And thus starts the saga...

Of getting a middle school license. I don't necessarily want to teach middle school but I do want to be more marketable (I don't plan on leaving NHS either) so I am applying for this license. You never know where life is going to lead you and I want to make sure I have plenty of options. It's the same reason why I am applying for a NY teaching license even though I have no plans to teach there. I began that process in 2007 and haven't even finished it. Whoops.  I have heard that if you teach high school, all you need to do is apply and you automatically get it. I could not find that option when I applied so I called the DOE and they said that I took a class for my master's degree that counts (you need to take a class or a seminar) so I'll get it :) And MA gets $25 of my money. But it's worth it. 

Ironically, there is no "history" option for NY. They do "social studies" which is the opposite for Massachusetts. When I took the MA MTEL History test as a freshman in 2002, I got a 69. You need a 70 to pass. I passed the communication and literacy tests first time. When I retook the history test in 2004 as a junior I got a 70 - pathetic. However after teaching for a year and a half, when I went to take the NY exams, which are MUCH harder than MA, I got really high marks and passed them all first time around. Like MA, you can only take 2 tests at a time so I had to do 2 different sessions to get all 3 done. I even got perfect scores on some subtests. I was shocked by that. 

Annnnyways, it's all in an effort to be able to handle anything life throws my way. Wish me luck!