As I now enter my 5th year of teaching, I'm wishing I had received many more preparatory classes in my schooling. I, of course, learned the basics of teaching curriculum and managing discipline and making things interesting for the students, but I never learned much about the varying degree of needs in a classroom and how to meet them or how to deal with some of the struggles of parental confrontations/conferences. I guess I would have been in school forever if I would have been able to take all of these classes. As it was, I was in school for 5 years to earn my teaching degree.
Now that I prepare for another year of teaching, in a new grade, I wonder what might help me to make this year the best one yet. I have perfected what I know, but what else is out there. While working in my Masters in Educational Technology, I have learned that there are a number of new resources at my disposal. I was reading an article on Edutopia about the Power of Preparation for teachers. The Curry School at the University of Virginia is doing their part to fully prepare teachers-to-be for everything they may encounter in the education field. I was please to see that "Curry also has been a leader in making the most of what technology has to offer. Curry students use the Web as a source for research, learn how to make their own Web pages, and master the use of such devices as inexpensive microscopes that link to computers for enhancing science instruction...Curry students...develop their own Web-based portfolios."
I was also pleased to see that other universities are working on adding "Professional Development Schools" to their academic program for teachers. These programs are taught by educators who are currently in the teaching field and can share personal experiences from the classroom that are current in today's world. "A number of higher education institutions...created professional development schools, where fifth-year students, including individuals starting a second career, combine teaching responsibilities with participation in education seminars overseen by both university faculty and school-based teachers." I think these types of programs are very important for all teachers-to-be to experience and would even be very helpful for current teachers, like myself, who are still fairy new to the industry.
I agree that professional development schools would be a great assest to all teachers. It is always a good idea to brush up on techniques and ways to prepare us for everyday encounters. The teaching field is ever changing and you never know what will come up. I also think the schools that you mentioned who are having students create websites and eportfolios are doing an exceptional job, those students will be very prepared for the future, maybe I will have to check into that for my school district.
ReplyDeleteI still remember my first week of student teaching. I thought to myself...I have not learned anything in my undergrad work that prepared me for classroom readiness. Sure we learned about academics and what not but not about classroom management skills or teacher "must have" for the classroom. I think I have learned most of my tricks of the trade from other veteran teachers along the way. More classroom management, behavior techniques, communication with families, school policies and politics should be focused upon as well.
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