Many seniors in the Department of Education have started their student teaching this semester after several months of planning and preparation.
As a part of their final semester, some education students have begun student teaching before completing their college education and accepting their degrees in May. This comes as a culmination of their previous semesters of training and education, giving them an opportunity to exercise the skills they’ve been developing as a part of the curriculum of the Department of Education.
On Jan. 13, many education seniors began student teaching in schools across the Oklahoma City area, across a variety of age ranges and areas of study.
The process is generally a gradual one, and student teaching participants are eased into the responsibilities of the classroom by their teaching mentor, who is the classroom’s regular teacher.
Education seniors are expected to complete two placements of student teaching, each one eight weeks long, with at least two weeks of unsupervised teaching in each. For some students, who are being examined under the different guidelines of the Praxis Performance Assessment for Teachers, they will only have one placement that lasts the whole semester.
As the semester nears its end, the student teachers will ease back out of the classroom environment, letting the cooperating teachers take the classrooms back over.
“We start out by observing and doing little things. For example, I take attendance and lecture with the cooperating teacher,” said Sierra Paul, theater and performance/education senior. “Then you transition into slowly taking over their classroom, then you transition back out.”
Paul began her student teaching Jan. 13 and is training to be an educator in the field of speech, drama and debate.
Student teaching is a full-time position, with the education students shadowing their cooperating teachers over the course of the entire school day during their placement. Student teaching will conclude May 1.
The importance of student teaching is to ensure that the education students are able to properly utilize their skills in the classroom, skills they have been developing throughout their time in the education program. Professor Lisa Delgado-Brown, associate professor of education at OCU, is one of the observers for student teaching.
“They have to complete student teaching in order to be recommended for a student certification,” said Delgado-Brown.
She said these skills include working with children, instructional planning, planning curriculums, and establishing rapport with both the staff and students at the school.
Delgado-Brown said future student teachers should keep an eye on the world of education and keep up with schoolwork.
Paul said she had advice for those who will be student teaching in future semesters.
“Pack a snack! Stay hydrated! Self-care is important! Plan ahead! Build Relationships! You can do it!” said Paul.
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