Intern Teaching

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Home : 2002 : April : 7

Intern Teaching
By Amanda K

First of all, welcome to the board! This site is such a great resource, and we're happy to have you.

I received my clear credential a little over a year ago in CA, but have been teaching for almost 3 years. I did not
do an intern credential program, because my district didn't offer it at the time. I was on an emergency credential for a year and half until I got my clear credential, and attended class at night while teaching during the day. I went through Chapman University's local branch campus, since I live in a remote area and there aren't really any other options for me.
I absolutely loved teaching

while going to school to get my credential. It is a lot of work, though... don't expect to have much of a life while you are doing it. What made it worth while for me is that I was getting a great experience to draw from when I went to my classes at night. Many of my fellow students were not teaching, and were not able to relate at all to the coursework. I, however, was living the coursework every day, and so it made my classes much easier and more meaningful.

Here is another great benefit of the intern program. The first year of teaching is really tough, and it was great to be able to talk to my professors at night to get support and ideas. Also, I made a lot of great teacher friends in my classes, and I was able to draw upon them for support and advice.

I definitely recommend teaching while doing your credential work. It was a terrific experience for me.

BTW, as long as you are enrolled in a credential program right now, you should get your applications in to districts within the next couple of weeks. You probably won't be hired until mid to late summer, depending on where you live, but you want to get an early date stamp on your application. Often, districts interview intern candidates on a first-come, first-serve basis. And substitute teach until then... many districts hire from their sub pool.

I hope that this helps you. If you have any other questions, or need advice, post it in this strand and I'll help you out.