High School English Teacher
Become a High School English Teacher
Working as a high school English teacher can be a very rewarding yet demanding job. As a high school English teacher, you have the power to shape young adults and to prepare them for success in college and in the workforce. At the same time, the demands that are being placed on high school English teacher professionals can be a bit overwhelming at times. This is particularly true with the continuing emphasis being placed on standardized test scores.
As a high school English teacher, you may be called upon to teach freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. At smaller schools, you may teach all four of these grade levels in a given day, which means you have to prepare lessons that are suitable for each grade level and that meet state standards. At larger institutions, on the other hand, you might work exclusively with just one grade level. While this may make planning easier, you might find teaching the exact same lesson several times to be monotonous. Therefore, you need to take these factors into consideration when deciding to become a high school English teacher.
As a high school English teacher, you will also be expected to work with students of all ability levels. While you may teach an honors or an advanced placement course in which all of the students are working on an accelerated path, you will likely teach at least once class that contains a mixed group of students with extremely varied writing abilities. In addition, with the increased push toward inclusion for students with special needs, you might need to work with students with learning disabilities in English that are still reading and writing at an elementary level. As a high school English teacher, you will need to work closely with the special education staff in order to provide these students with the proper educational program to meet their needs.
In order to become a high school English teacher, you will need to earn a bachelor’s degree in the subject. You will also need to successfully pass a state examination and prove your competence in the subject. In addition, once you do become a high school English teacher, you will need to continue going back to school in order to renew your license and maintain your eligibility to work as a teacher in your state.
