How to afford your teaching certification

I get a lot requests about education advancement for teachers and the best route to become a teacher... You'd be surprised how many people out there are in other careers - and through history want to become teachers.... I was there once (I used to be web designer...)

To help with some of these inquiries, is a guest post from Karen Shih of GreatDegree.com. She's got the scoop on different options for teachers and for those that would like to become teachers.

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You’ve settled on a career in education because of your love of history or teaching or both, but now comes a more difficult, less exciting part: getting and paying for your teaching certification. Fortunately, there are many local and national options for teachers looking to save money while working towards being certified.

For students seeking to earn their certification through a bachelor’s degree program, you can look to traditional forms of aid, such as federal aid through FAFSA, or other scholarships for undergraduate students.

If you already have a bachelor’s or master’s degree in a particular field and are looking to switch to education, going through an alternative certification program could be more cost effective because it would take less time, often one to two years.

And for those with a short timeline or a current career obligation, an online teaching degree should be among your considerations. You can continue working at your current job, and it is possible to start teaching without certification (in some school districts) while you work toward your degree online.

Teaching certification is awarded by the individual state, so it’s important to check with your state’s department of education for specifics. You can look for state or county programs to subsidize your education. For example:

• Texas’ Teach for Texas provides conditional grants for aspiring teachers who agree to teach in the state for a particular amount of time
• California offers the Assumption Program of Loans for Education, which offers loan assumption for teachers going into critical areas
• New York has a Teachers of Tomorrow program that offers tuition reimbursement for teachers going into high-need areas

Additionally, for teaching history in particular, the federal government offers a Teaching American History Grant that gives between $500,000 and $1 million to school districts for training history teachers.

Though finding and receiving financial aid to pay for teaching certification is a challenge, there are numerous federal and private options available to help dedicated and enthusiastic teachers ease the burden.

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National History Day

National History Day projects are being judged in the final rounds this week... For any teacher who's ever taken on this endeavor, you understand the work and excitement that goes along with the NHD. 

Below is text received from National History Day - they asked me to share it with my readers:

"During the week-long national contest from June 13-17, 2010, thousands of middle and high school students, educators, and parents come together to compete for scholarships and prizes, with finalists from 49 states and abroad.  Students will compete for gold, silver and bronze national awards, as well as college scholarships.

More than 300 judges (including historians and educators from secondary and higher education institutions, museums, archives, and government agencies) will evaluate the students’ award-winning work throughout the week. Noted filmmaker, Ken Burns, and author and historian, Cokie Roberts, serve on the honorary cabinet for NHD; and A&E Television Networks’ History Channel serves as a program partner.

A media event on Monday morning will feature a rare original printing of the Declaration of Independence.– one of 25 known to exist in the world – was the original printed on July 4, 1776, and is now owned by Hollywood producer and philanthropist, Norman Lear, who has lent the document to commemorate NHD’s students. At NHD, this Declaration of Independence will be on its first ever visit to Maryland.  Invited elected officials will unveil the Declaration of Independence and welcome the outstanding students and teachers at a media event to kick off the week, followed by projects and displays throughout the week.   Invited speakers include members of Congress representing Maryland, including Representatives Chris Van Hollen, Donna Edwards, and Paul Sarbanes, and Senators Barbara Mikulski and Benjamin Cardin.

Competing with documentaries, live performances, and original websites, the students – ranging in age from 11 to 18 – created innovative projects this year that include:
•       “Vaccination:  The Musical” – a live musical theater performance about the history and impact of vaccination on global health
•       “Google:  Impact and Change” – a live performance that illustrates Google’s impact on a generation
•       “Off the Bench and Onto the Field: How Title IX Changed Girls\' Athletics and Education” – a theatrical performance that portrays the 70-year fight for equality in sports
•       “Al Qaeda and the Internet: A New Age in Terror” – a documentary that discusses and analyzes terrorists’ contemporary use of the Web

One notable past NHD project included three students from Chicago who helped provide new evidence that re-opened the Mississippi Burning case and brought the killer finally to justice (http://www.mississippiburning.org).

Please let me know if you’d like more information on NHD or the events taking place throughout the week.  I’d also be happy to connect you to any of the teachers, students, or program directors in the meantime or at the event week.  Video and photos of all participating students and educators will be made available all week, and you can keep up with NHD on Twitter (@NationalHistory), Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/NationalHistoryDay), and YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/NationalHistory)."

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2010 Teacher of the Year Nominations

The National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) is now accepting nominations for the 2010 Teacher of the Year Awards. The Teacher of the Year program is part of the NCSS's continuous efforts to highlight social studies teachers and their importance in education.

Winners will receive $2,500 cash award and an opportunity to present at the NCSS conference and up to $500 in travel and lodging expenses.

If you've got someone in mind who is worthy of such an award, or perhaps you'd like to nudge someone to nominate you, you must have the nominations postmarked by April 1.

For more information and details go to http://socialstudies.org/awards/teaching

Keep reading for another award opportunity for teachers...

The National Teachers Hall of Fame (NTHF) is searching educators to honor in 2010. The NTHF is a non-profit organization that has been honoring outstanding educators for 18 years. They are now accepting nominations for the Hall of Fame. The nominations must be postmarked by January 2.


Nominees must have 20 years of teaching experience at the preK-12 level. For more information, hurry to http://www.nthf.org/

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Teaching History: Categorical or Chronological?

There are essentially two models of history curriculum design: chronological and categorical. For the sake of ensuring everyone is on the same page we will define these two terms quickly. Curriculum design that is done chronologically is the typical method as events, people, and dates occur in the order in which they happened. Curriculum that is categorical is broken up according to major themes (government, human rights, etc.). Both have positives and negatives as any curriculum does yet I have never heard any discussion take place as to which is more effective at teaching kids history. It often results in an “I prefer this” or “I prefer that” discussion that focuses on how the teacher thinks rather than the student learns.

The implications of this information are crucial to history teachers throughout the country. Given that we spend time discussing important issues in US history, it would be nice to have data-driven proof as to what the best way to go about providing the information is. I would hypothesize that most districts (including mine) have curriculum set up in the traditional framework (chronological).

Consider this when you are teaching the Constitution next year. The one unit that I teach that I would label as “categorical” is the Constitution. I go back to ancient Greece and Rome to discuss influences on the belief systems of the founding fathers that influenced the major documents in United States history. Then we go through an evolution of the Constitution including discussion of major Supreme Court cases and the importance of each of the amendments. I also revisit these amendments when I get to their point in the traditional curriculum. It would be impossible to teach the Civil War and Reconstruction without discussing the 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th amendments. I find that this leaves students with a greater understanding of the importance of the Constitution and how it influences their daily lives.

My point is this: we need to find out the best way to present history to kids on a macro (curriculum) as well as micro (instruction) level. The faster we come up with this information, the easier the time we will all have in engaging kids and providing them with the means of instruction that best fits THEM.

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This Post written by Aaron Eyler
for more information about Aaron, visit his "21st Century Education" blog at http://stretchourminds.blogspot.com/

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