2008 Woodie Awards
Panel advises future teachers
By: Mallory Yaroch
Issue date: 3/21/08 Section: News
More than 150 future student teachers had the opportunity to ask some of their peers about their experiences in student teaching and their first year on the job.
The three-member panel - organized by Class-IRA, a registered student organization which focuses on literacy - shared its stories and answered students' questions Wednesday in Brooks 176.
Advice came from John Bunting, a 2006 CMU graduate, and student teachers Meghan Hauter, Lyons senior, and Jessica Draper, Lainsburg senior.
"You've got to realize it's more than just, 'You love kids,'" Bunting said. "Teaching is a business."
Bunting works at Ganiard Elementary in Mount Pleasant, where he teaches a first-second grade split class.
"It gets easier," he said when asked to compare his student teaching experience to having his own class this year. "Student teaching was harder than what I'm doing now."
Students need to be prepared for long days when teaching, Draper said, explaining that her typical day goes from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Draper completed part of her student teaching at Chandler Woods Charter Academy in Grand Rapids and will finish at Hillcrest Primary in Perth, Australia. She wants to teach abroad after graduation.
All three speakers said classroom management and teaching styles will change, depending on the host teacher and the students in the classroom.
"You've got to realize there's a lot of different kids learning in a lot of different ways," Bunting said.
The panel also answered questions on building a portfolio, preparing for an interview, what kinds of challenges they faced and applying what they learned in college to teaching and student teaching.
Hauter said one of the challenges she has to face while student teaching at Lansing's Waverly Middle School is trying to encourage all of the students to be involved.
"How do you motivate the kids that don't want to be there?" Hauter said.
She said her teaching philosophy has developed since she began student teaching.
Draper said it is a different experience being in a classroom.
"Student teaching helped me realize more of what is going on," she said. "I'm becoming more thoughtful (in preparing lesson plans) than I was for college homework."
Future teachers need to be organized and flexible, panel members said.
"(Teaching) is a big learn-as-you-go process," Hauter said. "You can try to prepare, but allow yourself to adapt. If you want a good student teaching experiences, put the time and effort into it."
news@cm-life.com
The three-member panel - organized by Class-IRA, a registered student organization which focuses on literacy - shared its stories and answered students' questions Wednesday in Brooks 176.
Advice came from John Bunting, a 2006 CMU graduate, and student teachers Meghan Hauter, Lyons senior, and Jessica Draper, Lainsburg senior.
"You've got to realize it's more than just, 'You love kids,'" Bunting said. "Teaching is a business."
Bunting works at Ganiard Elementary in Mount Pleasant, where he teaches a first-second grade split class.
"It gets easier," he said when asked to compare his student teaching experience to having his own class this year. "Student teaching was harder than what I'm doing now."
Students need to be prepared for long days when teaching, Draper said, explaining that her typical day goes from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Draper completed part of her student teaching at Chandler Woods Charter Academy in Grand Rapids and will finish at Hillcrest Primary in Perth, Australia. She wants to teach abroad after graduation.
All three speakers said classroom management and teaching styles will change, depending on the host teacher and the students in the classroom.
"You've got to realize there's a lot of different kids learning in a lot of different ways," Bunting said.
The panel also answered questions on building a portfolio, preparing for an interview, what kinds of challenges they faced and applying what they learned in college to teaching and student teaching.
Hauter said one of the challenges she has to face while student teaching at Lansing's Waverly Middle School is trying to encourage all of the students to be involved.
"How do you motivate the kids that don't want to be there?" Hauter said.
She said her teaching philosophy has developed since she began student teaching.
Draper said it is a different experience being in a classroom.
"Student teaching helped me realize more of what is going on," she said. "I'm becoming more thoughtful (in preparing lesson plans) than I was for college homework."
Future teachers need to be organized and flexible, panel members said.
"(Teaching) is a big learn-as-you-go process," Hauter said. "You can try to prepare, but allow yourself to adapt. If you want a good student teaching experiences, put the time and effort into it."
news@cm-life.com
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