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You need to check with your state's requirements.
Before I could get my Illinois certificate, I also needed to pick up a few credits of hard science, since my Psych with Lab counted as a science credit at Valpo, but counted as social science credit for the state of Illinois. So I needed to take 4 extra credits worth of science classes. I also needed to take a class on American government, including taking the Illinois constitution test.
Usually, you'll need to have an exceptional child class (LD/BD/gifted/etc.), psychology of education, philosophy of education, methods of teaching english/math/history/etc., and perhaps also a middle school methods class and an adolescent development class (which I needed to take when I got my Library Media endorsement to my 6th-12th grade teaching certificate). We may have also had a research methods class during our group teaching semester (1 month co-teaching and observing each other teach writing in a middle grades classroom).
Different schools will also have different observation and student teaching requirements. I know in Illinois you've got to do 100 hours of observation in your field before you can begin your student teaching. Then you need between 9-18 weeks of student teaching, depending on whether your school is in a quarter or semester system and what your state requires.
If you can't contact the state directly, you can also check in your local phone book for a regional office of education. Call any local high school and their secretaries should be able to provide you with State and ROE phone numbers if you absolutely can't find them on your own.
And YES, you can be hired if you pursue a degree later on! Right now a math student teacher at our school is doing just that-- he's got five boys aged 6-18 or so. Our careers/PE/computers teacher also came to education after being in the business sector. It may be harder to break in as a history teacher, though. Depending on your credits in undergrad, it may be easier to take a few extra classes to also be endorsed in psychology or speech or anything else you can snag 18-30 credits in. Being able to direct a club or coach a sport (or multiple sports!!!) is a MAJOR foot in the door.
And be aware that some education programs to get you a teaching certificate end up being Masters' programs anyway! It'll be *work*, but it can be rewarding...
If you're not sure, you definitely should see if you can observe for a day in a local high school, seeing if teaching is indeed right for you. Lots of people start the classes, then realize that they can't stand the lesson planning or the discipline.
Good luck!
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