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Physical Education Degrees in Nevada

It takes special knowledge and skills to work with kids, not to mention a significant amount of patience. However, if you start a teaching career, you can leave work each day knowing that what you are doing truly matters to your community, the state of Nevada as a whole, and the entire country.

Specializing in a field like physical education allows you to learn teaching techniques that directly apply to your chosen subject area. With a Bachelor’s degree or Master’s degree in physical education, you may be ready to start working in Nevada schools.

Role of Educators with a Physical Education Degree in Nevada

The field of education has undergone many major changes in recent years. You can be part of this growth and get involved now.

Contact PE teacher programs—Nevada schools are listed below.

One of the biggest changes in Nevada education is the emergence of physical education as a necessary subject. Nevada was one of the few states that did not require physical education on a daily basis for students, a fact that many people believed was detrimental to the students of Nevada schools.

A proposed Senate bill aims to require daily physical education from kindergarten through 11th grade (Review Journal, 2016). This bill would also ensure that physical education programs in the state follow strict, evidence-based standards.

Movements like this one benefit teaching professionals like you, since they reinforce the importance of physical education and make it more widely available to students.

If you’re interested in improving physical education in Nevada, why not start by learning about different training options? Request information from teacher training programs to get started.

Getting Your Physical Education Degree in Nevada

The right health and physical education degree for you depends on how much education you have already completed. If you have a Bachelor’s degree, you may be able to become a gym teacher in less than one year with an alternative certification program. You may also earn a Master’s degree and become certified that way.

However, if you’re like most new teaching students, you are interested in an undergraduate degree. Earning a Bachelor’s degree in health and physical education takes about four years, during which time you’ll earn 120 credits. Once you have been accepted to the teaching program at your school, you work through a basic curriculum of teaching theory and teaching experience courses.

Commonly required courses include:

  • Scientific Bases of Physical Education
  • Teaching Team Sports
  • Teaching Fitness Activities
  • Teaching Individual Sports
  • Motor Development
  • Psychology of Coaching
  • Methods of Teaching Physical Education
  • Secondary Physical Education Teaching
  • Elementary Physical Education Teaching

As you work through different courses and build your base of teaching skills, you may put them to use in different ways. A growing number of institutions require new teaching students to get classroom experience in the first semester. This shows you exactly what today’s gym teachers are expected to do and allows you to verify that you’ve chosen the right specialty.

While you may start out as an observer, it’s important to get involved and be an active participant in your fieldwork courses. The more time you spend in local schools, the more prepared you may be for the workforce.

As a teaching student, you have a final graduation requirement that students in other degree paths do not have to meet. A full semester of student teaching puts your knowledge of theories to the test, examines your ability to apply theories, and shows you where you need to improve as a teacher. This is a full-time commitment, so most Nevada schools do not allow teaching students to have outside jobs in the final semester.

Becoming a teacher is a significant amount of work and study, but the payoff is extremely rewarding. Kids remember their favorite teachers their entire lives. You never know when a lesson you teach or a word of encouragement may change a student’s life, helping them improve their self-esteem.

The final step in becoming a teacher is applying for a teaching license. Once you have your physical education degree, you can apply to take the licensing test through the Nevada Department of Education. The Praxis II Physical Education Content and Knowledge test is used in Nevada.

Working with a Physical Education Degree in Nevada

If you are flexible about where you work and live, you may have a number of opportunities in Nevada. The Department of Education maintains a list of Critical Shortage Areas. These areas do not have enough teachers to meet minimum staffing standards, so you may do a lot of good by working in these areas.

In general, the job outlook in Nevada is strong. O*Net anticipates a 12% increase in job openings between 2012 and 2022 for elementary school teachers (2016). For secondary school teachers, they expect job openings to increase 5% (O*Net, 2016).

Salaries in Nevada are in line with national averages. Currently, elementary school teachers earn an average of $53,960 per year (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016). Secondary school teachers report an average income of $54,150 annually (BLS, 2016).

Teaching is an excellent way to contribute to the future of Nevada and spend your time on meaningful work.

Check out local education options below, and contact schools near you to learn how to become a physical education teacher.