Stacy Said:

I would like to change careers and teach High School in Missouri. Please advise on what I would need to this.

We Answered:

I would advise you to contact the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. When you do, make sure to always communicate with the same person, because half the time you will get different answers from different people! I don't remember the URL off the top of my head, but type Missouri Department of Education into a search engine (that's what I end up doing much of the time!).

Cassandra Said:

ideas for teaching reading in a high school art class?

We Answered:

How about using some great art-related picture books, like the Last Resort, by J. Patrick Lewis, or Action Jackson, by Jan Greenberg? What exactly do you mean by teaching reading, anyhow?

Roberta Said:

I am Undecissive about Teaching in Elementary level or High School Level.?

We Answered:

At the elementary level you may not find a job, just teaching reading. Most teachers must teach all subjects at their grade level. Many schools, especially with the economy, don't have the funds to hire a reading teacher.
Same with high school. Many schools do not have a business tech class, or you may have to teach other classes besides business tech. You can't pigeon hole yourself into very specific areas to teach-you won't be hired

Viola Said:

High school literature class - how many books did you study in a year?

We Answered:

Azriel! I haven't seen you around in a really long time! It's nice to see you :D And to see you doing something so cool! Teaching in Japan, that's fantastic!

Anyway, I remember at the start of each year of high school, my English teachers would always go over the books he/she intended for us to read that year. There were always about ten or fifteen of them (fifteen in my AP class, at least) and we never, ever hit every one of them. But the large initial selection gave us books to choose from. So I'd stick with having those ten books, and then assign some of them and then allow the students to choose between a few of them.

Good luck, Azriel! :D

Lester Said:

What did you love/hate about high school literature? Need tips for teaching my class.?

We Answered:

Basically, take what the kids say seriously (if they're actually trying). Nothing angered me more than when I tried to bring something new to the table and my teacher blew it off like I was being stupid because she thought she was significantly better at analyzing literature than we were. (And she probably was--but that didn't mean she had to make a big deal of it.)

My biggest pet peeve was probably when we OVER-analyzed things. Yes, books are deep. And sure, I love diving in and learning about all of the symbolism and inner layers. I want to be a book editor for christ's sake, so I love chewing me off a piece of meaty book. But sometimes it just gets to be too much. The author did NOT make that sports car red because it signifies hidden adulterous thoughts, inner angst, and suicidal tendencies. He made it red because he liked that color and thought a red sports car fit the mood well.

On the same token, though, be open to new ideas that you haven't thought of yet. My senior English teacher shot down nearly everything anyone said if she hadn't thought of it that way before. It was infuriating. I felt like I couldn't say anything without feeling foolish. I know this sounds obvious, but I think teachers sometimes don't realize they do this. If a student says something that's completely out there, consider it for a second before you encourage/discourage the thought. (Of course you don't want to be the pushover teacher that students know they can bullsh*t whatever they want in their writing a get an A.)

My sophomore English teacher was really neat. Her diction was highly elevated, she worked hard to improve our vocabulary, and seemed to find the perfect balance of book analysis/discussion. It wasn't too much or too little. I think this is something you have to figure out through experience, though, to see what works for you and your individual classes, since every group of students has a different personality.

The end of my senior year, we were given a list of books we could choose from to do a predetermined assignment about. (Everyone had the same assignment for different books.) If we wanted to do a different book than was on the list, we had to show it to our teacher and prove it had literary merit. I don't recommend this for all reading assignments, since students should learn to be comfortable with Shakespeare, Dickens, Hemingway, etc., but it's a nice end-of-the-year thing. Watching the movie AFTER reading the book (and not instead of) was a lot of fun, too.

My favorite school-related book I've read is really hard. I loved: Mrs. Mike, Rebecca, To Kill a Mockingbird, My Name is Asher Lev, A Separate Peace, Hamlet, 1984, Beowulf, and Romeo and Juliet to name a few lol. Expose your students to the classics from all different genres. Good luck!! Students like teachers who are passionate for what they do and who can learn to take a joke or two, as well as crack some of their own.

Edit: DO assign essays fairly often. You'll get plenty of complaints, but writing well is a skill they desperately need for college.