On-line Teaching Certificate?

[Aggiechick]

I have been in the environmental industry for 20 years and I think I may be ready for a change. I have gone back and forth about making a switch and I know it sounds nuts but I am thinking about going into teaching (hopefully science - junior/middle school). I know/have heard that teaching is very difficult due to the parenting (or lack there of) and curriculum requirements and I am not set on making the switch yet.

But in the meantime, I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to which online program to use to obtain my teaching certificate. Thanks!

[Big Lee]

I received my alternative teaching certification through Region 13 in Austin. It was in person. I did this while teaching my first year. It did not take much of my time. You'll need to be hired by a school district first. Apply for welding or construction classes. Or whatever area you prefer. Good thing about these courses, the students typically pick your class. They want to be there. They don't want to be in algebra. Also, if a kid is being a ****.... you are in a shop setting. Dangerous to themselves and others. You have leverage to remove them.

[Big Lee]

I read construction and not environmental. That is why I commented about welding and construction

[BayouCat]

Several options, but I've known some teachers/coaches to go through iTeach (Texas), and they liked it. Like Big Lee, I went through an ESC Region to get mine and liked it.

With an environmental background, you may want to check out teaching Environmental Science (or AP Environmental Science) at the high school level. Middle school/JH is definitely a calling for some but not all. If you get in the right district with good support from your community and administration, you will be fine.

Lots of educators on here that are willing to help. Feel free to ask questions.

[Dudley]

Contact your region service center (Region 20 in SA, I believe). They will have an alternative teaching program and can also give you a list of others, like I Teach Texas.

[canny]

My wife and I used I Teach Texas and it went pretty smoothly. There are a lot of districts that will hire you as long as you are enrolled in an alt cert program as long as you complete it and have certification by end of year.


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[Roger]

I completely changed careers from sales and operations management into teaching in my early forties and went through Texas Teachers for my alt cert. It was a great program for me. All online. Super smooth and easy. Once signed up with them, they approved me to test and I took the 4-8 Generalist certification examination prior to beginning the online classes. I obtained a job teaching middle school science right away (mid-year) so basically I did all of my online pedagogy classes while actually teaching. I had a mentor available and she came to my classroom a few times during my first 12 months of probationary certification. They also will do the course fee as a payroll deduction over that first year to spread out the cost. I moved from middle school science to high school physics after four years. Middle school is great but I love the depth I can teach at in my advanced HS classes. Eleven years of teaching since my career switch and I have not regretted it for one second.

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[TradHunter]

I did Texas Teachers several years ago. Very simple and online.

[kyleseipp]

Like the above, definitely get connected to a School District and go through your post-bac certification as an intern (which just means you are getting a full salary as a teacher while working to meet your creds).

There are a ton of options from full FtF, to Hybrid to fully online. Here are a couple I sent to a friends daughter who was considering similar switch. Given the online module, I would even encourage you to check out the Community College options near your casa or even online college options for the Cert pathway from colleges that do this well (Lamar, etc.)

iteachTexas

https://www.iteach.net/texas/

Region 13 Teacher Prep program

https://teach.esc13.net/

Educators of Excellence

https://educatorsofexcellence.com/

ECAP

https://www.ecapteach.com/

Austin Community College

https://continue.austincc.edu/teacher