Explore the Teaching Profession
No Matter Where You Are in Life
Gain experience and exposure
Allows you to harness and apply your education to gain first-hand exposure to working in the real world while further educating you on the practice of teaching.
Learn more about yourself
Encourages personal development that enables you to better understand your goals in the field of education and how to achieve them.
Transition into a future position
Employers appreciate hiring those they have already invested time and resources into, and would be more inclined to hire a recent intern at their company.
You don’t just become a teacher. The teacher development journey can span an entire adults lifespan or come after pursuing a different career. The journey can be long with bumps along the way, but becoming a nation builder through teaching is worth more than any destination.
Where are you? Interested in teaching but not sure where to start or if it's right for you? Checkout the opportunities below to get a taste.
Summer Internship
Summer teaching internships generally involve teaching summer school to K-12 students and are arguably the best way to try out teaching. Check your career center and online sites like LinkedIn, WayUp, LookSharp, Indeed and Idealist.org. Each of those sites have good internship opportunities.
Tutoring
Find programs at schools, community centers/organizations, or start your own business by offering your tutor services to families you know and ask them to refer you.
Volunteering
Contact a local school to help you spend time shadowing a teacher or volunteering in a classroom. Although experiences like summer camps and youth programs are helpful, they do not give you the best insights on the responsibilities held by a teacher or help you consider what grade levels fit you the best. Plus many teacher education programs require volunteer experience as part of their admission requirements.
Place of Worship/Community gathering
see if your space has classes where they need teachers, or youth programs that need leaders.
Breakthrough Collaborative
Breakthrough Twin Cities is a six-year, tuition-free academic enrichment and college preparatory program that helps under-resourced students prepare for college success. As a Teacher Fellow, you plan lessons and guide students through the summer.
Learning Works
A unique public-private partnership between Minneapolis Public Schools and The Blake School, LearningWorks is a tuition-free program since it was founded, LearningWorks has successfully established itself as the preeminent program for high-achieving middle school students seeking free summer and weekend options here in Minneapolis.
Volunteering
Volunteer in a classroom(s) to get experience and ask for a letter of recommendation usually required for admission to a teacher education program. You can also consider volunteering as a youth program leader.
Summer camp counselor
Spend your summers productively by leading youth in whatever themed camp!
Mentoring
Check out the student clubs on campus to see if any have mentoring opportunities where you are paired with a first year student.
Teacher Career Fairs
Visit fairs that include the teaching profession to talk with those in the field.
Tutoring
Find programs at your college/university, schools, community centers/organizations, or start your own business by offering your tutor services to families you know and ask them to refer you.
Become an Education Assistant or Paraprofessional
An education assistant (EA) or paraprofessional is an educational worker who is not licensed to teach, but performs many duties both individually with students and organizationally in the classroom. You can make some money and still go to school on the side!
Place of Worship/Community gathering
See if your space has classes where they need teachers, or youth programs that need leaders.
Teach for America
When you graduate, spend two years teaching and actually become a licensed teacher! Look out for recruiters on campus.
Become a substitute teacher
A substitute teacher is a person who teaches a school class when the regular teacher is unavailable; e.g., because of illness, personal leave, or other reasons. Other terms, such as "guest teacher", are also used by some schools or districts.
Become an Education Assistant or Paraprofessional: an education assistant (EA) or paraprofessional is an educational worker who is not licensed to teach, but performs many duties both individually with students and organizationally in the classroom.
Volunteering
if you like teaching English, volunteer at community organizations that offer ESL classes. Similar community organizations also offer citizenship classes.
Mentoring
groups like Big Brothers Big Sisters, MENTOR Minnesota, Bolder Options, and more give you an opportunity to connect with a young person. You may end up tutoring them, too!
Place of Worship/Community gathering
see if your space has classes where they need teachers, or youth programs that need leaders, or life skills courses need mentors.
Connect with licensed teacher
offer to eat lunch together or help plan lessons as time permits with your current job. Talking to a current teacher about the goings-on of the day can help you decide whether you’ll pursue becoming a teacher.
Explore teacher preparation programs
check out the classes, requirements, and practical information you need to know so you can best plan the transition. See if you can complete a college degree and teacher preparation program while you still work.
