How did you become a computer science teacher? Did you get a degree in teaching? I have my degree in cs and am interested in becoming a teacher and trying to find as many options as possible.
I joined a charter school network in NYC last summer. I am working on a teaching degree simultaneously (there is classwork during the year, but the bulk of the work was/will be during the summers on either side of this school year).
I am teaching some 5th grade math and english in addition to computer science, though if the network is able to continue to grow, there are likely to be teachers teaching only 5th grade computer science in the very near future. Not many NYC middle schools (charter or otherwise), offer computer science to middle school students.
For what it's worth, my undergrad was in economics. I know enough to teach Scratch to 5th graders, though I wouldn't sign up to teach AP Computer Science. Like alistairSH, I also wonder where the computer science teachers are going to come from. Genuinely wanting to work with kids every day is more important than any of this though, in my opinion. Definitely feel free to email me if you want to talk more about any of this.
In my county (suburban DC), it was roughly (I briefly considered moving into teaching in the early 2000s):
- degree in related subject, typically math (CS is/was part of the math department in the county)
- master's degree in education, or some other combination of post-graduate work that qualifies for a teaching certificate.
My degree in Economics, with a minor in CS, didn't come close to qualifying me to teach CS in high school. Not that it should have by default.
But, it does make me wonder where Chicago will find CS teachers. If they have to come from the ranks of those already qualified to teach math, that's not a very large pool.
I am teaching some 5th grade math and english in addition to computer science, though if the network is able to continue to grow, there are likely to be teachers teaching only 5th grade computer science in the very near future. Not many NYC middle schools (charter or otherwise), offer computer science to middle school students.
For what it's worth, my undergrad was in economics. I know enough to teach Scratch to 5th graders, though I wouldn't sign up to teach AP Computer Science. Like alistairSH, I also wonder where the computer science teachers are going to come from. Genuinely wanting to work with kids every day is more important than any of this though, in my opinion. Definitely feel free to email me if you want to talk more about any of this.