Becoming a teacher?

Ah, excellent. I just shelled out $270 and a future four-hours of my time for my first two sets of teacher licensing exams!

I scheduled my first set of exams for Saturday, December 18th at 8:00 AM in West Fargo. This was the only date all semester that works with my schedule, as we're not allowed to take any time away from student teaching for the exam. My last date of student teaching will be that Thursday or Friday, and I'll be testing on Saturday. Needless to say, I'll be fried. The exam is testing my knowledge of music pedagogy, so I'm not too worried about it. In fact, I don't plan to study at all. :) I'll probably hang around in Moorhead that Saturday, then play at church on Sunday and head home to Rochester!

My second set of exams is scheduled for Tuesday, December 21st at 2:00 PM on Greenview Drive in Rochester (sound familiar??). This is great for a couple of reasons. 1) It will make sure I get home to Rochester, which will mean I'm sure to get at least some rest before the exam. 2) Dad can let me practice on his arm and Mom will give me a chill pill. Anyway, the test is on Secondary Pedagogy (grades 5-12), so classroom practices/teaching styles/history of teaching, etc. This may be my downfall! I'll have to start studying soon...

These exams are really frustrating! This summer, they changed the Minnesota teaching licensing exams from the Praxis to the MTLE. I took the first set of Praxis tests my sophomore year, and I'll finish my testing with the MTLE. When I acquire my teaching license, I will have used a combination of the two exams. The Praxis is a nation-wide licensing exam, but the MTLE is only used in Minnesota. Since the Minnesota certification program no longer requires the national Praxis, I probably won't be taking it. However, if I ever plan to teach in another state, I'll need to (and the MTLE won't do me any good in other states). How silly is that!?

PLUS, since it's a brand new test, there are no prep materials available. In fact, the website only includes a brief description of materials covered on the exams, and five practice questions for each. Over the course of the semester, we are hoping they will release full-length practice exams, study materials (such as books I could order), and an in-depth discussion of exam materials.

Isn't life exciting? ;-)