Teacher Resume Example & Guide [tips and tricks]

Which skills and sections should you add in your teacher resume? Learn this and much more in our teacher resume guide where we also provide resume examples.
6/4/2024 9 min reading time Karin Lykke Nielsen Karin Lykke Nielsen
Teacher Resume Example & Guide [tips and tricks]

Being a teacher includes a great deal of responsibility. You’re shaping young minds and of course you’ll want to reflect this in your resume. In this article we will help you structure your teacher resume plus show you the best skills and power words to use. 

Read on to learn how to write an awesome teacher resume that will bring in results. Throughout the article there will be tangible examples that you can adjust to fit your own needs. In the end there will be teacher resume examples to be inspired from. 

Here’s what you’ll know after reading the article: 

  • How to structure your teacher resume
  • Skills for your teacher resume
  • Power words to use in your teacher resume
  • Additional sections for your teacher resume
  • Writing tips for your teacher resume

Here we go! 

How to structure your teacher resume

First things first. Before you can fill up your resume with all your awesomeness you’ll need a structure. This way you’ll know exactly what to add. We recommend using the reverse-chronological resume format for your teacher resume. 

The structure of your resume should resemble this: 

  • Header (title, name, contact info)
  • Profile (introduction)
  • Employment history and job experience
  • Education
  • Skills
  • Any relevant additional sections

A word of advice: you don’t necessarily have to start the writing process with the profile text (which is often the hardest part of a resume). Instead begin your writing process with the low hanging fruits such as your job experiences and education. Then slowly build your resume step by step and eventually you’ll have plenty of inspiration to write your profile text. 

Header

Your resume’s header consists of your name, title (use the title of the job position you’re applying for), and your personal details such as contact information and address. This part is pretty straightforward. 

Profile

Your profile text (or summary as it’s sometimes called) is there to grab attention and make the recruiter curious to know more about you. That’s why this part is extremely important and needs to be ultra sharp. Sometimes it’s better to leave this one till the end of your writing process since you’ll have a better overview of the content of the rest of your resume. 

Employment history

When you add your employment history to your teacher resume we strongly recommend you to use the reverse-chronological resume format. Why? This is the format that recruiters are most familiar with and thus it’s easier for them to know what you’ve been doing in your career. The reverse-chronological resume format means that you begin your resume with your most recent employment and work your way backwards from there. 

Use this checklist: 

  • Reverse-chronological resume format
  • Describe each position with 4-6 bullet points (include tasks, responsibilities, and quantify your results if possible)
  • Tailor your teacher resume to the job position by matching your skills and qualifications to what’s described in the job ad
  • Use keywords and power words throughout your resume 

Let’s check out an example of a teacher’s employment history: 

English Teacher 

Amundsen High School - Chicago, IL 

2013 - Present 

Taught American and English classic literature to primarily juniors and seniors. Notable accomplishments include: 

  • Created rigorous lesson plans and prepared 90+ students for quizzes and exams 
  • 95% of students passed their exams with a minimum of 2.9 GPA 

Student Teacher 

George Washington High School - Chicago, IL 

2010 - 2013 

  • Instructed 10+ classes in English literature - primarily freshmen and sophomore levels. Notable accomplishment: 
  • Created and implemented new and modernized classroom rules

Education

If you want a job as a high school teacher you’ll need at least a Bachelor's degree in secondary education and/or a teachable subject. Teachable subjects could be: 

  • English Literature
  • World Literature
  • Mathematics
  • Applied Mathematics
  • Biological Sciences
  • Earth Science
  • Chemistry
  • Physics
  • French Literature and Language
  • Music
  • Visual Arts
  • Social Studies

An example of an English teacher’s education section could look like this: 

Education

BA in English Literature and Secondary Education

Harper College - Chicago, IL

2006-2010

The example above is for a high school teacher with 10+ years of experience. If you on the other hand don’t have that much experience, you could emphasize your education by adding your GPA (if it’s higher than 3.5), academic achievements, relevant courses, projects, or articles).

Skills for your teacher resume

It goes without saying that you need to have the right skill sets to be an educator. Not least solid hard skills within your subject. But have you also considered the soft skills needed? 

With that many teenagers under your wings you’ll need all the negotiation skills and conflict resolution skills you can power. Make sure to demonstrate that in your resume too. 

Adding your skills to your teacher resume is a great way to include relevant keywords. Carefully read through the job ad and highlight the skills they’re seeking in their candidates. Now match them with your own skills. To get you started, here is a list of skills that are typical for a teacher: 

  • Lesson planning
  • Instructional skills
  • Organizational skills
  • Classroom management
  • Effective discipline
  • SMART board interactive displays
  • Standardized testing
  • Software (e.g., Haiku Learning, Edmodo)
  • Subject knowledge (depending on the field of expertise)
  • Knowledge of curriculum and state standards
  • Sense of humor
  • Rapport with students
  • Creativity
  • Teamwork skills
  • Critical thinking
  • Decision making
  • Leadership
  • Problem solving
  • Time management

Additional sections for your teacher resume

And with that we’ve reached the final section of your teacher’s resume - additional sections. This is where you would add your language skills, certifications, and volunteer work. They make for a nice rounding finish of your resume.

Let’s look at each below. 

Language skills

Adding your language skills is a great idea no matter what your subject is. Especially if you’re going to teach in a school with a high level of cultural diversity your language skills may come in handy. 

Volunteer work

Do you have volunteer work experience? This is the place to add it. With your volunteer work experience you show you’re a caring and committed person instead of just saying it. 

Certifications

Do you hold any certifications? I mean except from your teacher’s license which should definitely go here. Any supplementary certifications and licenses are good for adding a bit of dazzle. Just make sure they’re relevant. 

Writing tips for your teacher resume

Before we move on to the actual resume examples I would like to give you some writing tips for your teacher resume. 

Tailor each resume

When you write your teacher’s resume (well, any professional resume actually) keep in mind to always make it relevant to the position at hand. That can never be said too often (and we say it a lot). You have to tailor your resume to each job opening. 

Read the job ad carefully, note down keywords (for instance qualifications, skills) and include these keywords in your resume. 

Use the right format

Your resume format depends on your level of experience. If you have lots of relevant experience, you should always go for the reverse-chronological resume format. Alternatively, you can use a skills based resume format like the functional or the hybrid (which is a combination of the two). 

Our resume templates will let you create structured resumes where you can choose your resume format with ease. 

Proofread

Make absolutely sure that you don’t have any typos or grammatical errors in your resume before you send it. Also make sure it appears professional and clean by being consistent with your formatting throughout the resume. 

Teacher resume samples

Below you’ll find teacher resume examples that you can use as inspiration for your own resumes. 

High school teacher resume example

Image of a high school teacher resume with more than 10 years of experience

Text version you can copy and edit

Miranda Middleton

High School English Teacher

MirandaMiddleton

Main Street 123

60619, Chicago, Illinois

miranda.middleton@email.com

Profile

Highly organized, compassionate, and results-oriented high school teacher with a special focus on developing critical thinking skills in the students. 10+ years of experience in helping students appreciate classic and modern English literature while at the same time developing own research and writing skills.

Key skills include:

  • Patience
  • Interpersonal communication
  • Conflict resolution

Professional skills

  • Lesson plans
  • Presentations
  • Communication

Employment History

English Teacher

Amundsen High School - Chicago, IL

2013 - Present

Taught American and English classic literature to primarily juniors and seniors. Notable accomplishments include:

  • Created rigorous lesson plans and prepared 90+ students for quizzes and exams
  • 95% of students passed their exams with a minimum of 2.9 GPA

Student Teacher

George Washington High School - Chicago, IL

2010 - 2013

Instructed 10+ classes in English literature - primarily freshmen and sophomore levels. Notable accomplishment:

  • Created and implemented new and modernized classroom rules

Education

Bachelor of Literature in English Literature and Secondary Education

Harper College - Chicago, IL

2006 - 2010

  • Took part in the regional project "Use of Racial Terms in Classic and Modern Literature", the results of which were highly acknowledged by the City Board of Education (2008)
  • My article titled “Use of Technology In Modern Education” was published in a university scholarly magazine (2009)

Languages

English

Italian

Latin

Volunteer work

Mentored struggling students after hours

Amundsen High School

  • Had regular group sessions every Wednesday for up to 10 students
  • Mentored in the fields English and American literature (classic and modern)
  • Increased students' GPA with an average of 1.8 resulting in passed exams

Licenses and certifications

Professional Educator License (PEL) from Department of Education valid from 2010

Illinois

Elementary school teacher resume example

Image of an elementary school teacher resume with more than 10 years of experience

Text version you can copy and edit

Jennifer Johnson

Elementary Teacher with focus on special needs children

JenniferJohnson

High road 123

98001, Auburn, Washington

jennifer.johnson@email.com

Profile

Patient and empathetic elementary teacher with 10+ years of experience supervising and mentoring over 20 students with special needs at a time. Awarded “Teacher of the Year” for 2020 at Auburn Elementary School West. Successfully implemented new lesson plan technique which saw a 13% increase in teaching effectiveness with a 25% reduction in preparation time.

Employment History

Fifth Grade Teacher

Auburn Elementary West - Auburn, Washington

2015 - Present

  • Created and implemented the school's strategy for home teaching the during the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Assumed responsibility and accountability for classroom academic progress
  • Built and maintained a classroom culture in which students love learning even during remote classes

Key achievements

  • Awarded “Teacher of the Year” for 2020
  • Designed and implemented new calculus procedures which increased teaching effectiveness by 13%

Third Grade Teacher

Washington Elementary - Washington, IL

2010 - 2015

  • Designed and implemented daily lesson plans for classroom of 22 students with special needs
  • Fostered student curiosity and interest in learning through hands-on activities and field trips
  • Planned, advertised, and executed a weekly after-school art class open to all grades 3-5 students
  • Met with parents, guardians, administrators, and counselors to address and resolve students’ behavioral issues

Education

Bachelor of Literature in English Literature and Secondary Education

Harper College - Chicago, IL

2006 - 2010

Professional skills

  • Presentations 
  • Lesson plans 
  • Communication

Languages

English Native 

Italian Written and verbal 

Spanish Written and verbal

Licenses and certifications

Professional Educator License (PEL) from Department of Education valid from 2010

Washington

Volunteer work

Mentored special needs students after hours

Washington State Special Education

  • Had regular group sessions every Wednesday for up to 5 students with special needs
  • Focus on positive reinforcement teaching techniques to encourage student behavior and growth
  • Increased students' learning desire by using creativity and teaching experience to engage students

Kindergarten teacher resume example

Image of a kindergarten school teacher resume with more than 4 years of experience

Text version you can copy and edit

Laura Stewart

Kindergarten Teacher

Personal Information

78223, San Antonio, TX

344 434 334

laura.stewart@email.com

LauraStewart

Professional skills

  • Special education
  • Experiential learning
  • Test Proctoring
  • Tailoring curriculum plans
  • Classcape knowledge
  • Student centered learning

Languages

English native

Spanish native

Certifications

Texas teacher certification since 2017

Awards and acknowledgements

Teacher Of The Year 2018

Was awarded Teacher Of The Year in 2018 for making a difference for children struggling with English as a second language.

Hobbies and interests

Writing children's stories

  • Published 3 educational children's stories
  • Working on 3 follow up stories

Art and calligraphy

  • Making signs
  • Posters
  • Visual aids

Profile

Bilingual, creative, patient and dependable kindergarten teacher with more than 4 years of experience teaching 5-6 year olds. Committed to providing students with necessary tools to achieve academic goals.

Employment History

Kindergarten Teacher - St. Anthony Catholic School, San Antonio TX

2019 - 2021

  • Conducted daily classroom observations, assessments and curriculum implementations in a Kindergarten setting of 18 children as a lead classroom educator.
  • Differentiated curriculum to address the multimodal learning needs of children; accomplished by means of daily implementation of writing workshops, small reading groups and math explorations.
  • Collaborated on an interdisciplinary team to implement Individualized Education Plans (IEPs).
  • Participated in parent-teacher conferences, daily communications, progress monitoring and progress reports.
  • Established and maintained a positive and respectful classroom culture with effective behavior management practices and classroom organization.
  • Planned and implemented extracurricular literacy lessons for K thru 2nd grade scholars; Academic All-Stars after school program.
  • Organized and implemented extracurricular literacy lessons guided by Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for evaluation and advancement of 3rd thru 5th grade scholars; Super Saturday Academy program.

Kindergarten Teacher - San Antonio Elementary School, San Antonio TX

2017 - 2019

  • Collaborated in team settings to plan and teach Common Core Standards in a Title 1 school to students including English language learners.
  • Implemented district-wide Literacy and Math programs, and administered district mandated assessments and DIBELS testing.
  • Participated in weekly PLC's, professional development, and school collaborations.
  • Fostered relationships with families and parents by encouraging an active learning process in the home and by conducting parent-teacher conferences biannually.
  • Implemented a Tier 1 through Tier 3 instructional process on a daily basis, and taught whole group and small group Literacy, Math and Writing instruction.

Student Teacher - Hardy Oak Elementary School, San Antonio TX

2016 - 2017

  • Designed and implemented creative thematic units of study aligned with the standards.
  • Collected, analyzed, and maintained data on student assessments.
  • Implemented literacy and math units that prepared students for first grade.
  • Organized field trips and fostered parental involvement in and outside of the classroom.
  • Published a weekly newsletter keeping families informed of what students were learning.
  • Incorporated dance and movement into the curriculum to address different learning modalities.

Education

Bachelor's Degree in early childhood education - Texas University, Killeen, TX

2014 - 2017

Relevant Coursework:

Child Development Psychology, Curriculum Development, Educational Technology, Classroom and Behavior Management, Special Education.

Take aways

A teacher of any kind has a special responsibility to educate, shape, and guide our future generations. A great resume will help you get your dream job as a teacher. 

Remember these pointers: 

  • Keep a nice and tidy structure on your resume
  • Use the reverse-chronological resume format
  • Add your skills but also show how you’ve used them in your previous jobs
  • Use bullet points in your work history
  • Always tailor your resume to the position at hand

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