I teach Secondary Science in a Jr High setting, but I’m wanting to be able to teach in 4th, 5th, or 6th grades, which means I need to be certified in Elementary Ed. I’ve already spent 6 years getting my degree and state of idaho certification, so a lot more schooling isn’t really appealing right now. Plus, the job market for Science teachers isn’t that great (as compared to Elementary). I’ve looked everywhere to see if there is some sort of online courses I can take in a short amount of time, but I haven’t found anything. Any ideas or suggestions would be VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!
I would send for a university of Idaho catalog and look up the section on education degrees to see how much transfers. For elementary ed, after I attended university, I did have to take more schooling as well as to do practice teaching. I had to take methods of teaching math, science, and maybe reading. Then, I had to take a test. But now, my state has taken over the certification for the whole state. So it is probably the same in your state. In that case, go to the government site to see if there is particular information. I really believe your best bet would be to specialize and that you might get paid to get an ESL degree, and I would look into that. Otherwise, if you get a master’s degree in education children with behavioral disorders, you will get a job. Whereas, I don’t see how there are jobs just in regular, non specialized elementary education due to racial quotas. I would look into that to be sure. Also, regarding substituting, you might find some openings, so you could attend school at night. Many courses you need are given at night. As to doing it by correspondence or in today’s parlance, online, I seriously doubt it.