Career change question

I have been working in sales since I graduated from college in 1999. I have had 2 jobs in that time. One for 2 yrs(I moved out of the area and quit) 1 for 4 yrs(I got laid off) and most recently since April 06. A friend of mine has some great connections in varuious school districts. I have a BA in Communication so I'd have to get my masters. I have heard you can tach while getting your masters. Is this tru. Is this crazy to think about starting a teaching career at my age(32) I am also TTC. TIA

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I think you would make a great teacher, I think it is not too late to switch jobs. I am not sure about the masters while teaching thing but I am sure you can go for your masters at night/weekends if that works for you.

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I don't think there are any schools out there that will let you teach with a BA in Communications. You have to be a certified teacher to get a job (at least on Long Island, not sure what the city is doing).
There are few districts nowadays that will hire a sub who isn't already a certified teacher.

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you can teach while getting your masters ONLY IF you have a bachelors in teaching. you won't be able to teach with a bachelors in communications. i live in NJ, so it might be different, but i know here if you have a degree in something else, you can go back and get your teaching certifcate with just a few classes and student teaching. so its not like you would have years of school ahead of you. my sister had a major in landscape design, and went for an extra year of school, got her teaching certificate and now she teaches middle school earth science
i can also recomomend my carreer- speech therapy i work at a school, so i have the school hours, but only see 2-4 kids at a time, in half hour blocks. i have paperwork, but not all of the extra grading, test making, settnig up bulletin boards, etc that teachers have. its definitely worth looking into
i would also definitely spend time in a classroom for a few days before you make a final decision. its a great job, but definitely not for everybody. and it would be good to "try it out" before you commit to it...

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I just went through this and I was 31-32! I went from accounting to teaching math.

Once you have a bachelors in something other than education, you pretty much need to get a Masters before you can teach. At Dowling, the difference between just getting certified and getting your Masters was 3 classes, so it pretty much pays to just get your Masters and get it over with.

Depending on what area you want to teach, you are probably going to be short undergrad credits. To teach secondary ed, you need 36 undergrad credits in that area. You may have to spend sometime at a community college making those up, before you can start your Masters. I spent 1 semester at Suffolk banging out 21 math credits and then it took me 1 full year (incl winter, summer and weekends) to get my Masters.

Hope that helps!!

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I changed careers - from accounting to teaching as well. I started my masters in education while sitll in accounting. I eventually quit my job and became a substitute teacher to pay the bills. You can substitute with a bachelor's in any subject. However, as the above poster said, you cannot teach full time with a bachelor's degree in a subject other than education. (Warning, substitute teaching means no benefits and no pay on holidays or during the summer). I am getting certified in grades 1 - 6 so I didn't need to get credits in a specialty area. My masters program required me to take a couple undergrad liberal arts courses though because my undergrad was in business. Oh, also, there is something called an internship certificate that I got after completing half of my master's program. With this you can be hired full time with the understanding that you will finish your masters in 2 years time. I will soon be working under that certificate until I get my permanent certification (which will be this summer I hope).
Good luck if you decide to do this. I am in my late 20s...it's been a bit of a struggle but totally worth it.

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Okay so I just finished my masters in Special Education last year.

Here is the information I know:

You can get your masters in Education at many colleges. I highly doubt that you will have to take any undergrad classes because most colleges that have masters programs include all the classes and requirements that you need. When I went for mine at CW POST practically ALL the students were in the process of changing careers.

You cannot sub (for the most part) on Long Island without a teacher certification. Some districts like Farmingdale however do allow you to. It depends I guess.

Also, you CAN teacher while going for your masters if you do the NYC Fellowship plus you do not have to pay very much. They help with tuition. So, if you start this summer you can be teaching full time in NYC. The starting pay is over 40,000 and once you have your masters it is practically 50,000 with the new pay raise. I know this because my friend who I currently teach with NEVER took an education class in his life until June and is now working at my school. Plus, the best part - you do NOT have to student teach because you are already a teacher. Your professors come to you to observe and they are extremely supportive.

Good luck with the process. It may sound complicated now but once you have a job that is as gratifying as teaching Im sure you will be very happy.

If you need anything let me know.

Take care!

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Also, teaching in Queens or any NYC position provides wonderful experience. You will have an advantage when applying for LI jobs because many teachers start their career in the city. If you can teach here - you can teach anywhere. And you know what? We need good teachers. If you are willing to work hard and care for the students you work with than teaching in NYC is for you. Its stressful, yes. Especially working for such a huge department as the Board of Ed. but at the end of the day its worth it. Sorry to ramble.

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You can not teach until you have a NYS certificate and you willl need to finish a masters and take the testing exams before that

sorry

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Some schools have a career change program and 1/2 way through your program you are allowed to teach with an internship certification.

It requires that you fufill many of the state certification requirements (i.e. testing, fingerprinting, workshops) and complete at least half of your masters coursework and get a letter from your school recommending you for the certification. Then your job ultimately counts for your student teaching requirement.

Chances are you are not going to get a job on LI with this type of certification but you can get one in the city. I think it also depends on what you are thinking of going back for. If it is a subject that there is a need for you have a better chance.

Link to NYS Approved Programs

click on Inventory of Registered Programs.

Message edited 1/5/2007 1:07:06 PM.

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Thank you everyone for the info. As another poster mentioned speech pathology is also something i am interested in and I'm sure you can make decent $$ on the side doing that. Thanks again!

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I became a teacher though the New York City Teaching Fellows program, it is designed for career changers. it offers a super fast track to certification and a job. I'm not sure if LI has a program like it too.

www.nycteachingfellows.org

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