Your Goal of Becoming a Teacher
Preparing to Learn
Your Goal of Becoming a Teacher
This chapter focuses on how to achieve your goal of becoming a teacher. To become a teacher, you must create a resume that illustrates your experiences as a teacher. The documentation tool included below will help you to develop your own resume representative of your experiences as a future teacher.
Your Goal of Becoming A Teacher
This course has given you a high-level view of what it means to be a teacher. From considering the day-to-day life of a teacher to doing a deep dive into the history of teaching, you have learned a lot about the profession and the implicit and explicit expectations placed on teachers.
This final chapter will introduce you to the conventions of resume writing while providing you with the inside scoop on things you should know before becoming a teacher.
Stay Focused on The Outcome[1]
The path forward will require you to stay focused. Teaching is an exciting profession. No day is exactly the same: you will have different learners with different experiences, strengths, and needs, and this community will shape the outcome of every day in your future classroom. With this excitement comes other emotions, too. You will also find some self-doubt in your determination to become the best possible teacher. Remember that it can take three to five years to feel like you have mastery of your craft as a teacher, so it is common to feel like you don’t have all the tools in your teacher toolbox when you are an early-career teacher. As mentioned above, staying informed is one of the best parts of being a teacher: even veteran teachers can keep learning and adding to their teacher toolboxes.
Another emotion you might feel is exhaustion. You know from your own experience as a student, your readings in this book, and your interactions with friends and family members who are educators that teaching is hard work. You work long hours with few breaks, and then there are emails, family conferences, faculty meetings, and other special events beyond the instructional day. You find yourself in the grocery store aisle worrying about one of your students and whether they will have food to eat that night or if what you said to one student when you were frustrated came across much harsher than you meant. You’ll find yourself watching TV or talking to friends when new ideas for lessons come to mind or realize you have something else to add to your never-ending to-do list.
In these moments, stay focused on the outcome. You have worked hard for the privilege of guiding your future students’ learning and growth. You also need to stay focused on your well-being. Speak up when you are feeling overwhelmed and carve out moments for yourself. Keep practicing hobbies that bring you joy. After all, if you aren’t taking care of yourself, it’s hard to be the best possible teacher for your students.
Reflect
25 Things You Should Know About Becoming A Teacher
This video presents 25 things you should know as you prepare to become a teacher to help you stay focused.
10 Steps to Building A Solid Resume
Students often ask: what should I be doing now to prepare to write my resume when the time comes? Here are some steps that you can take today to make sure that yours will be a resume that will gain the attention of potential future employers:
Sample Resume
Local Street Address,
City, State Zip
Permanent Street Address, City, State Zip phone
number • email
OBJECTIVE
To obtain a teaching position at the elementary level in the Oneonta City School District
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Science, Early Childhood/Childhood Education (B-6), Concentration in Biology Month Year
State University of New York (SUNY), College at Oneonta, Oneonta, NY NCATE Accredited
Advanced Regents Diploma Month Year
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Senior High School, Burnt Hills, NY
RELATED EXPERIENCE
Teacher, School Name, City, State Month Year – Month Year
- Work with 25 students, K-12, and all ability levels
- Instruction in reading, writing, math, and study skills
- Effectively manage average classroom of 20 students
- Met with parents regarding student classroom behavior
Student Teacher – Kindergarten, School Name, City, State Month Year – Month Year
- Used centers for math, science, social studies, health, and writing
- Implemented a positive discipline plan and phonics instruction with small groups
- Developed thematic unit on plants/gardening around major instructional goals
Student Teacher – Fourth Grade, School Name, City, State Month Year – Month Year
- Created and implemented literature units on density
- Developed and taught writing unit on “why” stories
- Used teacher’s manuals as guideline for teaching math and science
- Modified lesson plans to meet students’ needs required for 504/IEP plans
- Adapted units for time, money, geometry, and weather
Program Assistant, School/Organization Name, City, State Month Year – Month Year
- After school program sponsored by XYZ Central School
- Supervised and managed groups of 15-20 children grades K-5
FIELD EXPERIENCE
Observation/Participation – 200 Hours Year – Year
- Kindergarten Participation, Unadilla Valley Central School, New Berlin, NY
- Pre-Kindergarten, Head Start/Early Head Start Day Care, Oneonta, NY
- Fourth Grade, Commack Road Elementary School, Islip, NY
- First Grade, Wing Elementary School, Islip, NY
OTHER EXPERIENCE
Support Staff, Company Name, City, State Month Year – Month Year
- Various clerical responsibilities, including developed proficiency in all Microsoft Office products
Sales Clerk, Department Store, City, State Month Year – Month Year
- Provided exceptional customer service to approximately 40 individuals each day
- Utilized creativity to design two store displays each month
- Responsible for additional duties in manager’s absence
VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
St. Vincent Elementary School, St. Vincent, NY Month Year – Month Year
- Coordinated after school program for 25 children, ages 5 to 8
- Maintained a safe and conducive learning environment
ACTIVITIES
Leadership Institute, SUNY Oneonta, Oneonta, NY Month Year – Month Year
Elementary Education Club, SUNY Oneonta, Oneonta, NY Month Year – Month Year
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
Professional Education Council, SUNY Oneonta, Oneonta, NY Month Year – Month Year
Association for Teachers, SUNY Oneonta, Oneonta, NY Month Year – Month Year
SKILLS
Foreign Language: Spanish Fluency
Computer Programs: MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access Classroom Technology: ELMO, SmartBoard
Sample Resume Adapted from Template (All Business Templates, 2017)
Many resources exist on the campus and online to assist you in building your resume. The Career Development Center is available to provide guidance concerning the necessary components and steps for building your resume.
Deeper Dive
Creating A Resume Examples and Resources
Building a resume is important as you join any professional community, teaching or otherwise. A resume is a quick and professional introduction to you and your skills. It allows potential employers and collaborators to get to know you. A resume should tell a good story. A teaching resume should tell a good story about your professional education and the experiences that shape your stance as a qualified educator. It is important to begin shaping your professional teaching resume early in your teacher preparation program. You may then continue adding to and revising the resume as you gain valuable professional experiences by completing and documenting field experience opportunities in the program.
Northland University (2019) has created an excellent resume guide. This guide is geared toward new educators who wish to build their resumes to highlight their experience during their programs.
Summary
In this course, we surveyed the teaching profession in the context of the United States. Pathways toward preparing high-quality teachers can be traditional, such as earning an undergraduate or graduate degree in education, or alternative, such as provisional certification or residency programs like Teach for America. No matter how you earn your initial teaching license, you must renew it periodically. Finally, teaching is about creating professional learning networks and multiple ways to stay informed, engaged, and focused. Additionally, we must continuously update our education, professional networks, and skills to highlight the strengths in our professional resumes.
Knowledge Check
Your Goal of Becoming a Teacher
If you haven’t already done so, be sure to create your own resume using the documentation tool below.
References
- The following chapter is revised from Introduction to Education by Angela Hooser and Janna McClain, under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License ↵
