I ER'd about 2 years ago at the age of 52. If we had a repeat of 2007, I wanted to have something in my hip pocket that would allow me to earn a few dollars but on a schedule I could control that did not require a full-time commitment. At my final job, I did some STEM activities with kids and I enjoyed it. I love math and want kids to love it too so I decided to get my teaching certificate to teach middle grades math, grades 5-9.
We have a wonderful treasure of a community college, St. Petersburg College, that awards 2-year, 4-year, and advanced certificates. I went through their one-year educator program that includes student teaching. I graduated Saturday so I will have my teaching certificate soon. What a year!
I did my student teaching in a "tough" middle school in an 8th grade "intensive math" classroom. Even though my internship ended at the end of March, I have continued to volunteer in my internship classroom 4 days a week because the need is so great. I would never have imagined that a classroom with only 15 students needed 2 teachers in order to both manage the classroom and to provide the academic support the students require.
I would have never thought I could fall in love with a bunch of messy 8th graders with all their teen drama and all their very real and very serious family problems. In the future, I'll be volunteering or subbing or working part-time. By far, the hardest job I have ever done!
We have a wonderful treasure of a community college, St. Petersburg College, that awards 2-year, 4-year, and advanced certificates. I went through their one-year educator program that includes student teaching. I graduated Saturday so I will have my teaching certificate soon. What a year!
I did my student teaching in a "tough" middle school in an 8th grade "intensive math" classroom. Even though my internship ended at the end of March, I have continued to volunteer in my internship classroom 4 days a week because the need is so great. I would never have imagined that a classroom with only 15 students needed 2 teachers in order to both manage the classroom and to provide the academic support the students require.
I would have never thought I could fall in love with a bunch of messy 8th graders with all their teen drama and all their very real and very serious family problems. In the future, I'll be volunteering or subbing or working part-time. By far, the hardest job I have ever done!