What's involved and how long does it take to get a teaching certificate

[Kelley G]

if you already have a BA? Hi Answers Community! I received a BA degree about 15 years ago from a state university with an emphasis on communications and journalism. I have been working in advertising ever since I graduated. However, advertising is not a very family friendly field and I'm wondering if teaching wouldn't be a way for me to extend my working years, but also be able to be there for my young children. When I say be there, I mean, pick them up from school and be with them during the school vacations when it's difficult to find child care. Can anyone tell me what's involved to do this and how long it might take? This is just something I'd like to investigate...I taught freshman level speech classes when I was in my senior year in college and loved it! Any thoughts out there?

[iwannabquietnow]

Go to the Western Governors University site. www.wgu.edu It is an accredited online school where you can get your post-bacc degree in education and "still keep your day job"...at least until you need to do your student teaching. There is a lot of information on their website. You could also look up your state's DOE website and see if there is an alternative route that would take into account your background (maybe for secondary English)...At least these are two starting points. Good luck.

I went back after being out of school 20 years and I'm in teaching now and don't regret my decision at all )

[hmmmm]

Good idea. I would say a year to two years. Hey, there are programs out there called Teaching Fellows, in Texas and other states, where you attend a summer of training and then you start teaching immediately in districts that have teacher shortages. You then take classes or exams throughout the year. What is nice is that you are paid teacher's salary immediately and are certified rapidly. Go to www.careerbuilder.com and plug in teacher and you'll find the Teaching Fellows Programs. Good-Luck!