A College Senior’s Guide to Getting a Teaching License

Step One: Realize You Love School

Growing up, I used to talk to my mail carrier every day. Despite this, it seemed like she only ever knew one thing about me: how much I hated school. The seven hours spent cooped up in an academic institution was torture to me when all I wanted to do was be playing outside or using the Internet or reading books to learn more about my favorite hobbies. Most of my interactions with our mail carrier were limited to a short exchange about how I was dreading going to school the next day.

Because of this, it was completely understandable that she dropped the mail in her hand when I told her I would pursue an education minor. I never seemed like the classroom type and yet, during my junior year of high school, it was all I wanted to do with my life. I would fantasize about managing my own classroom and grading the papers of my students about some of my favorite books. It was a far cry from the second grader who proclaimed his favorite school subject to be “recess.”

To make my fantasy a reality, I am aware that there is much more to the process of becoming a high school English teacher than simply taking the six required classes to obtain a minor in education at UMass. Because of my pragmatic anxiety that always makes me doubt and plan for the future, the fantasy of sitting at a desk and engaging with students in the way that many of my favorite educators growing up would do often dissolves backwards as I snap back to the reality of what the idea of becoming a teacher entails.

Step Two: Stand Out from the Crowd (or: Interviews Can Be Tough)

To get a job as a teacher, I would need to be well-prepared with a slew of practice interviews under my belt. It would not be enough to have a resume boasting that I followed the steps required in Massachusetts to obtain my teaching license. I would have to possess tangible ideas about how to innovate classroom learning and how to inspire education in a way that would set me apart from the competition, all of whom had taken the same path of stepping stones that I did to get to the point of the interview process.

Of course, to secure an interview in the first place, I would need to actually secure the possession of my preliminary teaching license. I spent the summer of 2019 getting over my fear of driving through practice. After two months, I had my driver’s license and I was able to travel wherever I wanted. Unfortunately, the acquisition of a teaching license is a much more rigorous process and two months would not be enough.

Step Three: Fill Your Wallet with Licenses

Instead, I’ve found myself attached to the idea of a nine-month long program at Worcester State University. Known as the Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program for Initial Teacher Licensure – Middle or Secondary School Education, the Worcester State system for earning a teaching license was recommended to me by my favorite teacher growing up, Mr. Cleveland.

“I didn’t even know I wanted to be a teacher until I was in my thirties,” he told me after I emailed him regarding my own curiosity. “But Worcester State helped me see that it was possible. I could barely afford to take a year off to pursue it, but my old boss told me that I had to give it a shot. It’s a good program. You’ll like it.”

Following his advice, I began to familiarize myself with the requirements and features of Worcester State’s program for teaching licensure. The program allocates thirty credits worth of courses to graduate students at Worcester State over the course of two semesters, as well as establishing built-in periods of classroom observation and student teaching for the aspiring educators. It seems like the perfect option for what I wanted to do with my degree from UMass. It was affordable, close to home, and it would provide me with my license in less than a year. However, the Easter Bunny is not a role model of mine and, as such, I was concerned about putting all my eggs in one basket.

Step Four: Test Yourself to Administer Tests

Working backwards from what drew me to Worcester State’s program, I began to seek the same qualities in potential teaching licensure programs across central Massachusetts. None of them feel as perfect for me as Worcester State’s program does, however. Either the commutes are too far or the student teaching selection is too slim or the cost is too much. I need to have some sort of backup, even if it seems like Worcester State would fit that role. I’ve looked into Clark and Fitchburg State and Suffolk University. And while none of them are my first choice, they will at least provide me with some semblance of security when I apply to them to round out my options.

As should be naturally assumed, Worcester State’s requirements for admission into the program for teaching licensure are rigorous. I need to secure two recommendation letters from teachers or colleagues who can attest to my ability to continue to learn how to teach English. I need to take a class on adolescent psychology as a prerequisite for the program. I need to pass MTEL exams regarding my own subject area of English, as well as the Communication and Literacy test, which is essentially a glorified version of the SATs.

A few ideas for who to ask for recommendation letters are circling in my head, but because of the deadlines and time limits associated with the program, I cannot even ask someone for a letter until the spring 2020 semester at UMass. To meet the requirement for adolescent psychology, I enrolled in the necessary course at UMass for the spring, ensuring that I had the go-ahead from my faculty advisor to do so. In terms of the MTEL tests, I had to save two hundred and fifty dollars to sign up to take both tests. Over the weekend, I took the Communication and Literacy exam and while I feel confident that I passed that one, my studying process for the English exam has so far been challenging and nerve-wracking that I will not be able to pass it as easily as I might have hoped.

Step Five: Don’t Stop Studying Yet

To ensure that I would not be throwing my money away on a test I was fated to fail, I forced myself to fall back on some classic studying techniques that were popular in high school, but which I neglected during my collegiate tenure. I secured a practice test booklet to try out some potential questions and I found immersive flashcards on Quizlet to see if I can jog my memory of a half-millennium of literary history in just two weeks. Sounds like the sort of person who should be shaping America’s youth, right?

Which brings me to now. It certainly seems like the idea of having my own classroom is far, but in the grand scheme of my plans, it could be, at the minimum, attainable in fewer than two years. In my head, I still have way more in common with the nine year old kid who had a countdown of one hundred and eighty days until summer than I do with the teachers I dreaded seeing on the daily. And yet, if all goes according to plan, I will be at the head of my classroom once autumn begins in 2021. It doesn’t seem real to me; it’s all too unfathomable.

However, I am fully prepared for those two years to be busier than any other period in my life. The puzzle of my career plans is scattered across the floor right now, but I am taking the necessary steps for the pieces to fall into place. Every time I might doubt my own ability or question if this rigorous rigmarole is worth it, I will remind myself about why I want to teach.

Step Six: Center Yourself with Passions and Khakis

The MTEL exams seem daunting and like I might fail one of them? Just remember that it is preparing me to share my love and adoration of enthusiasm with the next generation of students who might view school as bleakly as I once did.

The course load has become too much to handle and I cannot possibly juggle all of my responsibilities anymore? Just remember that I want to help make a difference and have an impact in this world. The classes I’m taking are preparing me to help the next generation improve upon what my generation was able to do for them.

It seems like a major concern for many who are about to enter the workforce is whether or not they will be able to find a job. And while I may not have my ideal teaching position right out of the gate, I can take solace in the fact that, according to the Economic Policy Institute, there is a teacher shortage right now. Their most recent report reads, “With issues such as teacher quality and the unequal distribution of highly qualified teachers…the teacher shortage problem is much more severe than previously thought.” This fact does not guarantee me a job, but it does feel like it takes a weight off my concerns. Perhaps, the school systems I apply to will actually want me. Instead, my concern is whether or not I can get to the application stage in the first place.

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