Explore the Blog

Recruit and Retain Successful Teachers

“I love TeacherReady with my heart and my soul. I went through a traditional pathway. And I found I still was not prepared for the classroom in so many ways. But with TeacherReady, candidates learn the nitty gritty so they’re ready to be successful on day one. We’ve had [...]

Meet Dr. Reggie Todd, Lesson 3 and 4 Instructor

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. – Nelson Mandela Like Nelson Mandela, Dr. Reggie Todd is a firm believer that education can change the world. So much so that he has devoted his life to a career in education. Dr. Todd began his teaching career in [...]

Alternative Teacher Certification in Florida

A growing teacher shortage is disrupting the learning environment in the United States, and Florida is no exception with 3,500 vacancies entering the 2019-2020 school year. The consequences for students are concerning. Florida districts need qualified teachers, particularly in the subject areas [...]

Prep Smart to Pass the Florida Teacher Exams

Passing teacher certification tests is a basic requirement for teacher licensure in most states. The test results are used to measure aspiring teachers’ knowledge and skills to ensure they are qualified to teach. Since each state sets its own standards, testing requirements vary from state to [...]

BLOOM’S TAXONOMY 101

Teachers study Bloom’s Taxonomy in their education training program. Taxonomy means classification. Bloom’s taxonomy is a simple classification system that defines and distinguishes six levels of human thinking, learning and understanding. Teachers should include all learning levels in their [...]

A Guide to Creating Ultimate Teacher Portfolios

There is an increasing need for teacher portfolios which document achievements and classroom experiences. These portfolios visually communicate a teacher’s experience in a professional and organized manner. Teacher portfolios are not always required but are highly recommended for several [...]

HOW TO BE AN EXCEPTIONAL MENTOR TEACHER

To become a certified teacher, most states require a bachelor’s degree, student teaching and a passing score on teacher certification exams. Although student teaching provides invaluable training, it rarely allows enough time for new teachers to learn everything they need to know when they [...]

ALL NEW TEACHERS NEED MENTORING PROGRAMS

Most educators agree that mentoring programs (induction) are essential for beginning teachers to meet the needs of their students. Although available mentoring programs have doubled in the past two decades, approximately half of the states still offer no formal mentoring for new teachers. There [...]

GETTING THE MOST OUT OF STUDENT TEACHING

To become a certified teacher, you must: 1. earn a bachelor’s degree 2. complete student teaching (also known as field experience, internship, practicum) 3. pass several teacher certification exams Through coursework, you study methods and practices of teaching (called pedagogy). Through [...]

BECOMING A NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFIED TEACHER

If you want to earn the highest level of teacher certification, you should consider ‘National Board Certification’. We researched all the details and put together this simple overview to tell you about how to get this certification and how it can help you in your teaching career. What is [...]

STATE RECIPROCITY: RULES OF THE ROAD

In teaching, the term ‘state reciprocity’ refers to using an existing teacher certification to get a teaching license in another state. Because teachers are more and more on the move, most states developed certification agreements to outline the process to accept teacher [...]

The Teaching Shortage in America

This month we are going to talk about the teacher shortage in America –  why it’s happening, what is being done about it and how an online teacher certification program can help. The teaching shortage is a major issue in America that exists in many states. The Guardian conducted a survey [...]

TEACHING ENGLISH ABROAD: WHAT TO EXPECT

In Part 1 of this series, we learned that English is the most spoken non-native language in the world which is why so many people want to learn this language. In Part 2, we talked about finding a teaching job abroad by first deciding what type of school setting you prefer and what requirements [...]

TEACHING ENGLISH ABROAD: HOW TO GET STARTED

In part 1 of this series, we explained why so many people want to learn English. According to the data, English is the most spoken non-native language in the world today. Since over 1 billion people are currently learning English as a second language, there is a huge demand for teaching English [...]

TEACHING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE EVERYWHERE

 The English language is the most studied language in the world. According to the British Council, an estimated 1.5 billion people across the globe are currently learning English. There is a universal desire and need for people to learn the English language. This has opened a robust job market [...]

DAVID’S SIXTH CAREER: CERTIFIED TEACHER

Many people change careers over 5-7 times during their lifetime. The story below describes David, a 68 year old, who has had 5 careers so far! From serving his country, to translating historical writings and to operating construction equipment, some may say that he’s seen it all. After [...]

Using Assessment Data to Improve Your Teaching

A key piece of curriculum in the TeacherReady® Online Certification Program is Using Assessment Data. What makes this specific portion of the online teaching certification process so important? We have found that when teachers effectively use student assessment data in the classroom, they can [...]

Have you recognized your calling to be a teacher?

Dr. Aleta Schexnayder, a TeacherReady® instructor, knew she wanted to become a teacher at the young age of six or seven. Most of us did not know our calling at such an early age, and many of us may still not know. Recognizing your passion and following your calling in life can take time. [...]

Providing Consistent Feedback to Parents

Why provide feedback? It is vital to provide feedback to parents that recognizes what students are doing well. We often express what students do wrong, but seldom reward and recognize good performance. Similar to most people, students respond when they are recognized. Using research findings [...]

Why You Should Be Teaching ALWAYS Actions

As we work with teachers, we engage in conversations about domains of teaching. We introduce the Teaching ALWAYS Actions™ as a way of “making the complex, simple.” The Teaching ALWAYS Actions are five actions teachers must do every day in their classrooms to ensure students are [...]

Why You Should Be Using Learning Targets

For students to learn they need to know what is expected of them and they need to know what success looks like. Therefore, teachers must create and effectively communicate clearly defined learning targets. These targets need to be posted in the same place in the classroom every day. With the [...]

Resume Tips to Land that Teaching Position

Have a resume built, but need a little help perfecting it? When applying for a teaching position there are a few simple things you can do to make your resume stand out from the rest. Gayle Furlow, TeacherReady® Field Placement Advisor, shares a few key tips to add to your resume and help you [...]

Promote What You Want to See in Your Students

Promote What You Want to See in Your Students for a Happier and Less Stressful Start to the New School Year Students generally respond better to rewards than to verbal scoldings. Rather than getting overtly upset when a student doesn’t remember how to line up on the first week, try verbally [...]

Prepare in Advance

Prepare in Advance for a Happier and Less Stressful Start to the New School Year Experienced teachers know that the sooner they get started collecting and organizing items for their classrooms (or take them out of storage), the better they feel about the first few days of school. Likewise, [...]

Plan for Success

Plan for Success For a Happier and Less Stressful Start to the New School Year How do you do this? Consider and answer the following questions in advance of the school year: Look back over the standards appropriate for your grade level and subject matter. Think about those in blocks of [...]

Instructional Calendar: Mapping Out the School Year

Why? An instructional calendar is a valuable tool for mapping out curriculum standards, to ensure appropriate pacing, and to support student mastery of required content. Creating this instructional calendar is one of the most important things you can do before the school year begins. What? The [...]

Put Your Best Foot Forward in the First 90 Days

The first 90 days back to school can be filled with stress and anxiety, especially if you are at a brand new school or teaching for the first time. In an attempt to avoid stepping on anyone’s toes, getting on the wrong side of a new co-worker, or making a mistake, it’s often [...]

30 Day Lesson Development Process

Lesson Development Process When teachers plan lessons, we suggest they view learning through a student’s lens. Effective teachers align the skill set required of a lesson to a student’s learning level. A teacher’s number one goal is to guide students to exceed their expected [...]

Building a Curriculum Calendar & Lesson Planning

A curriculum calendar and lesson plans ensure you are teaching all the necessary material throughout the year. Without these items, you may find yourself behind in teaching all content. We suggest you start the process with a broader curriculum calendar and then develop individual lesson plans. [...]

Developing an Effective Classroom Management Plan

An effective management plan is vital to the success and efficiency of your classroom and most importantly, your students. Well thought-out classroom procedures should be in place on day one. Keep in mind, you won’t be able to teach every procedure on that first day. What are the key [...]

Tips & Tricks for Classroom Organization

Preparing for the First Day: Organizing your classroom Prior to the first day of school, there are many classroom organization details to consider. You want to be sure to have your classroom organized and ready for students to step through the door that first day back. An organized classroom [...]

The Little Moments in Class Matter

During the busy school year, it can be easy to forget the impact we, as teachers, may have on each individual student. When the chaos subsides, it is important to reflect on our work and take notice of how we touch the lives of our students. Kara McAlister, a TeacherReady® alumni, reflects on a [...]

Teacher Rounding: An Important Tool for Reflection

Rounding In a previous blog post, we discuss the benefit of applying the Coaching Probe Tool with collegial coaches and teacher learning teams to reflect on student success. Rounding is another effective tool to aid teachers in the reflection process. Collegial coaches use various strategies to [...]

Using Data to Reflect on Student Progress

Reflect on How Well Students are Learning: In performance-driven classrooms, teachers constantly reflect on how well their students are learning. Success should be measured by how well students have learned rather than how well teachers think they taught. Data help teachers know if and when [...]

Three Steps Towards Making Bad Teaching Habits Good

Most people have at least one bad habit, if not, more than one. The bad habits can be in their personal lives and in the workplace. Many teachers have bad habits they probably don’t even notice. Some of these bad teaching habits include: Using a textbook as the script for teaching. Saving [...]

Best Practices: What’s Working Well For Sheri Green

A Standout Teacher in the Making Sheri Green, a teacher candidate currently completing the TeacherReady® program, says she always wanted to be a teacher. “I wanted to inspire, motivate, encourage and help develop our children. My biggest motivation was just giving back to our youth, which [...]

Call to Action: How Do We Help New Teachers?

What problem do new teachers face? “Nearly half of all beginning teachers will leave their classrooms within five years, only to be replaced by another fresh-faced educator,” Owen Phillips told nprEd. When asked “What can schools specifically do to address the problem of [...]

The New Grad Dilemma: How Can I Use My Degree?

When I decided to go to school to be a journalist, I had big dreams. I was going to chase down stories reminiscent of Citizen Kane. I would spend long days ferreting out the truth behind conspiracies and sleepless nights clobbering the keys of a typewriter. I was young. It didn’t take [...]

Bernadette Hanley: Veteran, Mother, Teacher

A Veteran and Mother in Italy After 20 years in the United States Army, Bernadette Hanley retired as a Lieutenant Colonel. She was living in Italy with her two sons, suddenly finding more time on her hands. She focused her newfound free time on her family, specifically her sons. It wasn’t long [...]

Reflections of a First Year Teacher: Diana Shenkel

There is a high learning curve during your first year of teaching. We do everything we can to prepare before entering the classroom, but there are somethings you can’t always anticipate. Diana Shenkel, proud TeacherReady Alumni, finished her first year of teaching at Holy Family School in [...]

End the School Year with Strong Student Engagement

Once the end of the school year rolls around, it can feel like everyone is dragging their feet. Students and teachers can see the light at the end of tunnel and are ready for summer vacation. This can be a challenge because the end of the school year is when all of the major testing happens. [...]

Fill the Need: Become a Hero By Becoming a Teacher

The need for more teachers is a reality school leaders have every year. All over the United States, school leaders are continuously looking to fill teaching positions. Filling these positions has become harder and harder in recent years. Teacher shortage throughout the U.S. Typically, school [...]

Chase Passion: Love What You Do By Teaching

For the love of Football Before leaving college, Zack Fleming knew teaching was his passion. He realized this during his collegiate athletic career. Zack wasn’t one to sit on the sidelines and watch the game. While experiencing some significant injuries, he asked his coach what he could [...]

Earn Parent Support To Help Meet Student Needs

Communication is key when working with students and their parents. Parents know that their child’s education lies in your hands. Teachers must help to remove the anxiety from parents and a great way to do this is to introduce yourself. This sounds simple, but it can go a long way and [...]

Career Change Guide

If you are starting to feel that career change itch… that nagging thought growing louder and louder: “I don’t want to do this for the rest of my life,”  you are not alone. According to The Wall Street Journal, the average person entering the workforce in 2010 are [...]

Three Ways to Provide Positive Feedback to Students

Students want to be rewarded and recognized for their performances. Once given positive feedback, students will respond better to all feedback given. Ideas for Providing Positive Feedback Send thank you notes to students. If a student receives a thank you note expressing your appreciation for a [...]

What is a Flipped Classroom and Why Flip?

A flipped classroom is when what happens in the classroom and what happens at home are basically “flipped.”  Students listen to lectures, read lessons, and complete guided practice at home and then come into school ready to practice and review what they have learned with the teacher.  Homework [...]

Using Assessment Data in the Classroom

Using Assessment Data in the Classroom. As teachers, we have so many tools at our disposal that it can become overwhelming to sort through all the items in the toolbox and select the one that will most benefit our students. So often I have found myself planning that perfect lesson for my [...]

Common Planning for Student Achievement

As teachers and leaders we want to move our low performing students to middle- and high-performing and move middle-performers to high performers. To do this we focus on consistent feedback and formative assessment; these are actions teachers take every day to become better and better teachers [...]

Retaining New Teachers

  Retaining New Teachers. The school leaders and clinical educators / mentor teachers we work with in TeacherReady know the best way for new and early career teachers to learn and grow their skills is to complete tasks themselves with coaching and support from them. School leaders and [...]

The Art of Teaching in Istanbul, Turkey

The Art of Teaching. Mr. Stephen Freer is a 7th Grade English Language Arts Teacher and Level Leader, and Middle School Debate Coach in Istanbul, Turkey. This is his sixth year teaching at the Hisar School! What a pleasure it was for us to welcome Stephen and his early career teaching [...]

Teacher of Year Nicole Salter White

Earlier this month we received a letter from a proud educator sharing about the Satsuma City System Teacher of Year Nicole Salter White. Nicole completed TeacherReady in 2012, earning her professional teaching certificate in social studies. An excerpt from the letter:   The letter began, [...]

TeacherReady in the News!

Today we celebrate TeacherReady in the News! Thanks to Pensacola News Journal reporter Thomas St. Myer for connecting with us at TeacherReady to learn more about alternative certification and its influence on teacher preparation. TeacherReady is state-approved and is a member of the NCATE [...]

TeacherReady Teacher Laura Corder

Meet TeacherReady teacher Laura Corder. Ms. Corder earned a professional teaching certificate through TeacherReady, an online alternative certification program and a member of the NCATE accredited educator preparation institute of the University of West Florida. As an alternative certification [...]

TeacherReady Teacher Sara Rabb

Meet TeacherReady teacher Sara Rabb at Oakcrest Elementary School in the Escambia County School District, Florida. Ms. Rabb earned a professional teaching certificate through TeacherReady, an online alternative certification program and a member of the NCATE accredited educator preparation [...]

Teach Abroad and Get Certified

TeacherReady engages with students and teacher candidates who teach abroad in 95 different countries! Excited to work with them and provide them an opportunity to get certified. Here’s what a few of them shared about their TeacherReady experience. “Having just completed your course [...]

Teach in China and Get Certified with TeacherReady

Teach in China! Check out this video from Silas, one of our TeacherReady teachers, who is teaching in China. Whether you’re teaching in China or across the globe, TeacherReady provides an opportunity to earn a professional teaching certificate from the State of Florida in as few as 9 [...]

TeacherReady Celebrates Troops who Teach

Meet Master Sergeant Matthew Knight, United States Marine Corps Reserves and Physical Education teacher at Indian Peaks Elementary School, Denver, Colorado. In his drive to become a classroom teacher, Matthew participated in the Troops to Teachers program. Matthew represents one of the [...]

Academic Excellence, Student Success at CSU Global

Interested in becoming a teacher? Individuals can earn K12 teaching credentials while earning a master’s degree, thanks to a continued partnership between CSU-Global and TeacherReady. Since 2014, more than 160 adults have engaged in the CSU-Global / TeacherReady partnership for an opportunity [...]

From Military to Teacher: Serve Again

As the U.S. celebrates Teacher Appreciation Week and National Military Appreciation month, our colleagues at TeacherReady share their continued commitment to Service men and women, their families, and the education programs and centers of the military. Nearly 900 active duty, reserve, and [...]

Why have you decided to become a teacher?

Educators change lives. There are many reasons why candidates, just like you, choose our flexible online teaching certification program. However, all have the same purpose behind the decision: to pursue a passion in teaching and make a difference. Why have you decided to enter our online [...]

Recognize Student Strengths

Recognize Student Strengths. Today’s Exercise asks teachers to reflect on whether they consistently recognize student strengths. Historically, teachers have encouraged unsuccessful learners to act in particular ways by using grades as a punishment tool, such as assigning zeros on [...]

Provide Feedback to Recognize Good Performance

Students’ progression from one learning target to another works best when students receive descriptive feedback to help them improve. Provide feedback to recognize good performance. As teachers think about how we generally perform two teaching actions related to feedback: My students receive [...]

Power of Identification Teachers Connect with Kids

The power of identification is often the jumping off point for individuals on their way to achieving great results. As educators, we might argue that without the power of identification nothing can be accomplished. Celebrated, yet now deceased renowned educator Rita Pierson, conveyed this in a [...]

Don’t Underestimate the Difference You Make

Often times it can be difficult to see the changes and the differences we’re making in the lives of students each and every day. Recently, a TeacherReady student teaching abroad in Thailand reminded us of why we do what we do to help teachers do what they do each and every single day. I [...]

Ms. Pfluke’s Journey to the Classroom

“I had 30 years of experience working with young people, but had never been a classroom teacher.” – Ms. Lillian Pfluke, TeacherReady alumna  Ms. Pfluke is one of more than 900 TeacherReady alumni teaching in 49 different states and 71 countries. As a second career teacher, Ms. Pfluke [...]

University of West Florida

TeacherReady is the state of Florida approved Educator Preparation Institute of the NCATE accredited Professional Education Unit at the University of West Florida. At the completion of TeacherReady, you can transfer up to 6 hours to the University of West Florida’s comprehensive master’s [...]

ESL Job Link

ESL Job Link is a teacher recruitment agency based in Maple Grove, Minnesota. Our mission is to help teachers find reputable teaching jobs in South Korea. We are excited to partner with TeacherReady because our partner schools in South Korea are eager to hire certified teachers. TeacherReady is [...]

Scientist in the Classroom

The Scientist in the Classroom Partnership (SCP) Program is a partnership between Vanderbilt University and Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools focused on enhancing the teaching and learning of STEM in elementary and middle school classrooms. All participants in the program are graduate [...]

Start typing and press Enter to search