So. . . you would like to pass your love of math and science on to others - we would like to encourage and help you. Oregon needs well-prepared teachers in math and science, including at the elementary level.

If you are thinking of middle or high school levels, you should know that preparing to teach math or science is different than majoring in those areas. While focusing intently on a comparatively small aspect of your discipline is good experience for future research, you will find that teachers need to sacrifice some depth in order to acquire more breadth. The mathematics, science and education faculty of Willamette University would like to assist you in getting good information about how best to prepare to be a mathematics, science or elementary school teacher.

This web site, or "Handbook" should provide you with basic information and the links to WU advisors, publications and other web sites that contain much more information. Here you will find our opinions, not requirements, for paths that will prepare you well.

We enthusiastically support those who decide that they want to be teachers of math and science - at all levels, and we would be happy to talk with you about your interests and concerns. Follow the link below to the name of a person in each department who has expressed special interest in assisting future teachers. Also, the Willamette University Admission Office is a good advising resource and will be an important contact as you explore graduate studies in teaching at Willamette as well as other institutions. We wish you well!

Oregon allows two routes to gettting a credential to teach. In one you begin teaching after a four year program, studying for the required Master's Degree during summers as you teach. Given that you are an undergraduate at WU, your path to becoming a teacher will probably be through the second route, a graduate 5th year program, such as the MAT (Master of Arts in Teaching) program at WU. Such programs require a Bachelor's degree prior to admission and grant the Master's at the end of the program.

Each of the 16 schools in Oregon that provide teacher education programs has its own set of admission preferences and requirements. This web site attempts to advise WU students on choices that should make them accepted at all such schools. Follow the links below for more information on Oregon's Advising Guide and for a list of Oregon colleges and universities that have graduate programs in education.

Part of the reason for this booklet is that the teacher dropout rate is appalling. Approximately one teacher in three leaves the profession within five years. Some really picked the wrong profession for them. But many simply were not prepared for the complexity of the task. Can you simultaneously solve a problem, figure out what is wrong with the thinking of the student who did it incorrectly, and engage the 29 or more other devious minds in the classroom? For most of us that is a learned skill. And like swimming, it is best learned a piece at a time, not all at once in the deep end of the pool.

Once you get the hang of it, you will love the challenge. You will love seeing the light bulb flash over the heads of your students. You will love encouraging the discouraged. You will be totally frustrated at times too. Your wonderful, dynamic explanation went over the heads of most of the class. There's a kid in the back who bursts out with some loud remark every time you are about to help the class pull it all together. But if you hang in there and keep trying to make learning better for kids, one day you will get a letter from a parent or a former student describing what a wonderful difference you made. Then you will be hooked.

But you won't get there with one year of methods classes and practice teaching, no matter how excellent and creative your teaching program may be. So get out there early. Don't try to do it all at once, but tutor, coach, teach religion classes, counsel at camp. Try to work in situations in which your students would really rather not be there. You'll make a better career choice and you will benefit a lot more from your how-to-teach classes. A list of some possible opportunities may be found at the link below.