Chapter 2 Becoming a Teacher 57
Act Act
1. Use the Internet or college catalogs
to identify one college or university in
your state that has a teacher education
program. Find out when students may
apply to the program. Choose one level
of teaching (early childhood through
high school) and research the types of
classes that would be required, how
many courses are required, and how
long the student teaching experience
lasts. Prepare a report of your fi ndings.
Your teacher may post the reports or
make them available online to share
information about what a variety of
schools offer. Include the Web address
for the school in your report.
2. Find out the requirement for teacher
certifi cation in your state. What
education and training is required? How
many years is the license valid? What, if
any, requirements must be met to renew
the license? What categories of licenses
are issued (such as kindergarten
through grade 6, etc.)?
3. Write a concise career goal based on
your current interest in teaching. Be
sure to include specifi c information on
the type of position in which you are
interested.
4. Using the questions in 2-8 as a guide,
develop a philosophy of teaching
statement of two or three paragraphs.
Ask your teacher for feedback, then
revise your statement.
Add to Your Portfolio
Purchase a large binder for use as a
teaching portfolio. Using guidelines provided
by your teacher or those in this chapter,
organize the binder into sections. Think
about what you would like to include to make
it refl ect your own uniqueness.