Teacher Discussion Forums

I just graduated from college with a degree in psychology, but have decided to become an ESL teacher. Does anyone have any insight about schools or online degrees?

It depends on where you live and how much time you have to invest. If you live in Texas and you want to get going pretty quickly, I would suggest an alternative certification program. Basically this program is for people who have a bachelors degree but not in teaching. You can start by looking at these two websites:

www.sbec.state.tx.us
www.tea.state.tx.us

These websites will guide you to programs throughout the state. I highly recommend going through you local Education Service Center. The state is divided into regions. I live in Fort Worth, so I am served by region 11. Here is the website:

www.esc11.net

I'm sure other states have similar certification programs. Just to let you know, I also have a degree in Psychology with a minor in Business Administration. I have worked in the childcare industry for 5 years. I am currently going through the alternative certification program through Region XI Service Center. I have signed a contract to teach 5th and 6th grade ESL next year. My program requires you to complete 20 hours of observations in real schools, complete an online course, and attend four weeks of classes in the summer before teaching. The program then monitors your progress for the first year. The program costs about $4000, but only $500 or so out of pocket (the rest is deducted from your paychecks during your first year teaching).

Hey Lauren,

Do you want to teach English here in the US, or are you interested in teaching abroad? If you are thinking of traveling and teaching, you might want to consider getting the CELTA. There's an excellent program in Houston. My old teacher trainer, Jeff Mohamed, runs it - and he's brilliant! The CELTA is one of the few internationally recognized certifications. It's kind of fancypants - Cambridge sponsored... --- Gives great methodology and, more importantly, hands on teaching experience throughout the course. It's a one-month program. I did mine in San Francisco three years ago. It was an outstanding experience - and completely relevant to the real world. You walk out a confident teacher. I'm sure I sound like an ad, but after getting my CELTA and working abroad, I'm a big fan.

As far as 'local' requirements, I'm not so sure about those. Texas Tech offers an MA in Applied Linguistics (with ESL focus) It's a small program, but decent. And I know the TTU Education Dept. has a bilingual ed. program with ESL, as well. That program seems to be growing at leaps and bounds; and the director is fantastic.

Good luck to you!

Tree