Making countless lesson plans, having parent-teacher conferences, creating effective classroom management, and most importantly, enriching lives. These are just a few things that education majors have in store once they are set to become certified teachers. But what about the time during college? What should education majors expect when they enroll in their classes?
“When I first started teaching I thought that I was doing it for all the right reasons. Shorter hours. Summers off. No accountability.” –Elizabeth Halsey, Bad Teacher
I love the movie, Bad Teacher. Not all education majors might think this way, but it can be a common misconception that teachers have it “made in the shade” for some reasons like having summers off, unless you decide to teach in the summer which would then not apply to you. The reality is that the field of education is not for the faint of heart! When you begin taking college courses on your road to teacherdom, here are five things you can expect when you become an education major:
- Before you can start taking education classes, you must obtain a background clearance. Background clearance for teachers vary from state to state. For Alabama teachers, for example, aspiring teachers must complete a background clearance through ALSDE where they submit a fingerprint for records. This process typically costs $48.15 in Alabama. The teaching candidate is accessed through a background clearance that looks at things such as past criminal history.
- You will have to decide if you want to pursue the elementary or secondary education routes. Personally, I am a secondary education major with a concentration in English Language Arts. I will discuss ELA majors in another blog post. My roommate, for example, is an elementary education major. We have had to take some of the same basic education courses, but now we are taking more advanced courses that get into the nitty gritty of our majors. Typically, elementary education majors are certified to teach grades K-6 while secondary education majors are certified to teach grades 7-12.
- Education majors are challenged in many ways. From PRAXIS tests to TEP interviews and everything in between, education majors have some hurdles they will have to jump to in order to reach the finish line. Furthermore, some assignments have left me to sink or swim. Not everything can be super straightforward since there are many different ways that a situation can play out in the classroom. For example, when making lesson plans, you will have to list all the procedures you will take, how you can accomodate different students with different needs, and on top of that, make an engaging and stimualting enviornment and lesson for your students. Teachers have to have a little bit of creativity to make the most impact on students. What they get out of your class is up to you.
- Piggybacking on #3 a little bit, when I say you will create lesson plans in your education classes, I don’t just mean a handful over the course of your time in college. Expect to get very familiar with writing, on average, 10-15 page lesson plans on a regular basis. Not to scare you or anything, but lesson plans are designed to get you closely aquainted with the ins and outs of standards and objectives for your chosen grade level and content area. One popular website that I love using using is Alabama Learning Exchange or https://alex.state.al.us/ This site is very easy to navigate and you can browse different lesson plans posted by real teachers and the different standards for each grade level. ALEX is a useful resource for any education major of any content area or grade level.
- Last but certaintly not least, come up with your why. Why do you want to become a teacher? This will definitely come up in a future assignment or two. Write down a list of reasons of why teaching appeals to you. You need to be confident in your why or else you may have a harder time finding the motivation and drive to finish certain assignments or tests. Make a vision board or a Pinterest board for what you aspire to be as a teacher. I will link my “Future Classroom” Pinterst board if you’re interested in some inspiration. https://www.pinterest.com/captivatedclassroom/future-classroom/
And as the famous Porky Pig says, “That’s all, folks!” If you found this blog helpful or interesting, please leave a comment down below! I will make future in-depth posts related to education majors as well as tips and resources that will help you ace your education classes. Thanks for reading and good luck in your teaching journey!
