Robert Heinlein once said, ‘When one teaches, two learn.’ If you’re also willing to know how to become a teacher and enlighten thousand of minds, read on.

Imagine your day first day at school, and someone entered your classroom and taught you the basic alphabets. Little did you imagine that these alphabets were necessary for you to read and learn the basics of anything that come by. This selfless service of imparting education is what might urge most for you to become a teacher. No matter what you become in life, they lay the foundation of what you know today. So, this brings into account the different necessities to fulfill to become a teacher and educate many- read on to find your way into taking up the role.

If you love imparting education to people who want to know about anything, also read:

How to Become a School Psychologist
How to Become a Social Worker  

Who are Teachers? 

They are ones who believe in imparting education to students and make them aware of things that exist. Becoming a teacher might be easy to define, but there are many complexities to mention their job role. Teachers will have these traits; love, kindness, honesty, being real, patient, calm and composed, smart, intelligent, and alert.

Why Are Teachers Important?

As a fact, a teacher is not only the person you get to interact in school or college, but it could be anyone who imparts knowledge or teach you a lesson in our day to day life. To count a few, their job roles outside of school could be parents, siblings, mediators, guidance counselors, nurses, doctors, educators, friends, and even your enemies. All these people teach you some valuable lessons in life in some way or the other. Also, the biggest lesson one can teach oneself can’t be taught by anyone.

Anyway, today we are going to look at educators. These educators, who are ones who help students to read, write, understand, and solve problems. This blog post makes you aware of how becoming a teacher can play a foundational role in the growth of an individual.

Becoming a Teacher – The 3 How’s

I’m sure we all had our own favorite set of teachers and our least favorite ones. These people have a lasting impression on us, even if they have done good or bad to us. If one who taught you was your all-time favorite even after you moved away from school or college, you still remember them. Also, neither do they ever forget their students. They might not remember you by name, but seeing your face will most definitely remember you. Thanks to the social networking site “FaceBook,” many of the teachers and the student connect with each other today.

Before you ask “how do I become a teacher” you have to think much further than the fundamentals like how:-

• can you be an outstanding one
• will you impact your student’s life now and in the future
• students will remember you for all the positive things you have taught them year after year

Still, this will come to you after you get some teacher’s education and training and apply them to your practice.

Types of Jobs for a Teacher

Before becoming a teacher, you have to choose which kind of teacher you would like to become; an elementary school teacher, a middle school teacher, or a high school teacher.

An elementary school consists of:-

• Kindergarten (Min age of the child is five) to the fifth grade (normal age of the child will be eleven years old)
• The middle schools (sometimes referred to as junior high school) consist of grades 6th to 9th
• Finally, high school (sometimes called secondary education) consists of grades from 10th to 12th

So, if you chose to become either an elementary school teacher, middle school teacher, or a high school teaching, you must have three basic elements:-

• A bachelor’s degree
• An internship as a student teacher
• State license to practice as a teacher

How to Become a Kindergarten Teacher?

The method of becoming a kindergarten teacher is the same as becoming an elementary school one and a high school one. The focus here is on the values of education, the psychology of learning, and teaching techniques because a child’s mind is developing learning about new things in life. In middle school and high school, the focus is on a particular subject.

Remember to become a kindergarten teacher; you need to love and show care for children from ages five and six. You need to blend in well and help these little minds in their development process. It’s very important to communicate with these children, so you need to have good communication skills. Furthermore, you have to be extra patient and tolerant of some of these brats as they look for their mothers who are warm and comforting in you.

You need a bachelor’s degree to become one, you must have some experience certification by CDA (Child Development Association), which will allow you to practice as a kindergarten teacher.

As a kindergarten teacher, you can draw a starting salary of $33,638 avg per year, which can go up to $69,793 after few years of experience.

How to Become a Special Education Teacher?

Special education teachers teach children with special needs such as learning and speaking disabilities, mentally challenged, language impairment, autism, orthopedic difficulties, visual impairments, deaf and blind, and traumatic brain injury, etc.

The education you need to become a special education teacher is a bachelor’s degree in special education, which covers topics like:-

• child development
• special education policies
• legalities
• education psychology
• skills to teach children with special needs

After completion of the bachelor’s degree and the student-teacher training, you will need to be certified by the state to practice as one. Few states in the U.S. need special education ones to get a Master’s degree as well.

As a special education teacher, you will draw a starting salary of $92,073 avg per year, which can go up to $244,169 after few years of experience. Remember, this salary might differ if you do not have a master’s degree in special education and the location in which you are teaching.

Becoming an Art Teacher

An art teacher introduces the creative side of a child. Children find art classes as a mechanism for their creative and imaginative minds to drift away. As a result, people who want to become an art teacher should have excellent knowledge of the art that the plan to teach.

Most prospective students should have a degree in fine arts or equal to it. The art degree course covers:-

• theater arts
• visual arts
• painting
• drawing
• sculpting
• programming

Once you finish the bachelor’s degree in fine arts, you need to have some training in art from a school under the guidance of a licensed art teacher, after which you will seek a license to practice.

As one, you will draw a starting salary of $27,000 avg per year, which can go up to $71,410 after 20 plus years of experience.

How to Become a Preschool Teacher?

As a preschool teacher, you will teach children between the ages of three to five using the techniques of interactive activities and play activities that will help you, child, in developing vocabulary and language. The other used methods are reading or telling stories, rhymes, conducting social games to help children build relations with other children, and play methods to introduce scientific and mathematical ideas.

To become a preschool teacher, the education you need would be an associate’s degree in early childhood education, which will enable you to use all your learning skills into practice. But, if you have a bachelor’s degree in early education, that’d be an added advantage. The course work at the beginning of the program will cover the basics of coloring, numbers, and alphabets. There will be two or three classes in children psychology, which will help you understand how a child’s brain works. Also, most preschool teachers might must certification in first aid and infant and child Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

After the degree program, you will need to get a certification from CDA, or any other national recognizes authority before practicing.

As a preschool teacher, you will draw a starting salary of $60,821 avg per year, which can go up to $125,190 after few years of experience.

Becoming a Substitute Teacher

A substitute teacher is a person who teaches in the absence of the regular teacher.

Every state has its perspective and needs for a substitute teacher, but the education needed is a high school diploma. After that, whatever the education requirements will vary from state to state, so it’s advised to get in touch with your education board to find out the details.

The salary a substitute teacher will get will be in-between $18,557 to $30,916.

How to Become a Math Teacher?

Math teachers play a vital role in any education system. They teach students on many mathematical concepts such as:-

• equations
• problems
• functions
• values
• algebra

A math teacher is more in demand in middle and high schools. In elementary school, a math teacher would only teach general mathematics.

The education required is a bachelor’s degree in mathematics; also, hands-on experience in-classroom training with a licensed math teacher watching over you. Once you complete these requirements, you will need to get your state license to practice as one.

For teaching math, you will draw a starting salary of $55,000 avg per year, which can go up to $75,100 after few years of experience.

How to Become a Teacher in the U.S.?

Teaching in Texas

If you want to become a teacher in the state of Texas, you will need to have a bachelor’s degree in the subject you wish to teach. After which you need to complete a teacher’s training program, which helps you learn the methods and techniques used for teaching and nothing related to the subject you are teaching.

The final step would be to sit for a THEA (Texas Higher Education Assessment) exam, which checks you on your teaching skills, and another exam called TExES (Texas Education Examination Services), an exam to test you the subject you wish to teach.

Once you have passed both the tests, you will be able to teach in Texas with the Texas teaching certification.

Teaching in Florida

If you want to become a teacher in Florida, the education you need is a bachelor’s degree in the specific subject you will like to teach elementary, middle, or high school students. Once you have passed the bachelor’s degree, you will need to enroll for an accredited training program.

After you’re done with the training program, you will have to sit for the FTCE (Florida Teacher Certification Examination) exam before getting certified by the state of Florida to practice as one.

Teaching in California

Like all other states, even Florida needs a bachelor’s degree in the field of study; a teacher would want to teach students, followed by a teacher’s training program. After the completion of the teacher’s training program, you will have to sit for the CSET (California Subject Exams for Teachers) examination for five hours. Only after you pass this exam will you get certified to practice as a teacher in California.