Online Teacher Certification Programs

I can hardly think of a career more fulfilling than being an elementary school teacher. As an elementary school teacher, you are responsible for the emotional and education development of children at a time when they are most impressionable. Quite simply, as an elementary school teacher, you are molding the lives of the next generation – something that has a massive appeal to many of the teacher trainees that I speak to.

The Steps to Becoming an Elementary School Teacher

There are a number of must-haves that you need to be aware of before it’s even possible for you to become an elementary school teacher. However, there are also a few good-to-haves that in the real world will drastically increase your chances of being being offered a job in a short time. Essentially, it’s all about getting qualified and then marketing yourself in the best light possible to potential schools.

So here are the steps to becoming an Elementary school teacher:

1. Take your Bachelor’s Degree

It is imperative that you take a bachelor’s degree in any subject. Your degree doesn’t necessarily need to be in education (some states – Texas included – don’t even offer a major in Education at any university in the State) – your degree can be in any subject. When choosing the degree program to follow, you may be able to find a course that includes an approved teacher education program – if you can find a degree that includes this as part of the program then that’s always a bonus. Essentially, this means that you’ll be able to graduate from university with all the teacher training that is required for certification in any state in America.

If you can’t find a degree program that suits you and offers teacher training or if you have already graduated and teacher training wasn’t part of your degree then there’s no need to worry. You’ll simply need to take an alternative certification course – see below.

2. Go through an Approved Teacher Education Program

As I mentioned in the previous paragraph above – if you had teacher training as part of your degree then you can skip this part. If, however, you have a degree but didn’t go through a teaching course then you’ll need to find what’s called an Approved Teacher Education Program. Alternative teacher certification courses are generally the best bet – these are courses that are approved by SBEC (the State Board of Educator Certification) and that combine teacher coursework, on the job training and certification preparation.

These alternative teacher certification programs come in all shapes and sizes. Some are online based (which is very convenient if you are working a full-time job and want to make a career change) and some are more experience based (where you train on the job as a teacher in a school). You really need to choose what alternative certification path is best for you and take it from there. Generally speaking these courses are usually a year in length and will prepare you for the certification exams (see below).

3. Obtain your State Certification

In most States you’ll need to pass some teacher certification exams. These will assess basic skills such as reading and writing and often ask circumstantial based questions. This is usually the last step in the process to become a full qualified elementary teacher – once you’ve passed these exams then you are in a position to work as a professional teacher in a school.

How to Improve your Chances of Getting the Job you Want

Competition for elemenatry teaching positions varies drastically between states. I’ve read countless stories of people who have applied everywhere but have had a tough time getting a job. On the flip side I’ve heard a similar number of stories from people who seem to easily walk into a job without trying hard at all. Recently I spent some time trying to understand why some people were more successful than others. These were the common traits, and therefore things that I recommend you do to get a head start on other candidates:-

• Work with children at a young age. Some were student teachers and some simply volunteered their time at a local school – if you can get your foot in the door at an educational institution and gain some experience working with young children then that will make your application stand out from the crowd. A decent percentage of the successful applicants I spoke about above had some form of experience teaching or working with young children.
• Take a Major in Education. Even though this is not a requirement – it was strikingly obvious to me that those who had majored in education seemed to have a much easier job finding employment as an elementary school teacher. The other thing I noticed was that these candidates were also paid on average around 5% higher than those without an Educational Masters Degree.
• Find a Specialty. There are certain specialty areas that are always in high demand in the US education system. Bilinguality, special needs and maths are three areas, amongst others, that are usually in high demand. If you identify an area that is in high demand and perhaps take some additional training / courses to train yourself in these areas then that will increase your chances of finding an elementary teaching job massively.
• Join a Teaching Association. With schools making a massive shift with new technologies and teaching methodologies being studied and researched, you can often put yourself in a position of advantage by joining a professional association that will keep you at the cutting edge of your profession. The two most popular ones are the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association
• Take Advanced Qualifications. Finally, consider taking advanced qualifications through the national teaching qualification board.