So You'd Like to Become a Teacher Someday ...
"I love teaching
because there's something new every day and the children give you a new outlook
on life so you never get old....," Mrs.
Anderson remarked. Mrs. Diaz said,
"I'm now part of the community and get to
know so many different people so well . There is honor and responsibility
to be the person who brings understanding to another. Each day is truly
full of surprises. It's so fun!" Mrs.Martin
explains that she loves teaching because "I
can see the light in the children's eyes when they learn something new and
the smile on their faces when they know they have
succeeded."
The road to becoming a teacher can be rewarding but
it's not as easy as you might think! First, you need to pick and apply to
a college that offers a teaching major. Your first two years at college will
include classes in the arts, social sciences, math, humanities, English and
other languages to provide you with a broad-based education. Typically, colleges
will require 123 total credit hours for a bachelor's (4-year) degree to teach
elementary school. Specialized courses in the field of education are taken
in the last two years, such as Foundations of Education, Educational Psychology,
Instructional Media, Teaching Reading, Teaching Special Education, among
others. You also have to complete 8-16 weeks of student teaching, where you
are placed with a trained supervising teacher to gain actual experience of
conducting classes on a daily basis.
Getting your college diploma is only the first step
in becoming a certificated teacher. You then have to become certified in
the state where you wish to teach. In many states, you have to pass the National
Teacher Examination. Here are some of the questions; the answers are at the
bottom. Challenge yourself!
1. Of the children listed below, which
is the child most likely to be overlooked by a teacher as needing help?
a. the hyperactive
child
b. the quiet, withdrawn
child
c. the acting out
child
d. the child who
calls out the answer
e. the child who
physically attacks other children
2. When a teacher uses homework regularly,
which of the following practices should always characterize its use?
a. It should
be utilized as part of the learning process.
b. Children should
review and correct it.
c. The teacher should
collect and grade it.
d. It should
be reviewed as the first part of the next lesson.
e. There should
be a penalty for not completing it, sufficiently severe to make it clear
that homework is important.
3. The nursery school, kindergarten and
primary grades include variety of activities in which there is an opportunity
for the child to manipulate materials. The primary reason for including this
type of activity is that it:
a. Develops perceptual
skills.
b. Develops a positive
attitude toward work.
c. Provides concrete
experiences that form the basis for conceptual thinking.
d. Introduces children
to a variety of creative materials.
e. Forces the
child to pay attention to the lesson.
4. The classification of educational objectives
related to cognitive functioning into the categories of knowledge: comprehension,
application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation was developed by:
a.
Bruner
b.
Havighurst
c.
Piaget
d. Bloom
e.
Spencer
5. A character test was constructed that,
after it had been given, was found to correlate +.92 with intelligence and
=.20 with social behavior. From the evidence it is most logical to conclude
that the test was not
a.
valid 
b.
reliable
c.
objective
d.
standardized
e.
culture fair
Answers: 1.b 2.a 3.c 4.d 5.a
