What does it take to be a high school english teacher? What is the day in the life of a high school teacher?

Question

I am just curious. I am currently a video editor online producer for a news site. In 2 years I plan on going back to school to get my license for teaching English and Journalism at the high school level. I just want to get all the information I can about the teaching profession.

Answer 1

As someone who just finished his first year as a 9th grade English teacher, I can only tell you what it will be like at first. It's a struggle to adapt to rooms of 30 teenagers, most of whom disdain even being in the room with you. Most of what you'll learn in a certification program gets thrown to the side of the road when you first start teaching, but as you get comfortable, all of those notes will end up helping you (just not much in your first year). You spend a lot of time planning lessons and activities the first year, and it will take a little while to get into the grading thing (my first batch of 130 essays took me about 2+ weeks, working 2-3 hours a night). Depending on the administration you work with, you could really enjoy your colleagues or hate the working environment. Really, there's a wide range of experiences.

That said, as you get into your first year, and as you start building relationships with students, it grows on you. By the end of the year, I actually missed some of my students - even the ones that were a thorn in my side all year. You also learn to be more efficient at planning and grading, and you start to make some friends on the staff.

Generally speaking, a typical day involves getting materials ready and helping out a student or two in the morning, teaching your classes (and usually you get a planning period), and then after school people go a lot of different ways - some stay for a couple hours and get work done, some go straight home, some go coach sports, some do after school clubs.

Long story longer, being a HS English teacher is pretty much what you make it. If you are really there because you care about kids/young adults, and you are willing to learn in front of them, it's a pretty good experience. Hopefully it gets better after the first year, but I can't say that for sure - it's just what I've been told. Best of luck to you!

Answer 2

Learning about capitalization is a good start.  Other than that, you have to get a degree in secondary education with majors in English and journalism.  A master's degree is nice but not necessary.

Answer 3

The requirements depend on your state.  California is the most difficult state to be licensed in, so I'll start there.

You need a single subject teaching credential in English.  You have to complete a teacher certification program and then take the CSETs which are subject matter tests.  You will need to do a year of student teaching while in your certification program.  This is a full time job for which you do not get paid.  YOu have to make sure your certification program has a CLAD built in (it's the ELD thing) or you have to take the CLAD exam which is very difficult.

Good luck!  This country needs good teachers.  Especially in the ghettos.

Answer 4

No such thing as a typical day, every day is different and ever lesson is different. Hard work, but very rewarding

Answer 5

I think you would find it very rewarding as well as challenging.  Your day is probably pretty much the way you remember your days in high school... except you're probably teaching two or three different classes two or three times a day.  You'll also have a planning period for lesson plans, but you'll likely have plenty of papers to grade at home in the evening.  The best part of teaching?  The kids!  You'll enjoy working with them... the brightest, the kid that needs a big boost, and everyone in between.  If you really want some insights, check out alternativeeducationbible.com and read some of the stories; granted, these are kids in an alternative learning environments, but I think you'll find some things to be very eyeopening.

Answer 6

It's really hard you have to yell a lot of people and teach the language as well.