Bachelor in Education - Colorado State University Pueblo - (Winner)
Editors Note: This teaching student story essay was selected as the winner of BrainTrack's Teaching Schools Scholarship for fall 2009. At the time her submittal, Megan Read, was studying for a Bachelor in Education, Secondary English at Colorado State University in Pueblo, Colorado.
Wishes Had Known | Program Likes/Dislikes | Choosing TeachingWhat do you wish you had known about selecting and entering your teaching school that would be helpful to others going into teaching?
I wish I would have known a bit more about the resources that a teaching program can offer when I entered my teaching school. Although my teaching school has been very helpful at allocating field experience positions for me and given me ample resources on how to pass teacher licensing exams, I feel that I will have to be very independent when it comes to obtaining a teaching job. I think it would be very beneficial if my school offered an education course on how to search for a teaching job, interview for a principal and faculty and fine-tune a resume so that it compliments one's teaching experiences. I think I would encourage others going into teaching to seek a university that offers professional training as well as curriculum and educational courses. I think future teachers could really benefit from being professionally trained, and they will have a better chance at grasping a great teaching job.
I also would inform any students interested in entering a teaching program that they should seek a university that has a strong department for whatever content they plan on teaching. I would also suggest that they make sure that their content department interacts with the teacher education department. Although I love my English department, I feel that they do not have a strong relationship with the teacher education department, and therefore the two departments do not collaborate very often. I would like to see these departments work together to create better teachers, and I would suggest that any student who would like to go into teaching realize there needs to be a bridge between their content area and educational training.
What have you enjoyed most and least during your teaching degree program so far?
Although I have enjoyed many things about my teaching degree program, I really love collaborating with my fellow secondary English teaching peers to gather ideas and strategies to use when I'm in the classroom. My program promotes cooperative learning, not only as a strategy for teaching in the classroom, but also as a tool to help its future teachers gain as much knowledge as they can before they student teach. My peers in the teacher education program have allowed me to pick their brains to gain knowledge on classroom management strategies that they find useful, creative lesson plans that were tested out in classrooms, reading comprehension strategies that helped students gain comprehension and other useful tools. I will carry these things with me throughout my career, and I will always remember the lessons I learned from other future teachers in my program.
I have also enjoyed strengthening my content knowledge by learning how to teach English in a classroom. Although I am very confident in my knowledge of reading and writing, I believe transferring that knowledge to a classroom setting can be very challenging and, at times, difficult. However, my program has helped me test my content knowledge in a classroom, and they have given me the tools to effectively teach literature and writing lessons to a classroom. I have had ample practice creating lesson plans on a variety of topics within the language arts realm, and these lessons have been peer and teacher edited. I am positive that this methodological training will be very useful when I obtain a teaching job, and I cannot wait to try some of the lesson plans on real English classes.
However, there are also things that I feel my program is lacking, namely classroom management training. Although I have learned a great deal about classroom management in my education classes, I feel that it has not been stressed, and I would like to take an exclusive class that talks solely about classroom management strategies for numerous situations. I think my 120 hours of field experience at various secondary schools has provided me with ample classroom management practice, but I would like to learn more about the theory and psychology behind different methods. I think it is very important for a teacher education program to stress curriculum and content knowledge, but I also think they should spend some time on training future teachers on how to handle various classroom situations and conflicts.
What led you to choose teaching as a career path?
Although I had a number of amazing teachers throughout my primary and secondary education, I never considered being a teacher. When I graduated high school, I decided I wanted to be a journalist, and I majored in journalism when I went to university. After I graduated with a degree in journalism and obtained a job as a reporter, I felt very empty. Although I loved writing and reporting on important local news events, I felt like I was not contributing anything positive to society. I knew, deep down in my heart, that reporting was not the right career for me.
After months of careful consideration, I discovered that I yearned to help younger people excel in academics and life. I wanted to share my passion for writing and English literature with people, and I knew if I could combine that passion with my love for promoting education among America's youth, I would feel much fulfilled. I decided to go back to school to get my secondary English teaching degree so I could take an active role in helping students learn how to read, write and gain a love and understanding for language arts.
Since I joined the teacher education program last year, I have learned a great deal about differentiated instruction, English teaching methods and how to use technology in the classroom. My passion for teaching people about English has been combined with useful instructional methods and creative strategies to help students learn. I find this all very fascinating, and I am now even more certain that I picked the right career for me. I have also met a number of amazing future teachers, and they have encouraged and praised me along the way. This social network has helped me create positive relationships with many future teachers, and this is something I never experienced with other reporters when I was in the newspaper business.
I know I chose the right path because I have loved every minute of my teaching program and the classroom observations that come along with it. I relish working with students, and I can connect with them on a positive level. I also feel like I am doing something great for my community, and that feeling has assured me that I made the right choice for myself, my community and my country.