How to Become a Middle School Teacher
Overview
Anyone that has children, or anyone who has been around children before, can tell you that adolescents are a very challenging lot to be around let alone teach. This is because passing on what you have learned in your coursework to the American adolescents is going to be an uphill task. They are going to be very difficult to handle primarily due to their high hormone levels and will experience difficulties as they transition from children to adults. This is one of the most challenging stages in the phase of human development. As long as things are difficult for you so they will be for you as a middle school teacher. The kind of counseling and motivational speeches you will throw their way will leave you feeling more like a therapist than a middle school teacher. It is general knowledge that teaching middle school children is a notoriously challenging task.


   How to become a middle school teacher
For you to become a middle school teacher requires a lot of patience and understanding. This is because part of your job will be to tend to the educational needs of students aged five to nine. These children need to developed math as well as their literacy as they are gradually introduced to subjects such as geography or history. Middle school is a very important platform for kids to develop their social development.
The major role of a middle school teacher is to make sure that the kids not only achieve academic success but they also develop other favorable traits as well. Having the requisite skills to become a teacher is only half battle. The raging hormones that these students are constantly experiencing predisposes them constantly fight as well as insult one another. Some may adopt a crippling sense of self doubt. It means that as a middle school teacher you must juggle between being a teacher, diplomat and a therapist all rolled up into one.
   What you need to become a middle school teacher
If you have set your mind on becoming a middle school teacher is the career for you, you will be required to possess a bachelor’s degree from college. You will be required to major in a subject that you would like to teach at middle school. Upon reaching your sophomore year, you will be required to take elective subjects in education.
The requirements for working in public schools across the United States vary from state to state. What is a must though is the four year bachelor’s degree which is inclusive of tests in basic literacy and numeracy as well as supervised professional practice.
If you posses a degree in the subject that you want to teach, you can still make it to be a middle school teacher. There are some states which have bridging programs which afford you the opportunity to become a middle school teacher by completing teaching methodology subjects and gaining work experience. These courses take an average of one year to complete.
  Why Become a middle school teacher
When you finally make it to become a middle school teacher, your time will be spent on teaching, attending faculty meetings, completing administrative work and grading papers. There are situations that will need you to spend time in the development of a new curriculum.
The reward for job is satisfaction in the fact that you will change the lives of your students. You will also help them in changing their attitudes and general outlook on life and help them as they make the transition to adult life while they are under your care. In your capacity as a middle school teacher you will be able to focus on the reaching of one subject. This will mean that you will become extremely proficient in the subject of your passion.

  First Steps to Becoming a middle school teacher
There are a set of criteria that you have to complete in order for you to make it as a middle school teacher.
You will be required to posses a bachelors degree from a recognized university regardless of the state where you live in. this means that you should enroll in an university that has particular teaching degree that you want to teach in. alternatively, you can take the option of enrolling in a liberal arts program while majoring on the specific area you would like to teach.
Once you applied and been accepted for your desired degree program, you should make efforts to carry out research on the requirements needed for teaching in the districts that you are interested in teaching in. some states will have the requirement that the student teaching, extra educational requirement and even requirement that you possess specific course qualifications before you can be allowed to become a teacher.
When you are working your way towards certification, you should substitute or volunteer at private schools or district schools that you would like to teach once you get the required certification. This will enable you to get to know the teachers, members of the non teaching staff as well as the students. This will go along way in providing you with a splendid idea of where the place you are going to be teaching and what the environment is like. Additionally, this will give you a competitive edge over the rest of the applicants should a position open up.
After you have completed you studies and obtained your bachelors degree, you will then be required to pass your states certification examination. These tests will examine your understanding of general knowledge and subject area. They will also include sections on professional ethics. These requirements require that you register and pay a fee to take the exams and upon when you are successful you are notified by the testing center as the grade that you achieved.
Once you have received your results which indicate that you have passed, you can then proceed to apply to your state department of education to get your teaching certificate. Some states only give a certificate of employment which means that you will only be certified once you have been offered a teaching position.

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