How do I become a teacher?

You can major in either secondary education or history. When choosing a college, you should choose one that has two good departments. Either way, you will need to take the required courses in both areas. My personal belief is that it is best to major in the subject you are going to teach and also complete the courses required for certification.

That said, there is no great demand for social studies and/or history teachers these days. Most social studies teachers around here start off by teaching special education. Since special ed teachers are in demand, they are hired even though they are not certified in that field. They then take night, weekend, and/ or summer classes in order to become certified. Eventually they are able to transfer to social studies posititons.

I just don't think you should count on being able to find a position in history or social studies when you graduate, no matter how good you are. You should have a back-up plan.

You definitely should major in secondary education if you want to teach in high school. You could minor in history if you wanted to. If you major in elementary education you are the most flexible because you could teach in elementary all the way through eighth grade (although you need another course or two for middle school). I don't want to discourage you but teachers are not treated very well right now. Hopefully, without strikes, that will change in the future. If you really want to stick with it though, good luck!