How old you have to be to become a Certified Hacker?

How can I become teacher certified when I already have a Bachelors in something else?

• Hello everyone, Well, here's my issue: I have a Bachelors in Fine Arts (BFA), but I would like to become a teacher, (either an art teacher of a world languages teacher) how can I go about getting certified? Can I get certified in both? Are my only options getting a Masters in Education, or taking the Alternate Route to Teacher Certification program? (Which is highly selective and only for 90 days in my State), or can I just become certified with my Bachelor's? Probably not huh? Well, I'm just a bit confused about the whole thing, like do I have to take the program classes while I student teach? Do I get payed for this? Would online classes be a good option? Ok, sorry for so many questions, if any one can shed some light on this, I'd appreciated it, Thanks!

• Answer:

  You can get certified without having to get a masters. I actually recommend NOT getting your Masters, at least not right away. You would have to find a school that offers a Post-Degree Teachers Certification Program, which can be tough. The typical structure of this program would be a quarter/semester worth of classes. Then a 12 or so week of full time student teaching (and no you do not get paid for it....sucks I know), then another quarter/semester of classes, then you take your exam for certification. In total, these programs take about a year to complete. Since you do not have an education background, the school may have you take some other classes in order to meet requirements for admission. So once you find a program you like, check their admission requirements. If there are additional classes you need to take first before admittance, they can admit you under a "pre-teacher certification" status until you meet requirements. These programs do offer classes online. I do not recommend getting a Masters because the Arts in schools right now are being cut. The budgets for the arts is being greatly reduced all over the country. Art teachers are being laid off all over the place. If you get your Masters, you will become too expensive for a School System to hire. I suggest getting your Licenses, finding a job, and if they want a Masters later on, then you can go get. But I strongly suggest not getting a Masters right away. I actually know an Art Teacher who has been teaching art for 10 years. She recently went back to school for her Masters and just graduated this June. In September, she was laid off. She now works at a Day Care Center. It's very sad but it happens a lot.