I was at the Texas state Capitol building recently for a tour. We sat on the floor of the House of Representatives and learned about the government process. One of the most fascinating things was learning about the vast number of things that are considered when a bill is brought before the house. How will this impact the economy? How will this impact small business owners?

State representatives in Texas get paid a meager $600 a month and if they opt for insurance from the state, then that money is reduced to almost nothing. The house meats every other year and when they are in session they work for 140 days straight – including holidays. They often get to the house floor at 6:30 a.m. and work until 4:00 a.m. Yikes! I am 43 years old and I had no idea that so many people were working so hard to run the state of Texas and making very little money. There are also a number of very low paid staff members that are in their early twenties who are passionate about politics and laws. I reprimanded myself for not being more active and as I sat their and listened to each speaker on our two day visit I realized that a new appreciation was being formed in my heart for politicians and the state of Texas.

Texas Supreme Court Justice Jeff Boyd

During our visit, we got to meet one of the Judges for the Supreme Court of Texas: Justice Jeffrey S. Boyd. We sat there in the court while he explained to us how cases landed before the 9 judges and what the differences were in the Supreme Court and a regular court. One of the main differences is that there is no jury and there is not a witness stand – at least not in the traditional sense. All of the data that has been presented in a court of law has to go through the appellate courts before it gets to the Supreme Court.

We asked Justice Boyd, “Tell us of a case that was interesting and challenging.” He told us of a case where a rescue dog got out of the owner’s backyard during a storm. That night the owner went to the pound and the dog was there, but the owner didn’t have the $25 to retrieve the dog. He told the pound that he would come back in the morning and get the dog. The next day he came to the pound with his two young sons only to find out that the dog had been put to sleep. Yowza!

Apparently the dog had been mislabeled during the night and so the owner sued the dog pound. The case eventually came to the Supreme Court and Justice Boyd said he had to write a report on the case and it came down to a number of facts. In the past, dogs were considered property like a piece of furniture, but we know that in our culture today many people consider pets a member of the family. So how much is a dog worth? How much should someone be compensated when it is killed accidentally?

In this particular case, the dog owner was only given what they paid for the dog: $25. When I first heard this verdict I was internally outraged! Shouldn’t someone be fined for negligence? What if someone hits a dog with a car? Who is at fault then? What if it isn’t a dog that is killed but a cat, or a lizard? All of these things were taken into consideration and in the end the only fair outcome in the judges mind was compensation for what the owners paid.

We then asked the judge what was different between being a lawyer and a judge. He said the main difference is that as an attorney your client gives you the data and you try to get the outcome that they are paying you for. He said that as an attorney you compile data that makes you and the jury believe what you are trying to make them believe.

History Keeps Us from Repeating Mistakes

Have you ever read a good piece of historical fiction? I have read some books by Wilbur Smith and they delve into a lot of African culture. He even has a series on Egypt and in the back of the books he talks about some of the facts being based loosely on real stories found in a tomb. In these books he details so many facts about African culture, the Zulu, the Maasai – fierce warriors who were able to kill lions with nothing more than an Assegai.   In history we can learn where we came from so we don’t repeat the same mistakes. When I read books about World War II and Nazi Germany I am fascinated by the progression of Nazi reign and how hate and fear was used as a tool to control people.

According to an article in Psychology Today, fear is the most powerful motivator, but it is a negative one. If someone tries to use fear to motivate us to do something we know is wrong we can look at history to help us navigate our steps when dealing with a situation that is complicated.

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Have you ever read Outliers by Malcom Gladwell? It’s a fascinating read where Gladwell points out that even wildly successful people didn’t just become successful overnight. It takes about 10,000 hours to become a master of something – even when you are really gifted to begin with.

The average American work week is forty hours and if you multiply that by fifty two then you get 2080 hours. At that rate, in order to become really great at something you will have had to work at it for 40 hours a day for 5 years. That doesn’t include any holidays or vacations. So imagine if you have started down the path toward becoming a master at something and then you change direction along the way. Is all of that time spent learning one thing wasted? I don’t know.

I personally don’t believe that time spent working hard at something is ever wasted, it is all part of acquired knowledge and there is no knowledge that is not power. However, we can still use some basic deductive reasoning and determine that the sooner we focus our efforts on a single primary goal the more likely we are to accomplish it and if it is a skill or a talent then mastering that skill, especially if it is one that pays our bills, well, the sooner the better.

The More You Learn, The More You Earn

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics…

It’s hard to quantify the full value of an education. But U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data consistently show that, in terms of dollars, education makes sense.

As the chart shows, the more you learn, the more you earn. Median weekly earnings in 2017 for those with the highest levels of educational attainment—doctoral and professional degrees—were more than triple those with the lowest level, less than a high school diploma. And workers with at least a bachelor’s degree earned more than the $907 median weekly earnings for all workers.

Does Money Buy Happiness?

It can be easy to get caught up in the trap of believing that making more money brings happiness. What research shows us is that how we spend our time is what makes us happy. I don’t know about you, but doing chores doesn’t make me happy. But I know some people who love to clean and organize. I don’t like doing taxes, but some people, including my father, actually enjoy crunching numbers and doing taxes, my dad even goes as far as to say, “I love doing taxes!” He even charges very low fees because he enjoys saving people money.

According to the Stanford Graduate School of Business there is a correlation between how you spend your time and your general level of happiness.

Although a substantial amount of research has examined the link between money and happiness, far less has examined the link between time and happiness. This paper argues, however, that time plays a critical role in understanding happiness, and it complements the money-spending happiness principles in Dunn, Gilbert, and Wilson (2010) by offering five time-spending happiness principles: 1) spend time with the right people; 2) spend time on the right activities; 3) enjoy the experience without spending the time; 4) expand your time; and 5) be aware that happiness changes over time. (read full article here)

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When I was in school I had a handful of amazing teachers. I went to a private school, a public school and homeschool. I got a little bit of a taste of everything and each one has it’s benefits. However, my teachers at Liberty Christian School, which at the time was in Denton, TX, were some of my best. My sixth grade teacher Mr. Terrell was the most creative at keeping us engaged and entertained and seemed to know when we just needed a break, and my 12th grade geometry teacher Mrs. Grey was excellent at teaching a subject that I didn’t think I was capable of learning – and I made an A in her class. To me, being a good teacher isn’t just teaching the students that learn easily, but teaching all students despite their abilities. This is challenging work. With a classroom of varying IQs, genders, ages and backgrounds it can be quite a juggling act to not bore the more advanced students while not leaving behind the slower learning students.

Keep Students Engaged

One way a teacher can keep students engaged in learning is through using classroom clickers and testing students quickly and easily on the information that they just learned. If you live in a school district that works with a company like ALL In Learning you may have the option to quickly scan bubble sheet tests or to use a clicker for a student to respond to newly learned material. This allows teachers to see who is keeping up and who is lagging behind. Let’s face it, we all check out from time to time even as adults. Students are just as busy as adults with schoolwork, sports, social media, dating, etc. Sometimes their lives are much more complicated and keeping them engaged in Geography or Algebra can be difficult if they’d rather be scrolling through Instagram.

“It Makes My Students More Successful”

Check out these videos from ALL In Learning to learn more about how their program works to help you keep students engaged in the classroom.

Welcome to ALL In Learning Teachers from ALL In Learning on Vimeo.

Other Ways to Engage Students in the Classroom

Make it Personal

When I hear a speaker give a great talk I always think it is better when they make it personal. When we have real-world data to tie in the information being shared it makes it more real. Personal details give layer and dimension to a story or subject. If you are teaching math you may share how fractions can help you calculate the cost of tipping at a restaurant or calculating a mortgage. When teaching on geography a teacher may include personal details of a trip and how it impacted their view of the world. Mr. Terrell made our classroom very personal by bringing his fiancé to class and introducing her to us. He told us about the engagement and included us in details of his life. He was less like a teacher and more like a cool uncle. He taught 6th grade and we were in our own portable building so it seemed like we were in our own little world. That classroom was where I spent a large part of my life transitioning into young adulthood. The way Mr. Terrell treated me helped shaped my view of the world and even how I viewed myself. He made me feel valuable and special by being authentic and sharing part of who he was with all of us.

Use Music

As I mentioned before, one of my best teachers, Mr. Terrell, was a master at student engagement. He would play music for us during our tests, usually it was classical, but he would tell us a story about the music before he would play it. Even if it wasn’t our preferred type of music, knowing something about the composer was really interesting. He also brought in a special set of speakers and one of the first CD players. I had never even heard of a CD player in the 80’s, but he showed up with it and a great set of speakers and it was great. It made me feel special that our teacher would bring something expensive into the classroom and share it with us.

Let Your Students Teach

A great way to keep students engaged is to allow them to become the teacher. This is a win/win. It gives the teacher a break and also allows the students to learn from one of their peers. When a student has to give a presentation or teach on a specific topic it forces them to engage by preparing materials. Allowing students to teach will boost their communication skills. During the presentation don’t interrupt, but instead hold your feedback and comments until the end. Focus on the positive aspects of their teaching and encourage them in ways that allows the to continue to grow.

When I was younger my mom worked with students who wanted to sing. She wasn’t a professional voice coach, but a youth pastor’s wife. There were students who believed they weren’t good singers, but with a lot of patience and encouragement, she helped one young man not only succeed at singing from the stage but he went on to sing and record a gospel album. Teachers have that ability – they can take a piece of coal and turn it into a diamond. Some students only need someone to believe in them.

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Seeking out iteachTEXAS reviews is a great way for you to determine if iteachTEXAS is the best program for you to choose when determining a teacher certification program.

Though you can learn a lot about iteachTEXAS on our website, it can be extremely helpful to hear from someone who went through our program.

The main two sources for you, the public, to see our reviews is our iteachTEXAS Facebook Reviews and iteachTEXAS Google Reviews. Both sources can not be curated or edited by iteachTEXAS. We cannot delete poor reviews.

As of the time of this blog being published our iteachTEXAS Review on Facebook was 4.8.

And our iteachTEXAS Review on Google was 4.4
As important as it is for you to view our reviews, it is equally important to search for the reviews of other Texas Teacher certification programs’ reviews. You will find that some other programs have removed reviews from Facebook (the only way to ensure bad reviews are not posted).
 

We encourage you to do research. What you will ultimately find is that our program is the lowest cost, nationally accredited program in the state with some of the highest rated reviews. Additionally, iteachTEXAS provides our candidates a 600% greater likely hood of being hired (as compared to Texas Teachers).

Our candidates are 600% more likely to be hired

Apart from our great public reviews, below are some quotes from people just like you who have completed our program:

iteachTEXAS Reviews 

“I’m so glad that I listened to my friend when she recommended iteachtexas. I learned a lot through iteach that helped me in my first year of teaching. I love all of the employees at iteachtexas. They were accessible at all hours of the day and every day of the week. Thank you iteachtexas for guiding me on my path to becoming better at the career that I had always dreamed of; being a teacher with my own classroom and students to love and teach.” – Kim B.

“I started with a different alternative certification program, but when I constantly hit dead ends with them compiled with the fact that they lost my work (twice!), I reached out to iTeach at the recommendation of a friend and my school district. iTeach was a great experience all the way through, and they made the transition easy!” 2017-2018 Program Completer

“iTeach in my experience has been amazing. I was more than prepared to walk into my first day of school, as well as every other day. My field adviser was phenomenal, and helped in more ways than one. I have and would recommend iTeach to anyone else who asks.” – Moniqua W.

“I researched several alternative teaching certification programs. iteach was the program that seemed the most beneficial, affordable, and appropriate program for me. After visiting with several other students who were enrolled in other cert programs, I became even more thankful that I had chosen iteach. I am 100% happy with the program and have shared my success with many others looking at going into the teaching field.” – 2017-2018 Program Completer

“iTeach is may seem like an ordinary online Alternative Certification Program but it does an excellent job preparing candidates to be life-long educators. Whenever a substitute teacher has questions about certification, I always take the time to explain the great service I received from iTeach Texas. My supervisor was very personable and helpful with her encouraging words. Every time I had a concern about which tests to take, I could always count on iTeach customer service to respond quickly to me. I am more than happy to endorse iTeach as an ACP because it has been a blessing in my life. Thank you, iTeach!” – Rod T.

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A new school year; are you slightly nervous about being on your own? Are you eager to implement the knowledge you’ve acquired and impress upon your students their ability to impact the world? A new teacher can always use more resources to help make their first year amazing but they can also use some discounts. There is much to think about and consider when beginning your first year of teaching in a classroom of your own. From the layout of chairs and desks to the colors and themes of your classroom every part of your environment plays a role in education. We’ve put together some information to help you achieve the learning environment your students deserve all while helping you save a few dollars through discounts and deals.

Classroom Cleanup

When you walk into your classroom for the first time, it may be a bit musty and dusty. Since it’s always best to work with a clean slate, get in there and scrub it down. Buy cleaning supplies and more from stores like Target ($5 off $50) and Lowe’s (no sales tax)  and score some cleaning supplies to provide a fresh start.  Jenna, a 2^nd year teacher in Plano, TX remembered the first time she stepped into her new-to-her 4^th grade classroom, “Our school is a bit older and the summer heat had done a doozy on an old potato science project left behind. I never thought I’d be getting out some Lysol and gloves on my first day.”

Classroom Layout Ideas

Now it’s starting to get fun. Thinking about how you and your students will move around the classroom and interact with not just each other but their environment allows the creative juices to get going. Will you have semi-circles of chairs where students can focus on their classmates and you the instructor? What types of learning do you hope to foster in this micro-environment you are creating? When designing a space it helps to visualize, we like this tool from Scholastic and this one from The Library Store. Beware: they both work with Adobe Flash so try opening them in FireFox or Safari over Chrome.
Maybe you want to create a cozy place for your students to grab a book and read instead of distracting their classmates. Try utilizing discounts from Hobby Lobby or Michael’s (15% discount) to help with find the perfect rug and pillows.  Or maybe you want to provide a classroom library to store those books; The Container Store encourages teachers to organize their classrooms with a 10% discount as part of their educator program. Check out this Pinterest board we created for unique and creative ideas to help you develop a classroom layout you and your students will love.
Be sure to check out Craigslist as well use search terms like “teacher”, “teacher supplies”, “classroom” or similar terms.  You would be surprised to see how many home-school educators and others are selling their supplies and they might even give them to you once they learn you’re a first year teacher.

Decorating Your Classroom

When creating a positive learning environment you cannot ignore even the smallest details. Everything in your classroom is an opportunity to encourage or motivate your kids. Long gone are the motivation posters and cheesy cat posters we grew up with, instead replaced by subtle images of encouragement and inspiration.  Pinterest can be a huge source of inspiration for everything from color palettes to thoughtful imagery but we want to focus on where you can save money while making the walls sing.
If your district allows, you might explore wall colors that encourage your students simply through color science. Home Depot offers no sales tax for teachers with exempt paperwork. Try talking with your local Sherwin Williams as some teachers have received discounts of up to 50% off. Once your walls are perfectly toned, look into sites like Overstock.com with a free Club O Membership (free shipping and 5% back on every order) for teacher discounts on posters and artwork for your walls. Or maybe you’ve designed your own posters for print, head on over to your nearest FedEx Office for 15% off almost all products and services. FoamCorePrint.com offers really cool floor stickers and wall-art for teachers using discount code TEACH10.

Unique Teacher Discounts

Sometimes the best way to engage with your class is through a classroom pet. Now this can vary wildly with school administrations but when I was in Mrs. Harrelson’s 4^th grade class we had pet bees in the classroom with a clear bee hive (there was a bit of a funky smell but we grew proud of it, we were the cool classroom ). And in 8^th grade, Mr. Granderson was the coolest science teacher with his 80lb Boa Constrictor. Now maybe that scares you a bit but what about a pet fish or hermit crab? Maybe a chinchilla? PetsintheClassroom.com offers grants for teachers to help design a unique experience that your students are sure to remember.

Conclusion

Starting you teaching career brings a lot of exciting and sometimes nerve-racking challenges. Don’t let setup up your classroom be one of the things to fret about. Be sure to read more of our New Teachers (link to content) posts to discover more tips and tricks about starting your new career. The internet is an amazing resource for first-year teachers so leave a comment with your favorite

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Are you looking for a teaching position? Let us help you with your resume, interview questions and job openings.

CREATING A RESUME FOR A TEACHING POSITION

While there is not one way to draft your resume, there are some best practices to help your resume stand out from others. It is important to have a classic, error free, professional resume that highlights your relevant experience and your accomplishments.

You should try to keep your resume to one page, written in an easily read professional font (Ariel, Calibri, Garamond, and Times New Roman are popular choices).

Key elements on a resume include: your contact information, education, experience, and certifications. If you are a certified teacher or enrolled in a certification program, be sure to note this. List your experience in reverse chronological order, providing accurate information. If you are a recent college graduate, you can focus on academic and extra-curricular experience and any jobs held during college. If you have more extensive work experience, you may need to condense the academic portion of your resume and give more attention to your professional accomplishments.

If you have never worked in the field of education or with children, do not assume that your experiences are not relevant. Instead, think about the key skills of teachers, such as planning, working cooperatively, and tracking progress toward goals, and be sure to highlight your experience in these domains.

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS TO BECOME A TEACHER

The interview is an opportunity for you to go beyond your resume and demonstrate you are right person for the teaching position. Regardless of the question asked or your response, you want to communicate your strong enthusiasm for teaching and your dedication to the profession. Answer questions honestly and to the best of your ability.

Below are some questions to help you prepare for your interview:

1. What is your educational background?
2. List five adjectives that describe yourself.
3. What is one of your weaknesses, and how are you working to improve it?
4. When did you decide to become a teacher, and why did you choose this field?
5. What personal strengths do you find especially helpful in your teaching?
6. What do you like most about teaching as a career?
7. What is your least favorite aspect of teaching?
8. What is your philosophy of education?
9. Describe your teaching style.
10. How do you structure your time to manage all of the duties associated with teaching?
11. What do you think is the greatest challenge facing students today?
12. What is the most difficult aspect of teaching today?
13. What are the qualities of an excellent teacher?
14. What is your approach to classroom management?
15. Describe your best professional development experience.
16. Describe your ideal lesson.
17. Describe your planning process for a major project or unit.
18. What plans do you have for the integration of technology in your own classroom?
19. How have and will you address your students’ different learning styles?
20. How do you modify your teaching to reach students who are struggling to perform at grade level?
21. How do you provide support for students with exceptional ability?
22. If most of the students in your class failed an assignment, test, or project, how would you respond?
23. What do you want students to remember about your class?
24. What steps would you follow to deal with a student who displays consistent behavioral problems in your classroom?
25. What could a visitor to your class expect to see?
26. Why should you be hired for this position?

Some career coaches advise job seekers to set up a mock interview with a friend or family member acting as the interviewer, and film themselves. Smart phones and tablets have made this task easier. When you watch yourself, take a moment to adjust to seeing yourself on camera and hearing your recorded voice, but try to be objective. Look for distracting mannerisms; verbal “crutches,” such as saying “um” or “like;” and check to see if you are making good eye contact with the interviewer.

OPEN TEACHING POSITIONS

Each school district will post job openings to their district website, typically under the Human Resource tab.

Additionally, some districts also post to state-wide websites to find a wider audience for their job openings. Below are some helpful links to state-wide job listings:

1. http://tea.texas.gov/districtSearch.aspx
2. http://careercenter.tasanet.org/
3. https://www.k12jobspot.com/Job/Search/teacher/Texas?PageIndex=9
4. http://www.indeed.com/q-Teacher-l-Texas-jobs.html
5. https://www.schoolspring.com/search.cfm

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