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Watto's Junk Yard / Re: Graphic design as a Major- have a couple of questions
« on: March 12, 2008, 11:39 PM »Yeah, I'm a junior in high school, too, and am starting to think about careers and colleges and all that jazz.
I've thought about majoring in something with Education. I've always wanted to be a high school teacher, especially after having some of my teachers this year. Does anyone know what specific major you would go for if you are looking to become a history teacher when you're out of college?
What Chris said is pretty good advice. I taught U.S. History to high school students for two years in the DISD (Dallas Independent School District), and did it without an education degree or a teacher certificate. But most states will eventually require that you get some kind of teacher certificate. I decided after two years that teaching high school students was not my calling (and trust me if it's not your calling you DO NOT WANT TO TEACH -- you'll be doing yourself and the students a huge disservice), and thus never went back to get my certificate. My biggest fear was ending up like all the other teachers, who obviously saw the job as simply a paycheck, hated kids, and were just very bitter about everything. I said to hell with that and got out. As far as what history knowledge you should have ... well I had a B.A. is U.S. History and a M.A. in American Civil War History, as well as dabbling in 19th Century Germany, Imperial Russia, and WWI; but they had me teach U.S. History from 1865-Present (... so I did at least get to cover WWI). But the overall impression I got from administration and teachers in other subjects was that the history teachers were expected to be able to coach a sport, or monitor the ISS room.
...but then the DISD has historically been a very poor school district, so if you get a position in a good school with forward thinking admins and involved parents you'll probably have a much better experience. Teaching can be very rewarding. It's been 8 years since I taught high school and I still miss being able to interact with the students and help them make good choices, and just teaching them about life in general. I still recall taking one class and teaching the boys how to put on a tie and the boys/girls how to look professional so that they could impress potential employees. The class had nothing to do with history, but that's the sort of thing that I miss about teaching.