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Would I have an easier time finding a job
as a middle school teacher? I've never
known a middle school teacher personally
so I don't know how hard that age range
is to teach or what time they get off
everyday.

On 8/16/16, Paris wrote:
> None of the ACP programs are any better
than the
> others as far as finding a job. A
principal will look at
> your resume and quickly find that you
weren't trained
> at a college or university. Some
principals have a bias
> against teachers who were not trained
through a
> university.
>
> I would strongly recommend Texas
Teachers because
> they have a clinical teaching option,
which is very
> much like student teaching. Elementary
teachers are a
> dime a dozen, unless you know someone
who is an
> administrator who can hire you, you
will otherwise be
> waiting a very long time to get an
internship in
> elementary. There are lots of
elementary teachers
> coming out of universities who are
fully certified. Why
> hire an intern at full salary who has a
few weeks of
> seminars and hasn't seen the inside of
a classroom
> since they were a student?
>
> If you must do the internship route due
to financial
> reasons, even if you want to ultimately
teach
> elementary, you would be better
certifying in special
> education or ESL just to do the
internship and get
> certified.
>
> The Texas Teacher route is pretty
simple. You apply,
> and once you are accepted and pay the
initial fee, you
> get a letter from them that allows you
to start looking
> for an internship (job). It's not too
late for some high
> needs areas that are almost all special
education or
> ESL vacancies.
>
> Once you get the letter you are
approved to take the
> content area certification exam. Most
of these can be
> taken year round, and are administered
online. The
> exams are 5 hours long. You need to
take the exams
> for certification and to demonstrate
highly qualified
> status.
>
> At the time of admission into the
program you have to
> choose whether to do your seminars
online or do
> them in person. The online seminars you
can do on
> your own time and at your own pace, but
there are
> points in the presentations that you
have to respond
> to questions. If you do the in person
seminars you
> only need to attend and sit in the room
to complete
> the program.
>
> Once you have an internship, you will
apply for a 1
> year probationary certificate and will
start working.
> Texas Teachers will assign you an
internship
> supervisor who will observe your
teaching once
> during each semester. Your school will
also assign you
> a faculty member to be your mentor. At
the end of the
> year you must score satisfactory on
your T-TESS
> (formally PDAS) and your principal
makes a final
> recommendation to approve you for
certification
>
> Near the end of your internship in
April or May you will
> be approved to take the PPR exam. This
is the exam
> certification programs are evaluated
on. Texas
> Teachers takes it very seriously. If
you fail you have to
> do some test preparation workshops with
Texas
> Teachers. You may only take the PPR a
total of three
> times, after that you can no longer
receive approval to
> register for and take the exam, and
without passing
> the exam you can not be certified.
>
> If everything goes well you will be
able to apply for the
> Standard certificate.
>
> The other option is clinical teaching.
This is a 12 week
> program in a school where you work with
another
> teacher directly in their classroom.
You are basically
> an assistant teacher. In the beginning
you mostly do
> observations for a few weeks in
different classrooms,
> and more and more take over
responsibilities in the
> classroom, by the end of the 12 weeks
you're
> essentially running the class by
yourself for a week,
> though the supervising teacher is still
in the room.
>
> Aside from the reduced time commitment
of only 12
> weeks, you must pay for the entire
program upfront. If
> you obtain an internship Texas Teachers
will do a
> payroll reduction during the
internship.
> You also have less of a workload. You
aren't creating
> daily lessons, grading assignments, or
a lot of the
> everyday things teachers do to teach
every day.
> Lastly, you have a little more time to
take the
> certification exams. You don't need a
probationary
> certificate to do clinical teaching so
you can wait on
> the content exam. You won't be
certified until you take
> both the PPR and content exam, but you
can schedule
> them at the end of the clinical
teaching over the
> winter/summer break if you want to.
>
> It's not too late for clinical teaching
and it's the only
> way I see you getting elementary
education certified
> anytime soon.
>
> It wasn't difficult for me to find a
job when I did mine,
> but my area was health science
technology. I know a
> LOT of teachers in elementary who
applied for the
> program and waited and waited before
getting
> certified in something else just so
they could get an
> internship.
>
> If you want a better program, I would
recommend a
> Post-Bachelor's program. These are 1
year (Summer,
> Fall, Spring, Summer) programs offered
by education
> departments in colleges and
universities. They are
> basically a minor in education (15-18
hours) plus
> student teaching. Of course you pay
tuition but you
> qualify for financial aid (student
loans and a little bit of
> grant money), there are some
scholarships for math
> and science at certain colleges and
universities.
> These programs take longer and cost at
least twice as
> much. It's very difficult and many
colleges officially
> prohibit you from working during
student teaching.
>
> Whatever you learn in Texas Teachers is
going to
> depend almost entirely on your mentor
teacher and
> the support you get at your school. The
seminars
> aren't worth very much, and you don't
really practice
> anything. You won't learn much in a
university either.
> You spend a lot of time making lesson
plans you aren't
> really going to use and studying
theories that are
> decades old that you will also never
use.
>
>
> On 8/11/16, Casey wrote:
>> Hello everyone, I am considering
beginning
>> a career as a teacher and want to know
the
>> steps I have to take to receive an
>> alternative teaching certification.
What
>> program is the best? (Easiest or or
gives
>> me a better chance at getting a job)
Ive
>> looked at the texasteacher program.has
>> anyone done the paid internship route?
If
>> so how was each part of the process?
Was
>> it difficult to find a job afterwards?
Are
>> there any better programs to look at?
Also
>> is it to late for me to start since
school
>> is starting in a week or two? I'm
looking
>> to be certified in elementary in the
>> plano/garland area. Thanks for any
help!

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