which courses are best in preparation for teaching history?

Question

Hi, I will soon be entering my Junior Year in college. I am planning to become a history teacher on middle to high school level. Which elective courses in history do I have to take in order to prepare well for this job. My stongpoint is American history and political science. I know a lot about it. I know world history briefly, as well as some ancient history. I mostly took American corses electives and I know a lot about it. Me weakest point is medieval European history. Should I take more world or ancient or American history courses? And since I am in college full time, I never realy had a part time job. I heard that degree alone does not get person a teaching job, one must have some job experience in their resume. Is this true?

Answer 1

World Literature and World History/Western Civilization/English Social Justice, US History/Government/Economics/Speech/Communication/Mass Media. Whatever college you are attending, you should be in communication with your counselor/advisor. If you are planning to teach in your city, your advisor should be directing you to take the courses you need in order to pass your state's required exams. (Praxis in some states) You must pass these exams in order to obtain a certification to teach. You can have a number of credits/hours in many subject areas that would prepare you to teach many subjects. For example - I was certfied in Michigan - one of the hardest states to obtain certification - BUT the good part is - my certification carried me to Tennessee and I did not have to take any additional tests. I am certified to teach high school (Sociology, HIstory (including American, Econ, etc.) and presently I teach middle school - all subjects. (Language Arts, Speech, Reading) If push came to shove, I could teach Math and Science - I hope it never gets to that - but being a middle school teacher opens you up to more subject matters and more grades (7-9) Please make sure you follow your states requirements. I have met too many teachers who took all those courses and then found they missed the ones they needed and could not pass the required state exam to get their certification. In our state - they will alllow you up to 3 years to pass the test. But with the "No Child Left Behind ";laws - you have to show that you are a 'highly qualified teacher' or you could loose your position. I"ve been teaching for 10 years and once I was ceritified here in this state - they are giving me 5 more years to get advanced degrees and/or hours/credits for workshops and advanced educatiaon. I wish you the best and I have all the respect in the world for your choice to become a teacher. It is a calling upon your life - because they certainly do not pay us well for the jobs we do.- OH yea - you really need to include some behavior management courses, self-defense and any workshops they offer for you as a teacher to grow.. Recently, our local police officers presented us classes in being able to recognize drug induced students, gun control, etc. It's a whole different world.

Answer 2

If you intend on teaching History for US middle/high schools, then you need to be fluent in US History, that state's History, European History, World History, World Geography, Social Studies, Humanities, Civics Law, Government, even English literature/writing, and anything else related, because history teachers often times have to teach multiple disciplines. Every state has certain requirements for their teaching certification exams, and you can find it online. It would also make you more marketable to have dual discipline certification like say History/English teaching certification.

But the contents are not what is hard about teaching. In the US, it is dealing with the students, and knowing how students respond to you. My best advice is to work part-time as a substitute teacher at your local school district. Most districts allow substitutes with 60-90 hours of college credit to work. Substitute jobs are flexible in that you can be available to work as little as 1-day a week or all 5-days. You learn how students respond to you, and what works for you. If you mess up with a class, the best part is that you don't have to see them again, and you can try something else with the next class that you substitute. Also, you do get paid anywhere from 50/day to 120/day, depending on the district. The pay is usually better than working at a burger joint.

Finally the personal question you need to ask yourself is do you find teaching rewarding, because you are definitely not going to be rich (but you won't be poor either). Good luck.

Answer 3

http://www.historyguide.org/guide/guide.html
Welcome to A Student's Guide to the Study of History. I have written this guide as an aid to high school and college students who are either taking history classes or who intend to major in history as undergraduates. The aim of the Guide is quite simple. First, all too often History instructors tend to jump right into the subject matter without first setting the groundwork. Large questions such as: what is history? why study history? or how to write a research essay are often left up to the student to figure out.

Second, the purpose of this site is the empowerment of the student. I must share my knowledge with students rather than hide it as if it were my property only. It's not! Knowledge is power, but only if you have access to it!

In general, the study of history requires certain skills--skills which are somewhat different from those used in other disciplines. Hopefully this Guide will force you to consider those skills as you go about your studies.

Remember, this is only a guide and it is not the only guide available to you. There are several guides which have been published in the past decade but very few have been published on the Internet. (See Patrick Rael's Reading, Writing and Researching for History for a point of comparison.) Given the broad resources -- some excellent, some downright horrible -- that are available on the Internet, it seems to me that the time is right to publish my own thoughts on the study of history --- And these are my thoughts. That much said, let's get down to business.
Table of Contents
1.1 The Proper Attitude 4.4 Off to the Library
1.2 Why Study History? 4.5 Internet Resources
1.3 Why Write History? 4.6 Choosing the Right Books
2.1 How to Read History 4.7 Taking Notes
2.2 Taking Notes in Class 4.8 Reading v. Writing
2.3 Studying for the Exam 4.9 Budgeting Your Time
2.4 Taking the Exam 4.10 Writing the Essay
3.1 Writing the Short Essay 4.11 Footnotes
4.1 Writing the Research Essay 4.12 Bibliography
4.2 Selecting a Topic 5.1 About Your Instructor
4.3 "Imaging" Your Topic 5.2 In Retrospect

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Copyright © 2000 Steven Kreis
Last Revised -- May 12, 2004
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http://www.course-notes.org/us_history/
http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/ap/students/ushistory/ap-cd-ushist-0607.pdf

Answer 4

You can prepare yourself for the materials you will be covering in the class room. You can just read ahead and review some related materials.

The real challenge is to control the kids and keep their interest. So take classes that will help you in that area. Maybe some psychology classes or acting classes.

Teachers are hard to find in the Phoenix, AZ area. So if you are looking for a job you will get a good shot at one here without experience.