My Head Is Spinning! Info. Overload. Need bachelor's

[alleycat]

To get a teaching job without a teaching cert, many state will have and Alternative entry program. My state has several. No it is not always easy but math, science, esl, special ed, and english all need teachers. You have to check out the website for your dept of ed for your state. It is not easy but it can be done. Also it appears that this person who posted knows people and that is really how you get into jobs now. It is who you know. I am 4 classes away for my certification in career and technology in my state. I start classes next monday and I will be taking 2 classes. I should be done by spring. Check out teaching cert's in your state for post BA. You might have a cert you can do right in your state that only requires a handle full of classes.

[bogey72]

You are correct Allison, my state of Alabama has an alternative bachelor level certification.

OE800, I have researched the subject and I think you are giving your opinions which are not based on facts, at least for my particular state. Alt. Cert. allows knowledgeable people with real world experience to get in the classroom.

In regards to Western Governors, the one thing I've heard about them is that they are competency based and you lose a lot of credit hours if you transfer. Probably not a big deal if someone only has 20-30 hours but would be a huge loss for me. My brick and mortar school won't count my microbiology, biochemistry I, biochem. II, anatomy and physiology, etc.. from my regionally accredited chiropractic college because the numbers don't match up. I honestly believe that "non-profit" schools are mainly out to make as much profit as possible. That's why tuition and fees are so out of touch with real world economics (well, that and the financial aid industry which loans and grants tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars to students with no collateral).

I'll know more when my evaluation from TESC is finished.

[OE800_85]

Sorry to be blunt but you said you planned to just "get a job" because you "knew a vice principal". That kind of attitude really brings into question how seriously you're taking the job of a teacher.

That being said (at least where I'm from), they offer this kind of certification to some industry professionals mostly in applied studies (a friend of mine is becoming a hairdressing teacher in highschool, what a world) and the requirements are often tougher than just doing teacher's college. I'm not sure what kind of applied background you can have to be a Science teacher, a researcher, a chemist??

What I said above is definitely my opinion. I've been teaching in China for 3 years, and was just sorta thrown in, so to speak. It can be quite a lot to handle, without experience and applied knowledge I think teaching is pretty difficult. I could only imagine how much worse I would have been if I were teaching a group of smart ass western high school kids (instead of motivated, disciplined adults), I would've probably quit.

Besides Western Governors, I don't know of a school that can give you a teaching license mostly online. I think there's a reason why too.

[OE800_85]

how could you have completed 288 quarter hours of credits? You should already be doing your master's, lol

[bogey72]

OE800,
I just typed a couple of paragraphs but they kind of sounded mean spirited when I read them before hitting submit so I deleted them.

I'll just leave it at this, I disagree with you strongly. Please read ALL of my posts (there are not too many) here on the forum before posting again in this thread. Also, understand that different states and different countries do things differently. Whether you believe that to be right or wrong is simply that, your belief.

I'm done. I'll update this thread when I have my eval from TESC and will respond to any constructive comments but I will not argue with anyone over the internet.

EDIT: Just saw your last post OE800. I did 90 undergrad at a 4 year university and then matriculated to chiropractic school where I earned my Doctor of Chiropractic degree. Again, I'm in a unique situation and you are generalizing.

[Tarheel Student]

Bogey with your experience going the alternative teacher route would probably be a good fit for you. Keep your head up and don't give up on your dreams......
Good Luck

[bogey72]

Thanks Tarheel, I really appreciate it. If I was 20 years old and just finished my general education courses, I wouldn't hesitate to do the Bio/Sec. Ed route and finish my degree in a couple of years. However, I'm 38 with 2 kids, a wife and a full-time job. I was unaware that EVERY education class had a number of days of student teaching. I knew I would have a full semester of student internship toward the end and had planned to save up a semester of living expenses between now and then. I just had no idea that each education class would have multiple days of student teaching. I am unable to take off work during the semester. A day or two wouldn't be too bad but my school required me to pick 3 days in a row. I just can't take off that much.

Thanks for the encouragement. As far as the Alt. route goes, it was designed for adults in my situation. I'll update when I hear from TESC.

Thanks again.

[25inmymind]

Hi Bogey,
Have you heard anything yet?

I have been lurking here just to see what I could learn, and when I saw your post I knew I just HAD to put in my .02.

I think I could have copied your story, and with a few minor changes, put my name on it. I also got my DC, and, for various reasons, mostly financial, didn't wind up practicing. I also didn't have a Bachelors going in, because at that time it wasn't required. Long story short, I got my portfolio evaluated at TESC, had more than enough credits (including upper division), with the exception of a few humanities credits. I took a couple of DANTES (at least I think that's what they were called at the time) tests for those, and a few months later, had a BA in Natural Sciences/Math. I looked at the biology option, but I had been a math major before chiro school, and I had more math credits than I would have had ordinarily, so the NatSci/Math worked better for me. This was also quite a few years ago, so things may have changed a bit.

I can't really speak to the second part of your plan, because I didn't go the teaching route, but I can say that my dd's elementary school has had student teachers from WGU there, and she really liked the ones who came to her classroom.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I was so depressed when I got out of chiro school and found out that the hours I had spent getting my DC were perceived as worthless when I went to find a job outside of practice. I am proud of what I accomplished in chiro school (not to mention passing state boards), but it was so frustrating that it was nearly impossible to get validation from anywhere else. TESC was honestly a godsend. I was able to take that BA I got from there, and move on in another direction. I am once again evaluating my options, which is how I wound up on this forum this time.

Best of luck to you. I know we are not the only ones disenchanted with the chiropractic world. Fortunately, there are options.

[bogey72]

25inmymind,
Thank you so much for responding. I really appreciate the sentiment. I haven't heard anything yet but hopefully it will be any day now. I truly hope that TESC will be the answer for my particular situation. Chiropractic has definitely been a hard road for me and although I still make a living at it, I can see the writing on the wall.

I hope that you have success in whatever you are considering doing.

I will update as soon as I hear something.

Thanks again.

[bogey72]

[SIZE="7"]UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![/SIZE]

I just received my evaluation from TESC. I am a little confused at the moment but ecstatic at the same time. When I look at my evaluation for a BA Biology degree I am striking out on all the upper level Bio courses which means I would have to take Cell Bio, Microbio. and Genetics as well as 16 hours of elective Bio courses. I would also need 1.67 hours of a social science and 1.34 for a chemistry, both of these shortages come from taking classes many moons ago on a quarter system. My physics and English and all other courses were sufficient.

So, in essence, I'm about 28 hours short of a BA Bio degree.

Now, for the ecstatic part of my post. To get my BA Natural Science/Mathematics, I need 1.67 hours of a Social Science and I WOULD BE DONE!!!!! I assume I could either clep test that or take a TESC course so I would have a GPA and be finished. *****Question: To get the information on the BA Nat. Science/Math degree, I clicked on the "What if I changed my plan of study?" box. It states: "This is an UNOFFICIAL evaluation. If you officially change your degree program, adjustments to the number of applied credits may be required." I assume that is just a formality and I am truly 1.67 hours short of this degree but please let me know if I'm off base.

Now, since I want to teach, I will have to check with the state of Alabama and find out if this will be sufficient to teach secondary science. I am quite certain that it will be OK for entry into the alternative certification route. On the other hand, I could try for entry into graduate school and do a 5th year master's degree and forgo the alternative certification route altogether.

Bottom line is that I need to check with the AL Dept of Education and get a solid game plan into a career in teaching.

I am extremely excited that I believe I could be less than 2 credit hours from achieving a Bachelors!!!!!!

I have some research to do into the state requirements, 5th year plans and some other thoughts. I'm sorry, my mind is going about a 1000mph and I hope this post isn't too muddled and incoherent.

Thank you guys so much for the help. If the Admissions counselor at my current university hadn't mentioned CLEP testing for the Social Science class I lacked in general education requirements, I would have never googled CLEP and found this wonderful forum. The Lord truly does work in mysterious ways. I thank God for this forum and for each of you that are helping me on this journey.

I have to go work on a patient, but I just wanted to give an update so you guys would know what is going on at this time.

I'll check back. Thanks again everyone.