Theme III: Career Path

1.1.2--Identify the scope of career opportunities and the requirements for education,

training, certification, licensure, and experience.

To illustrate my chosen career path, I created a flow- chart that explains my plans from

high school to a career in education (Career Path Flow Chart 3.2.1). I considered the classes I

have taken, the colleges I plan on visiting, and the degrees I plan to pursue that will eventually

help me reach my goal of receiving a college degree in education. My last stop is my dream

teaching job; teaching early childhood education or middle school education in a suburban area.

Throughout high school, I have taken and plan on taking multiple courses while

participating in extracurricular activities that will benefit me most as I pursue a college degree in

education. I am currently enrolled in Teacher Academy where I will learn all the important

aspects of becoming a teacher and will be shadowing three different teachers in the district.

Along with Teacher Academy, I am currently taking Advanced Placement courses including

Seminar, Economics and I plan on taking Psychology my senior year. These classes will help

prepare me for difficult classes in college as well as hopefully eliminating college courses. As

shown in my resume that I have created, I have participated in multiple clubs and sports

throughout high school as well (3.2.2 Resume). These activities have taught me the importance

of teamwork, working with others, leadership, and discipline which are the essential factors to

becoming a teacher. While managing school and sports, I am also currently working as a

lifeguard at my local pool. Lifeguarding has taught me responsibility, accountability and has

helped develop myself as an authority figure which is vital to managing a classroom.

 Furthermore, while taking the several self assessments, I observed various traits and

interests that compare to my idea of an ideal teacher. For example, on the “16 personalities”

assessment, I ranked 88% in the “feeling” category in the nature portion (3.2.3 Self

Assessments). I believe having true emotions is vital in becoming a good teacher because it’s

important to be able to connect with your students on an emotional level. I also ranked 58% in

the “observant” energy category which focuses on the world around them which is very

important to maintaining a classroom environment.

At this moment, I am looking into several colleges including Ohio University, Miami

University, and Bowling Green State University and have noticed their excellent teaching

programs. For example, teacher education ranks among the top 10 programs at Miami for the

number of majors (3.2.4 Miami University Teacher Education​). ​Miami University, along with

many other colleges in Ohio, has a great education program that gives a variety of practical

classroom experiences such as a practice-based curriculum. I have yet to visit these schools but I

plan on visiting them by the beginning of my senior year.

As shown in the flow chart I’ve created, I plan on receiving my Bachelor’s degree in

childhood education along with hopes of going back to college to earn my Masters after being

placed in my first teaching job. During the teacher panel, I learned that many teachers end up

earning their Master's degree after they begin their first teaching job (3.2.5 Teacher Panel Notes).

At first, I thought that teachers typically just get their Bachelors degree, however, I learned that

there are so many benefits to receiving a Masters despite the extra years of schooling. Besides

getting my college degree in education, I will also need to receive my Educator Licensure. We

examined a few documents that provided information about teacher licensure which included the
Ohio Teacher Licensure Structure (3.2.6 Four- Tiered Teacher Licensure Structure). There are

several types of licenses you can receive based on your degree, but almost every license needs to

be renewed every five years.

Ultimately after completing schooling, receiving my education degree and acquiring my

teaching license, I will be ready to experience my dream job. Teaching requires such knowledge

as the characteristics of learners, social structures, families and communities, assessment

techniques, classroom practices and more. My dream job consists of teaching childhood

education in a suburban area, preferably Olentangy. However, after I shadow elementary and

middle school teachers this year, I will have a better understanding of the grade level I would

like to teach in the future.

My chosen career path will eventually lead me to the job I have dreamed of ever since I

was in elementary school. Even though I am unsure on what grade level I would like to teach,

research, my teaching placements (both in high school and college) and other experiences will

help me make my decision in the future. I am currently taking useful courses, participating in

extracurriculars, and working with children that will help prepare myself for my career. My

flow- chart exhibits the crucial steps to becoming a teacher along with how I will personally take

these steps to prepare myself for teaching.