Quickest/Cheapest way to become a teacher

Hey everyone - first post here. I need help.

It's always been my dream to be a teacher, preferably High School Science. Now that my kids are in school, I can stop wasting my life and start focusing on building a career. Obviously, I want to do this in the quickest/cheapest way possible. I realize nothing beats hands on experience, and I'll have plenty of that too, so no flaming me!

Right now, I'm signed up for Teacher Assistant Training starting in Sept (2 month program), which includes taking the parapro exam. Is this a giant waste of time? Should I forgo this completely? Will I get any college credit for this?

While I'm doing that, I'll be testing my way out of most requirements at Charter Oak (hereafter referred to as COCS). Here's my gameplan:
Written Communication: 6 credit English Composition with essay CLEP
Oral Communication: 3 credit Principles of Public Speaking DSST
Information Literacy: 3 credit Cornerstone Seminar (IDS 101)
Ethical Decision-Making: 3 credit Ethics in America DSST
U.S. History/Government: 3 credit History of US I CLEP
Non-U.S. History or Culture: 3 credit Western Civ I CLEP
Global Understanding: 3 credit Intro to World Religion DSST
Literature and Fine Arts: 6 credit Analyzing and Interpreting Literature CLEP
Social/Behavioral Sciences: 6 credit Social Sciences and History CLEP
Mathematics: 3 credit College Algebra ALEKS course
Natural Science: 6 credit Natural Science CLEP
The GRE Subject Test in Chemistry evaluated at 24 credits (15 lower, 9 upper)
3 credit capstone
ALEKS courses (3 cr ea = 15 cr): Trigonometry, PreCalculus, Introduction to Statistics, Business Statistics, Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences

I'll need labs, so I plan to get those at Community College of Rhode Island: CHMT 1120 Chemical Technology I (6 credits), CHMT 1220 Chemical Technology II (6 credits), CHMT 2320 Chemical Technology III (10 credits), CHMT 2420 Chemical Technology IV (8 credits). A problem with this is that CHMT 1120 isn't offered til Spring '14, which means it'll take a lot longer than I'd like to get the upper level labs completed. Is this the easiest/quickest/most effective/best way to get those lab credits? Is there a better way to do that? Am I going about this all wrong? Should I be majoring in something else?


Once I have my bachelors, I can work as a teacher on an emergency basis (there are many positions available in Providence, RI) until I finish the next step. There are a few ways to do this in RI, the Rhode Island Teacher Education Program (You should have a degree in the subject of certification), the Masters of Arts in Teaching, Rhode Island Teaching Fellows, and Teach for America.

and....I just looked up Providence College, who apparently offers a BA in Liberal Studies with Teacher Certification Program...and allows you apply up to 75 credits from exams/prior learning toward a bachelor's degree....How could I use this to my advantage?

Also, I qualify for pell grants, so I could take $5k worth of classes per semester at at traditional brick & mortar school (cheap, not quick?)!

References: Charter Oak's Catalog General Education Requirements
Charter Oak's Catalog Programs of Study and Degree Requirements for Chemistry
The Rhode Island Teacher Education Program (RITE).

Providence College BA in Liberal Studies with Teacher Certification

 

Providence College is probably going to be one of your more expensive alternatives. URI will be much more reasonable. Also, don't forget that you need to do a student teaching internship.

 

Hi funkEpunkEmonkE,

A warm welcome to Degree Info. Here's some information about your posts showing up: http://www.degreeinfo.com/general-distance-learning-discussions/35100-new-users-ask-where-did-my-posts-go.html

I am encouraged to hear that there are many teaching positions available in RI. Here in California, the opposite is true; very little available, especially to beginning teachers.

I have been a Jr. High teacher for many years, and I will give you my perceptions. Science is a good choice for a teacher because there is usually a shortage of science and math teachers.

I don't recall seeing where you tell us what your major will be, but it looks like it will be science. Good, again.

I firmly believe that the path you take to getting your science degree is not very important; the important thing is that you have a regionally accredited degree. Charter Oak is a good choice. You will also have to complete a teacher training program that includes student teaching. In California, those programs take an additional year.

I would be glad to answer any questions you may have.

 

Does your state have an alternative teacher certification program? The ones that aren't connected to colleges are usually self-paced and some are online. Once you finish the coursework or get to a certain point in the coursework, you can start teaching on a probationary license after passing the Praxis or similar exam. Your first year of teaching is your internship, and you're paid the same salary as other teachers. After teaching for one year on a probationary license, you become a fully licensed teacher.

 

This is good information. Thanks Tammy.

 

It looks like Rhode Island does have an alternative route that works similar to what I described.
http://www.ride.ri.gov/Portals/0/Uploads/Documents/Teachers-and-Administrators-Excellent-Educators/Educator-Certification/Becoming-an-Educator/Standards-for-Alternate-Route-to-Certification-Programs-FINAL-BoR-Adopted.pdf

Luckily, you're looking to become a science teacher because many districts will only hire those with probationary licenses in high needs subjects: chemistry, physics, special education, math, etc.

 

so it looks like the Bachelors Degree in General Studies with a concentration in Chemistry at Charter Oak will be quicker/cheaper than PC....but I'm still not sure how to get the upper level labs done quicker. Any advice that doesn't involve travel to Alberta or Oregon

In reply to SurfDoctor,
There are a few ways to do the teacher training program, the Rhode Island Teacher Education Program, the Masters of Arts in Teaching, Rhode Island Teaching Fellows, and Teach for America.

Tammy,
The RI Teaching Fellows, and programs like that, are the alternative program. It's part of my plan.

A few of my questions went unanswered:
1. Is becoming a TA first (2months of classes) a giant waste of time? Should I forgo this completely?
2. Should I be majoring in something else, like general science, so I can finish faster?

 

I completed a bachelors in natural science at tesc. They offer great transfer options and testing out. You should check them out.

 

It's not easy to get accepted into Teach for America. They are very elitist when it comes to the prestige of colleges. Whether or not it's a waste of time to work as a TA depends on how RI's alternative programs work. Some programs will give you observation hours for recent work in education. It might be overkill, however. You'll probably only need a week's worth of observation hours, but if you want to work while completing your degree, it might be worth it.

I did make a test out plan for TESC's natural science program. Even if you elect to take courses, you won't need any lab credits for the degree.
Sanantone's BA in Natural Sciences and Mathematics - Degree Forum Wiki

The Pell Grant is a max of $5550 per year.

 

Others may know better but I'm guessing that a General Science degree would work for Middle School but High Schools might prefer a more hardcore specialization like Biology, Chemistry, etc.

 

Ouch, no kidding. Quit wasting your life on your own kids, instead realize your dream of teaching OTHER people's kids.

But, maybe she did not mean it that way. Sounds like she has a decent plan. Have you looked at WGU's (Western Governors University) teaching programs? They actually have a pretty decent reputation here in Washington State, but we're laid back north-westerner's so you might want something closer to home.

 

You might want to take a look at Western Governors University. If you're determined and are a fast learner, you can get done with their competency units fast, at a reasonable expense (Roughly $3000-ish for a six month term).

 

WGU works for those who don't need to work for a living or don't mind living off of student loans. You don't really have much time to work while doing a full-time internship, and it lasts for a semester. You aren't paid. In fact, you have to pay the internship site a fee that's usually over $1,000. While WGU's other programs might be fast if you can work fast, they really drag out the process for the education and nursing programs.

Online Teaching Degree | Online Teacher Licensure | Teacher Certification | WGU Teachers College Online

That doesn't even include the non-teaching coursework.

 

Oh guys,

I didn't mean raising kids has been a waste of my life. I meant that waiting this long to pursue my dreams has been a waste of my life. Raising kids is super fun and rewarding!

So, if I go the BS In LS route, I might not be able to teach high school without additional coursework in a specialty....but it seems to be the quickest, ie 4 wks ....which is appealing!

 

I can't tell you if you're going to be competitive without a degree in a science, but I believe you can just take the subject test and become certified to teach that subject. I have a social science degree, and I was approved by my program to take the Life Science 8-12 exam. As long as I passed it, I could have taught high school, life science subjects. I dropped out of the program when I was accepted to a PhD program.

 

Yes, this is what I was trying to communicate too. If funkE.... is going to teach science, it would be much better to have a degree in science rather than a general degree with a concentration in science.

Also, being a TA might have some value in gaining experience. If you can't directly get a teaching job, anything you have on your resume that shows talent in dealing with kids is better than nothing. However, I would just go for being a full-fledged teacher, if possible.

Warning: FunkE, being a teacher is not as easy as it looks. It is exhausting and often frustrating work. The idea of having summers off might be true for a few, but most of us have to take a second job in the summer just to make ends meet.

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I'm back with an update! A few months after posting this, my husband moved us to North Central Massachusetts for his work. In MA, you only need a bachelor's and to pass the MTEL to teach. Because I've been subbing and coaching at the local high school, they want me to be a full time teacher.

However, I have a 3 year old at home, so I'm not quite ready. My deadline looks like Fall 2017, when the littlest hits full time kindergarten. I have however promptly started taking CLEP and DSST exams, and enrolled in the community college.

Now, I'm 2 classes away from my associates. The local community college wants one literature and one lab science (but the bio or chem CLEP will count). What should I do/take? It's a little late for the Fall semester. There's an accelerated Literary Masterpieces course I can take from 10/21-12/23. I tried the Am. Lit. CLEP and failed with a 49 (whoomp, whoomp). It's that lab science that's bothering me. I could have just taking Energy Management this fall, but I decided I'd just test out of the rest of the degree instead. Except now I'm afraid I'll fail the Bio CLEP too. Granted, I've passed 4 or 5 tests already, but now I'm nervous!

So, quickest/cheapest/easiest way to get my bachelors by 2017?

 

depends on what prior knowledge do you have, if you only have 60 odd credits, and you have significant experience or knowledge, you could try Northern Arizona U's PL program. They have 3 majors, ICT, Business or Liberal Arts. clearing 60 credits in 1 year is totally doable since you can test out alot of the modules and earn credits once you've passed. These are college credits - not CLEP or DSST. Fees for the course is $2500 for every 6 months. You can earn as much credits as you wish over those 6 months. Test out or take as many classes as you can.

Northern Arizona University | Urban & Rural AZ Campuses | Online Degrees

 

I've been hanging around the forums for a while now, and this is the first I'm hearing about Northern Arizona U. It sounds like a pretty good program and I'm going to look into it further! Thanks!