on page 16. To summarize:
"Advanced Professional Education Certificate (after September 1, 2013)
(Initial advanced teaching license/credential; valid for up to five years)
Requirements:
* The applicant currently holds the Professional Education Certificate.
* The applicant holds national board certification or has completed a teacher
leader training or preparation program approved by the superintendent of public
instruction.
* The applicant has received 5 consecutive effective or highly effective ratings on the annual teacher evaluation in the most recent 5-year period."
You may wish to familiarize yourself with the new requirements. You can refer to the new renewal requirements on pages 13-15, with specific applicability of the professional certification starting on page 14.
-
dkteachlife
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Wed Jul 17, 2013 1:06 am
- Location: South Korea
CaliPro
Can you e-mail me? I am in Korea and I am going to start Teach Ready too.
davidrkimball@gmail.com
davidrkimball@gmail.com
Korea new regs
DK
did you get your FBI check for Korea?
I taught there thru 2009 and all we needed was state and had to have it apostilled along with the diploma that the Korean consulate did for people at 2.00 a page.
did not want to go and submit an unsolicited e-mail to you..so wrote here.
peg
did you get your FBI check for Korea?
I taught there thru 2009 and all we needed was state and had to have it apostilled along with the diploma that the Korean consulate did for people at 2.00 a page.
did not want to go and submit an unsolicited e-mail to you..so wrote here.
peg