welcome to the secrets of college planning i'm your host anthony huber and today we're going to get some insight into education and teacher so our guest today is valerie know a tell all and she's a teacher at the saddle bro let's go back in time let's go into high school when that you start thinking about college was a freshman you're a senior year when did it all began i actually started thinking about college about fifth grade i had a fabulous fifth grade teacher they'll remember him to this day and he was fabulous teacher and made me want to be a teacher he actually let me do some of the things in the classroom i was doing bulletin board in fifth grade and he was going to be a  teacher never had i didn't think about anything else i really didn't even explore any other avenues even you know i think i would have been good at many things but that's great so how did you pick could stand college was was your parents were your parents involved how did how did it all begin my father was highly involved in the sense that he says he gave me a couple of requirements he said you can spend this much you can go this far away and could sound fell into those two parameters i actually heard about the school from one of my other friends at high school at high school during lunch time and she said she had looked at it she might be going there i took a look at it had a good education program used to be a teacher at it my father my mother and i went for the day i loved it it was you know a rural area but the college made the town and i loved fell in love with it and now was it was it the only one college that you had in mind those were a lot pennsylvania yeah i was there one or two jersey schools they were there were i like the rural area fell in love with the rural area and there weren't a lot of them where i was looking in new jersey so that's how i ended up there gotcha so now you're a co you're ready know that you want to be a teacher yes ok so that from day one what is involved in being a teacher at the college level so you know you have you have to make sure that you're applying to a school that has a teacher preparation program because it just makes it a lot easier they have the whole flow from you know the teacher prep courses to you know they'll tell you which routes to take if you want to do elementary i am actually certified as a kid eight elementary school teacher which that that certification is even exist anymore now they're more specialized but i had to find a college that had a teacher preparation which could sounded an immediate easier because they had a set you know set up for what classes you took when you took  them you had to go out into the field earlier i think my sophomore year i would go visit some schools in the area to see if i like the idea of teaching which is a good idea and you're sure if you're for you spend four years preparing for a career then you don't know if you're going to like it when you get into it and then you have to do of course your last semester in college is your professional you go out into the field and you teach ok so so is that the process too to become of full fledged teacher or is there other certification is actually that the students have to take a practice exam when they enter college to see if they meet the requirements for somebody who would be let into a teacher prep program we didn't have that when i went to school can twenty five years ago but so there was no test to get into the teacher preparation program now there most schools have that ok once you take that they need you a lot more field experience now freshman year sophomore year they make sure you observing getting i feel for things i don't actually think you are allowed to assist you know the requirements these days for people visit even visiting a school district or you know even to be a substitute you have to go through a whole process of things so just for the safety issues it's less so what are some of the classes that you're taking in college that are required for being a teacher so you're taking some courses in curriculum and instruction you know ing about how to teach learning how to teach you're taking some educational psychology classes so you're learning about how the mind of and you know in elementary school student works as good as opposed to an adolescent you know i teach in middle school so they're just getting into that adolescent phase and you're taking now it is you're taking educational technology classes i mean we took educational technology classes but it was things like you know using an overhead projector using a film projector a slide projector those we don't use that anymore you know it's a smart for her to have some board and you know those things and how do you learn all of that as you become a teacher that wasn't there when you were in school cho i mean lesson planning when i learned how to teach you got a plan book when you wrote out your lesson plans i don't touch paper and pencil hardly at all anymore when i'm planning my lessons i have online lesson plan books that i  use and everything's going google these days so they are districted a we've done a real push for google and they have a technology coordinator who got some volunteers of teachers who were interested i'm the kind of teacher i want to i want to stay with what's current i feel like that the students value that they know if you're current they know if you know what's out there what's going on and they respond to that so when they ask for volunteers to be our google  educators i raised my hand i said i'd like to be part of it so i became part of the team so now i'm a level one google certified educator educator so we go out into the district and they have district google d s and we train the teachers so that's how you know if you went to school twenty five years ago and you didn't learn the educational technology now the districts are providing professional development and our district really did a big push for that and a lot of our things that we do now are all on the do the kids get all the while they're in college well everything is you know most colleges now you sign you apply you get in you know you can't really survive without a laptop and a lot of them that's part of the purchase price for when you enroll you and you get that they all have their own e mail addresses that go with the school district to access them to different things a lot of them use blackboard to access anything that teachers my put in there i took my master's degree and we used blackboard so we had all of our notes with all our class information there that we checked in with coach so no how do you how did you go from graduation to where you are today what was the process that you took to get to that point well after i graduated i graduated in a time where there was a flood of teachers teachers were not leaving their positions and there were there was an influx of teachers graduating college i found it very difficult to find a job and like i said i went to college in pennsylvania but was a new jersey resident so i took the national teacher's exam which is what they had then they don't have that anymore which was accepted across the country however when i came back to new jersey you know i didn't i didn't have a job so i couldn't go out and buy a place to live and get a job somewhere else i came home lived with my parents and i needed a job but i was not a certified teacher in new jersey i got my certification in pennsylvania and so it took me about a year of being observed by you know where i was hired from and they had to go through the paperwork and process all the paperwork to get me a new jersey certificate because and so you've been subsidized program for students who have alternate means of getting an education they've left high school or had some problems with the law and now they basically do get an education a ged and then they do jobs job training so i ran the ged program there which was was a really good experience i like that a lot then i went to public schools i started working i worked in elizabeth for a year and then i went to work locally manville for four years loved teaching in the mantle school system very good experience then i met my husband and he did not live in a lawful area and i moved to north jersey and that's how i ended up in south of rock actually start like i told you i started off teaching were with the certification for kindergarten through eighth grade and i started off with elementary school positions and i wasn't a fit for me that's a thing i would you know i would say to people going into this field just because your first job isn't a fit for you doesn't mean it's the wrong field you just haven't found your niche in that in that field you know it's a constant learning with with teachers right you're constantly picking up things and is it something where you have to get a master's degree or a doctrine or something to keep her going well in the state of new jersey it's not mandatory to work towards a master's degree i have a master's degree it was years before i decided to go back to get one but teachers are mandated with so many hours of professional development in year that the district could provide or you can go to outside sources to get and i like i said i was always the kind of teacher that wanted to know what the latest in the newest in the best things out there where i was oh i never was content to just do what i was doing every year i wanted to find out more and learn new wa proclaim as a as an individual you can go in and become a master in education or doctoring and education what are some of the avenues you can take if you get the those levels as a principal or you could you could it would depend on what kind of coursework you took you know you would need to right now there are a lot of jobs where teachers are coming out of the classroom and going into supervisory positions not necessarily a principal or  but like a curriculum instruction supervisor a lot of districts or have those middlemen to help because there's a lot of new stuff that's coming down and everything's going down to the lower levels and so they need they more so if you wanted to be a supervisor you'd have to get a supervisory certificate so there's coursework that goes along with that if you want to be administrator principal a vice principal there's coursework that goes test administration i believe there's a test i'm not sure i don't know i haven't gone that avenue of always want to stay in the classroom or the test for the classroom as well or no but it's just talking you can get you can take a test to be certified in different areas for example i was eight certified but i wanted to teach middle school now my certification covered that i could teach anything at the kindergarten through eighth grade level but as a certification change now they have a middle school math certification so there's coursework that goes along with that  when i went back to do my master's in education i got the middle school coursework in math to go along with that i took the practice exam for the middle school math and passed that and then then there's paperwork that you fill out and  you pay and then the certification is your so is it something where this is just for the state of new jersey if you happen to go to new york then and so there's a whole new certification like dose of things th larry i believe have reciprocity and i know pennsylvania did with new jersey that's why i just had to be observed and fill out paperwork i really have to take any more course work i believe new york is a little bit different i don't i don't think they take the praxis exam i'm not one hundred percent sure on that but new york is a little bit different but most of the states in the local area i know have reciprocity i think you just have to check that out if you're planning you know move across country or down south or something like that and how about international is the international opportunities for teachers as well i actually have family that was a language english instructor and she actually went and taught abroad most almost all actually some places that you can go and teach nonprofit but they do a lot of loan forgiveness you know if you have you know everybody's got college loans these days education is something that is not  cheap and a lot of students are coming out with one hundred you know hundred thousand dollars easy in loans for a four year degree there are places that you can teach that they they forgive those years of of debt really ye so no let's go into the school year how does the school year work and what happens in the summertime with teachers when there's no school while the school year basically you know the actual school year for students are we our students start on september sixth this year teachers go back on the first but most teachers are in some way shape or form planning throughout the summer a little maybe they'll take a couple weeks off and then they're there planning their reading up on some new ideas or things that they want to try  pinterest teachers pay teachers these are sites that we go why don't we get ideas from other teachers of what they've done and you know we start you know pinterest you start your own board i already have friends of mine that he teaches are starting boards for the seventeen eighteen school year of what they're going to do so  that's that goes on all summer school year or you know our school year is broken into four marking periods some school districts have trimesters just depends on that the district and how about through the winter months with christmas and things like that there's stuff that goes on throughout the christmas holidays as well will score we have a you know we have a winter break and we have spring break but as far you know we have those built into the calendar that the students have about seven it's my time off as well you know it's as a job you get your sixty's your personal the you know that you are a lot of throughout the year so no in the summer time do you see a lot of a lot of teachers doing other things other than just teaching the lawyers or like i'm doing a lot of things i'm i have and this is probably the first week i have not been at school i do a elementary tennis clinic for about three weeks in the summer right across the street from the school that i teach at and it's from fifty eighth graders that sign up trying to i coach the high school girls tennis team a sister coach and so i'm trying to build my future program into that so i do that and then of a middle school has an enrichment program that we offer in language arts and mathematics just to kind of have some of the kids are coming into the seventh grade program get comfortable and get ahead some of my eighth graders are ninth graders key to kind of get a little bit of an idea of what they'll see at the beginning of next year just enrich themselves yes in reading so do you see a lot of teachers that don't do that in the summer months now i know some teachers a lot of teachers that i know work at a camp some type of summer camp but i have some friends that are teachers a two one month of summer school depending on their district and then i see a lot of teachers that travel some teachers have friends of mine that i work with have spent the summer in a different country actually doing educational work archaeology digs things like that interesting stuff really you have a being in education you have connections to those people who are looking for things in the summer they know that teachers are employed in the summer and they you know we get e mails we get you know pamphlets we get information to do those things we have so not reached us teachers usually stay within teaching field for many many many years do you see a lot of teachers there to entrepreneurial type of businesses outside yet other than you know i think as you find your you love education you love what you do you love the kids and that's a passion of yours but you find that the forty hour work week and the forty years at the same position people want more these days they want to see more places they want more things they want nicer things and  another you know stream of income to do that so a lot you know a lot of teachers that are doing other things you know i mean coaching half of the staff that i work with since i work in a middle school high school we coach i actually have watched my husband grow his own budget blinds business where he goes into other people's houses and you know the town that i teach in is a town that is part of his territory so a lot of my students parents know him know me because of that and i watched him grow that business and he had a lot of time freedom that he you know if he needed time off to take my son to school in the morning he didn't because appointments and that time freedom is something that you don't have in the forty hour week work week you know a lot of people are doing this now i've actually just ventured out  become a district manager an independent consultant with a company called armaan and they are health wellness skincare cosmetics company in the believe in pure seif and beneficial products for the whole family and my eyes were opened when i started using some of their products and i realized all of the things that we are putting on our skin and not realizing you know everybody's eating gluten free and who are gammick and that's great but when the things that you put in your body you have a filter you know a liver and kidneys are filtered out but when you put it on your skin it doesn't get filtered by your liver and your kidneys and so that was really eye opening to me so i think i know people that are doing online virtual businesses you know when they get home in their free time wells or whether when their child goes to bed they do an hour of on line a lot of people are building businesses on line and you see a lot of teachers that what's the breakdown when they when they retire or is it is it a salad with of just recently retired and some have shortly retired and are collecting their pension and we don't have four a one k we have four a three b but there was you know reaching into that as well and then i have some that are collecting their pension and doing stuff you know part time adjunct professor or someone running their own business on the side where you know with s a t prep and things like that and they're very good at what they do because they've been in the field for years and they know so they kn students they know how to get them to that point and the have been growing their business while they were actually teaching because all of the things they learned about the s a t tests and how it's changed and those becomes side businesses when you're retired because there are a lot of people who are retiring early or they're not waiting you know until they're in their forty years anymore yeah you know and so they're still young they want to go out they want to do things and they're doing these other now do you find that a lot of teachers are within the area of where they live or do you see a lot of teachers driving an hour or two hours to get to work because they can't find jobs of any sort i have i have the full gamut i have a couple of teachers i work with that live in south brook i have some teachers that you know are just just approaching the edge of new jersey they're traveling that far but you know they want it it's not so much they couldn't find a job they had the job and then they were looking for a  know housing that they could afford that wasn't so you know crowded so i have you know some colleagues that have gone out into the more rural areas and wanted to be you know and wanted to reserve kids out you about and you know some of the areas that surround south of where i teach you know it's harder to purchase a home and afford the taxes and with the things that come along with the homes you know i myself commuted for you know an hour commute at one point in my career but if you like your job it's easier just to get a different place to live than to than to change your job and is that is that something that really drives teachers or people who are going to college is that they want to give back to teaching the younger kids is that something that's in your mind so that that's the whole reason you become a teacher i mean if you ask any teacher out there they did not become a teacher because they thought wow i need a job  off because the average person doesn't have the summer off you know and as like side said to you we really don't have our summers off we're doing something involving children or making money and they have you know you know you're not going to be wealthy from teaching right i mean you will make a good salary the starting salaries in new jersey have really climbed and if you have higher education degrees and you've been in one place for a long time you'll rise up the ladder but people are going to get education for that they have a desire to make an impact on kids our middle school and high school are in the same building and so they leave middle school and they go on to high school and they're constantly back at your door popping their head saying how do you know fellow one of the coaches i teach with  teacher that i coach with she is a guidance counselor now but she was a high school biology teacher in the in the same building and we came out to the tennis courts the other day and there was a note on the tennis courts because we have a sign of one practices are there's a note on the tennis court saying hi this is gurk and we really m we love you but they're at college they're home for the summer and they're just leaving notes they come back they come back always yes it's good what we're coming to and of our show usually i asked my guests what advice do you want to give to the  sons and daughters that are going to college they want to become teachers what it first you want to give to those people i have some specific teacher advice i also have some general education advice choose a college that is not going to br a break the bank you know the state schools in jersey are excellent and when you get out of college you don't want to be buried in debt you know makes it hard to do things that you enjoy it makes it more pressure on you to have you know i have to get a job you know when will i get the job because sometimes you don't get the dream job right out of college if you're going to be in education you plan to be a teacher do summer jobs all through high school and college that involve students and involve kids they get you experience and you learn how to deal with different ages age groups of students you don't know where you i thought i was going to be elementary and middle school you know when i teach i'm coaching high school so you know you need to know stay in state if you're going to be a teacher and you plan on coming home to live with your parents which i recommend live with your parents as long as you can after college stay in state them because it's going to be easier to get like i said teacher certification done you won't have to switch over from one state to the other  i would say stay local think be smart about the money you spend and plan some plan some idea for an alternate alternate stream of income on the side because you want to very well thank you very much frank i'm glad to be here so you've been watching