Secondary Teachers-need your help please!

I have questions..
I have a BS in Marketing, AA in Psychology-Gotten me NOWHERE..

I want to go back to be a secondary teacher-specialize in History or Italian.

As anyone gone from a business degree to Masters in Teaching?
How did you do it?
What was involved?
Did they pick apart your degree?

Are history and language teachers in demand?

I called the school I graduated from, and they told me they would pick apart my degree and i would need 24 to 30 credits in my concentration to apply to Masters program.

Any advice? Insight? Experience?

Message edited 8/20/2009 12:49:31 PM.

Re: Secondary Teachers-need your help please!

i dont want to completely discourage you but, i graduated in May with my MASTERS in secondary education - certified 5-12 SOCIAL STUDIES and i have not even gone on one interview.

i became really good friends with a bunch of people i went to school with - there are 6 of us - and NONE of us have jobs.

hopefully the teaching job market opens up by the time you finish school..

my word of advice:: MATH TEACHER.. your chances of getting a job are MUCH higher.

good luck!

Re: Secondary Teachers-need your help please!

You may be better off with the Italian the the SS.

Even better, you may be better off with Spanish if you can.

Better yet - Spanish AND Italian.

It is tough right now for jobs, but in my experience we have seen a need for Spanish/For. Lang. over SS.

Good luck with whatever you decide! It wouldn't hurt to throw in a Spec. Ed. degree while you are at it!

Re: Secondary Teachers-need your help please!

I'm a secondary Spanish teacher. Whatever your degree is in, you need 36 credits in the subject you want to teach. So if you want to teach Italian, you need 36 credits of undergrad/grad Italian. NY state may or may not accept CLEP exams for those credits. NYC did, for the purposes of salary advancement, but it's worth looking into because the test is under $100 and if you get a good score on it it's equivalent to two years of the language or 12 credits.

I wonder if a business degree would give you some Math credits towards your 36... have you thought about teaching math?

I teach in a middle-of-the-road district in LI and am friendly with a SS teacher who is taking his third leave replacement in a row here, because there are just no tenure-track positions for SS teachers around anywhere. They're so hard to come by. I'd go with Italian or math if I were you.


Edited to add: Most teachers teach for YEARS before they get their Master's. You need 36 credits in your subject plus 18 credits in education to start in a paid position, then you teach while getting your Masters at night. That's how I and all of my colleagues did it, as far as I know.

Message edited 8/20/2009 3:14:13 PM.

Re: Secondary Teachers-need your help please!

I would definitely go the language route instead of social studies. However, I wouldn't only do Italian - I would do Italian and Spanish. I am Spanish and ESL certified and in my district (as well as my husband's and my sister's, all LI districts) they prefer a secondary certification with Italian, since Italian programs seem to be less stable than Spanish. Another option is special education, many of my friends who have this certification have gotten jobs much quicker than those trying for English, SS or elementary ed positions.

Good luck!

Re: Secondary Teachers-need your help please!

I'm not a teacher, but I am friends with a bunch............all math teachers BTW on the island. Every single one of them told me that new grads coming out now don't have much hope of finding anything.

A couple of my friends who recently graduated as math teachers...........took them 1-2 years to find something here on the island. One of them was waitering that whole time.

Some people I know choose to work in the city, but from what I understand, they aren't taking new applicants for teaching positions in NYC right now.

Re: Secondary Teachers-need your help please!

I went from the business world (CPA) to teaching. I am dual certified in math & business.

I had to make up some undergrad math classes, and then went to Dowling for my Masters. There is very little difference between getting your certification as a career changer and getting your Masters (I think 2-3 classes at Dowling), so you might just want to get your Masters over and done with.

Definitely go for the language over SS. The only jobs I see consistently anymore are for foreign language teachers.

I wouldn't even bother with the math, that is becoming just as saturated as the other areas are.

Re: Secondary Teachers-need your help please!

New here!

I agree with the other posters-go for the Italian. Keep in mind though, that almost all schools will demand dual language certification-italian alone won't cut it. Those with the dual language will have an automatic advantage over you.

Re: Secondary Teachers-need your help please!

Use your buisness degree to your advantage. Get certified to teach Math and/or Buisness.

Many schools DONT have italian teachers..if they do, they only have one.

Social Studies teachers are NOT in demand.

If anything, get dually certified in Special Ed.- that cant hurt either.

Re: Secondary Teachers-need your help please!

Re: Secondary Teachers-need your help please!