T/S: M.Ed vs. "Alternate" Teacher Certification

Mister Ed: Wilbur, why don't we write a letter to Dear Abby? She could give us advice on what I should do.

Wilbur Post: Okay, we'll write Dear Abby. How's this? "Dear Abby, my horse told me that he wants to leave home and have his own swinging bachelor apartment. Do you think he's right? Signed, Butterfly Net." Because that's exactly what they'll throw over me.

Mister Ed: You don't have to say your horse told you. Tell her it was your cat.

A MA in English would the more usual course for a teacher (and get you more money/opportunities, and some states are trying to require it for more teachers anyway).

i am making the same decision right now.

first of all, i have been teaching for two years now in a public high school WITHOUT a teacher's credential. this is what i can tell you:

1) first of all, 90% of teachers will tell you that although the master's stuff is definitely *interesting* and *not* a waste of time, there's no way to actually USE the bells-and-whistles stuff the master's coursework teaches you (like curriculum organization and running a dept) if you are not an effective classroom teacher. ie, if you are tearing your hair out because your class is a mess, forget about it. and if you have NO classroom experience right now, i can guarantee you that you WILL be tearing your hair out, for the first two years at least.

2) you are going to have to relearn all of your curriculum stuff once you finish the year of master's coursework, which is a huge hassle in and of itself. what you might know or not know as an english major or a professional writer or whatever has little bearing on what they teach in high school (i found this to be very very true - right now i am teaching algebra + geometry and even though i majored in chem + physics in college most of what i am teaching is very unfamiliar)

3) your BEST bet is to jump in and start teaching, see if it's for you, and then go and get your credential through a normal one-year program if you can. shop around for a credential program that has as BIG of a practicum part as possible, because that is the most useful part for beginning teachers. anyway, you're not going to get into a master's program WITHOUT classroom experience. maybe a PhD program, but then those aren't aimed at teaching anyway, unless they're principal/administration programs and again, you wouldn't get into one w/o experience.

4) there *ARE* programs that mix a credential + a master's without taking you out of the classroom but they are pretty competitive to get into, so your best bet is to go and teach for a couple years and get some strong letters of rec and experience before you start. i am applying to a big-name school right now for their masters of education - i would get a masters and a credential in one year and i would get to stay in the classroom the whole time. but like i said, these programs are rare and competitive, so get some experience FIRST before you try to do this.

I do have some "classroom experience" but it consists entirely of teaching numerous SAT, LSAT and GMAT classes.

also you might find that working in a *BAD* school might be a better way to start.

i work in one of the toughest schools in my area - i have math classes which are 25% special ed, 25% english learners, 25% mainstream kids and 25% who are one or two years behind in math. as you can imagine, teaching that mix of kids is CRAZY, especially when you throw in students on parole (i have three right now), students with one parent, behavioral problems, and so forth.

however, the flipside of all this shit is that the support structure in place for me is AWESOME - we regularly collaborate, have tons of support from administrators, job security and so on. also the funding is very good, lots of teachers to spread the work around, small class sizes and so forth.

at a highly competitive public school in a fancy neighborhood, you might find yourself overwhelmed by unsupportive staff (who expect you to have your shit together), dept politics, crowded classes, combative parents and so forth.

test prep vs public school is like the difference between serving food at the church social vs actually being a waiter at a fancy restaurant.

in the 1st, everyone is anxious to kiss your ass and NEEDS YOUR HELP

in the 2nd, everyone is fucking pissed to be there in the 1st place and HATES YOUR GUTS FOR LIVING.

i also work for different EOP programs at the local colleges and many of the people in these programs are masters of ed or even masters of residential living. you could run a nonprofit tutoring organization, or do educational outreach, or work in a teaching unit (non-academic positions) at a university or community college.

I actually hope this is true -- I couldn't really care less about what I learned in most of my English major classes at this point.