The past few months, students in Intro to Education have been working hard to prepare themselves to be sent off to their site placements. There are 19 students in the class and they have been completing certifications to work in child care environments and learning about the development of children.
Recently, the students attended the Future Educators Convention at Illinois State University, located in Normal, Ill. There, students had the opportunity to attend many different sessions to learn about the different aspects each subject has to offer while also being able to listen to teacher’s real life experiences and advice. Some of these sessions included bilingual teaching, high school math and english, early childhood education, coaching and club directors, and elementary teaching.
Introduction to Education teacher Heather Johnson, who has been teaching the class for nine years, says her favorite part about the ISU trip every year is “the opportunity to learn about careers in education alongside high school students. It is so fun to watch students explore career opportunities on a college campus.”
This year’s trip was different compared to previous years because Future Educator Club co-advisor, Dr. Sara Dail, was able to attend with this year’s group. Johnson says her takeaway from this year’s trip was the “excitement among young people who are interested in entering the education profession.” She also states there is a “significant teacher shortage in the state, but I am hopeful that a new generation of young people will join me in this honorable profession.”
Junior Mackenzie Wolfe says her favorite session on the trip was the student teaching session. Wolfe said, “I was able to learn about the different types of student teaching and how important it is to have the classroom experience with a well respected teacher.” Wolfe plans to pursue an early childhood education career and will be interning at Jefferson Elementary for the second semester to experience what it’s like.
Junior Lilianna Cantu attended both the mathematics session and the coaching and club directors session. Cantu says, “My favorite session was the math one because it was very informative and cleared up what I want to do in college.” She will be shadowing Mr. Landis and his sixth grade math class second semester as she plans to one day become a sixth grade math teacher herself.
In the few remaining weeks of first semester, students will continue working hard to be sent off to their cite placements and meet the requirements needed to do so come second semester.
