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Southern
teaching program strives to challenge students Staff Writer
Students
can gain the skills necessary to teach by going through the teacher
education program. Missouri
Southern offers many options for students who participate in the program
that lasts 10 weeks . Students
have the option of either PK-12 or PK-3, early childhood, where weeks
are spent in the classroom or even overseas through the Institute for
International Studies. The International Student Teaching program also
provides courses during the summer including countries like England,
France, Germany, Switzerland, Brazil, Austria, Sweden and Denmark. There
are several student professional organizations at the College, including
the Association for Childhood Education International, Collegiate Middle
Level Association, International Reading Association, Kappa Delta Pi
(International Honor Society), World Issues for Study by Educators and
others. A
professor that Dr. Jane Scholl, associate professor of teacher
education, enjoys helping students go through the program. Scholl
described the program as, rigorous, appropriate and comprehensive in
that it prepares students to be teachers not only through their content,
but through their dispositions. At
Southern, the program offers students many choices in the courses they
take. There are requirements, however, that have been set. Candidates
must pass the C-base before Junior Block, which is a test that provides
an overall understanding of college level courses, receive at least a 20
on the ACT test, have a 2.75 or better G.P.A. and apply to Junior Block
(at least 55 hours. completed). Students are tentatively admitted, then
after completion of Junior Block courses, they receive full admission. Scholl
thinks the program is excellent in this way. It
is one that we [professors] are teaching, she said. If we
encounter any concerns we help them [students] overcome them. Students
must also complete writing intensive courses, courses for both core
requirements and the department of education requirements and have a
21-hour concentration area such as art, math, music, science or social
studies. Our
first-year teachers that go out teach as if they had been teaching for
two or three years, she said. We feel like we are doing a good
job. For
those students who want to receive further certification in Secondary
Education, they can choose from early childhood education, special
education or teaching English as a second language. There
are a lot of opportunities for our students to do college service,
community service and to be involved in professional society
organizations, she said. A
student that has begun her student-teaching semester is Lisa Goans-Edie,
senior elementary education major. Having gone through the program, Edie
agrees that it is good. I
feel well-prepared, she said, I am ready to go on and move to the
next step. Edie
has been teaching third grade at Carl Junction Elementary for one week,
under Connie Cuthbertson, a supervising teacher. She helps with daily
math lessons and morning routine procedures, such as hand washing and
bathroom breaks. The
kids are a challenge, said Edie. All in all I ve got a really
good class. Helping
to provide her with many materials, Edie thinks of her co-operating
teacher in this way, She s a very experienced teacher, she said.
She has given me all kinds of tips and things that I will be able to
use once I m out there on my own. Her
future plans after graduation in December are still uncertain, but as
far as her teaching so far, things have gone well. I m
having a great time, she said. It is the highlight of my college
career so far. The
teacher education program for Janelle Starchman, senior music major,
will involve not only teaching at a school in the United States, but an
internship to Southampton, England. Starchman applied through a panel of
instructors one year prior and was chosen to go. It
is something that you can t pass up if you had the opportunity,
Starchman said. The
school at which she will be teaching is different in how its curriculum
is handled. We re
visitors over there, she said. We have to do it their way. Also,
unlike many schools in the United States, this one is independently
funded, not government funded. After
returning to the United States, she will start with a co-operating
teacher and basically take the class into her hands. I m
totally nervous, she said. It s scary and exciting, all of those
feelings together. The
time spent in the classroom, said Starchman, will be good experience. It s
an internship, she said. I don t get paid for it. However,
she feels that it is practical learning. The
range of her teaching will involve being dually certified in the areas
of choir for high school, middle school and elementary, which will be
considered as her professional semester. In
addition to teaching, students in the program will compile a portfolio
of projects and papers. It
is a really good resource, she said. Going
through the program at the College, she said, The Missouri Southern
education program has really prepared me. It s a new experience. There are 52 students enrolled that have begun their teaching semester. |