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Okay so I am in my second year of community college, I want to go to a University and get a bachelors degree and then become a teacher, mainly a history teacher in high school. My problem is that i do not want an associates degree in liberal arts which is the degree my counselors suggested to be able to transfer and work to become a teacher.
I need help in deciding on a major for my associates degree that will help me become a teacher BUT one that has a better chance of getting me a job. after community college, an associates degree in liberal arts has terrible qualifications for jobs.
As opposed to an associates in computer science, accounting, business management, you get the point.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, I want to become a history teacher, but I do not want to major in liberal arts if I can avoid it. I want to get an associates degree that is useful in getting me a job after Community college. I also don't want to major in the majors listed above. Maybe Computer science but it requires a ton of math other wise id like it.
(Suggesting to talk to a counselor wont work since they have no clue )
Are you planning to go into an intermediate job before you finish your bachelor's degree? If you are moving forward right away, I don't know if your AA major makes that much difference as long as you have all your prerequisites and pass your school of education entrance exam. That is required to take the education classes that you will need. Have you contacted the university you plan to attend? Their teacher certification office will be able to point you in the right direction.
The reason that degree is being suggested is because it requires the same classes that person who wants to teach high school history needs. Practical degrees, such as those you have listed, generally don't dovetail with most teaching credentials. This does not mean you can't or shouldn't get one of those degrees, it just means you'll have to take extra classes.
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I suggest you go to the teacher certification website in your state and see what courses they require to become a history teacher. If that is the subject that you wish to teach, the state will require a certain number of credits in various history genres (ancient, European, China, etc.). In my state, social studies teacher also need to have taken economics because that is also a HS requirement for our students. Unfortunately, as you already know, coursework in history and even economics alone will not make you very marketable outside of your pursuit for an education degree. Be forewarned that in many areas of the country, the supply of social studies teachers is saturated. If you can, how about taking a double major when you transfer to a 4 year program?
I would recommend an associates that covers a lot of your core content area. I don't really know what that would be for a history major, but for math or science, I would recommend an AS in mathematics. Since you want to teach, you may also want to look into the practical side with an AS in Early Childhood Education and get some practice working as a substitute teacher or as an assistant teacher at a daycare. If your program is anything like mine, you will learn a lot more about classroom management from actually being in a classroom than from studying a textbook. The classroom management strategies you learn at the elementary school level are good for K-12. A group of kids can be surprisingly immature. Their minds are filled with idle nonsense. It's best to know how to curb it and get them focused.
I know that many people think that taking two years at a community college is always the best way to save money and get a head start on their college degree but you do need to be aware that some four year programs start their sequence of required classes quite early. When I earned my teaching degree I needed to start the first classes in the required order as a second semester freshman.
Please contact the education department at the University where you want to get your degree with all of your questions. Good luck to you.
I know that many people think that taking two years at a community college is always the best way to save money and get a head start on their college degree but you do need to be aware that some four year programs start their sequence of required classes quite early. When I earned my teaching degree I needed to start the first classes in the required order as a second semester freshman.
Please contact the education department at the University where you want to get your degree with all of your questions. Good luck to you.
This is good advice, and I think it depends on your major and college. I majored in English and didn't really have to take Education courses until my Junior year. I also took a lot of my courses out of sequence. The only time I needed to worry about sequence was when I got into actual field experience.
I know that many people think that taking two years at a community college is always the best way to save money and get a head start on their college degree but you do need to be aware that some four year programs start their sequence of required classes quite early. When I earned my teaching degree I needed to start the first classes in the required order as a second semester freshman.
Please contact the education department at the University where you want to get your degree with all of your questions. Good luck to you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kmb501
This is good advice, and I think it depends on your major and college. I majored in English and didn't really have to take Education courses until my Junior year. I also took a lot of my courses out of sequence. The only time I needed to worry about sequence was when I got into actual field experience.
This just shows the vast difference between programs and how important it is to contact the actual college or University where you plan to earn your degree.
At my school, Teaching Methods & Materials I needed to be taken before Teaching Methods & Materials II and you had to take both of them before you could take Educational Fieldwork and that had to be finished before you could take Classroom Management and that had to completed before you could take Working with Students with Special Needs and then your two or three semesters of Student Teaching. Plus, of course, lots of other education courses. I don't remember the actual class names just that the sequence needed to start your freshman year if you wanted to graduate in four years. I did not start on time and it took me five and half years to graduate with a teaching degree (I had about 35 extra credits).
Good luck to the OP and other potential new teachers reading this thread.
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