In their final year of college, many students spend educational hours in the field they want to go into through job shadowing and internships. For education students, the semesters before spending their final semester as a student are filled with hours in the classroom leading up to an entire semester as a student teacher.
In this semester, Ed students are given a couple different placements over the course of the semester, and spend their days in the classroom learning from experienced teachers, while also gaining experience in their calling.
This also means, however, that since they leave campus early and return later in the day, that the amount they can be involved on campus in their final semester of college is limited.
A few of NW’s student teachers this semester, Meredith Sundberg, Benjamin Geary and Norah Beekhuizen, touched on this challenge as well as the blessings that have come with student teaching.
Sundberg is a double major in Elementary Education and Instrumental Music Education. This semester she is teaching 1st grade, general elementary music and high school band at MOC-FV Elementary and Boyden-Hull High School. She commented that she is still involved on campus by participating in Symphonics Band, Jazz Band, the musical and a night class.
“Believe it or not, this is a significant step back from all of the activities I normally participate in.” Sundberg said “I just love music, so I could not just not be involved my last semester.”
Geary, a double major in Instrumental and Vocal Music and Secondary Education, who is teaching band, choir and orchestra at MOC-FV middle school and Unity Christian High School, expressed a similar sentiment, saying he hasn’t really taken any step back from his involvement on campus.
“I don’t have much work to do outside of the day besides attending rehearsals.” Geary said “In the end, I love music and what I do. I only have a certain amount of time I can enjoy college.”
Beekhuizen, who is an Elementary Education major with a Reading Endorsement, is teaching 3rd grade and Kindergarten at Rock Valley and Walthill Elementary.
“I try to still stay involved on the evenings and weekends, but it looks a lot different.” Beekhuizen said “I feel a lot more removed from campus events, especially with not attending things like chapel and class.”
Another aspect of student teaching that can be challenging is adjusting to the new schedule that comes with teaching instead of going to class. Instead of the normal routine of starting class anywhere from 7:45am to 12pm, school begins at a consistent time everyday, and there are no breaks in between teaching classes.
“Balancing sleep, fun and work is difficult.” Beekhuizen said.
“The biggest challenge for me is going to bed at a good time. I don’t mind waking up early,” said Geary “but to get a full 8 hours I need to be going to bed by nine pm. The college dorm life is not friendly to early schedules, and this semester I am feeling that. I miss being able to hang out late.”
In addition to this, Geary also expressed that, with this new schedule comes the challenge of keeping up energy throughout the day.
“Another challenge would be keeping consistent energy levels throughout the day.” Geary said “Especially when you have to manage classrooms of up to 60 students. My energy usually has a steep decline post-lunch, but teachers are expected to be consistently energetic and not let tiredness affect their work.”
With these challenges come many blessings with student teaching, such as the drive to school.
“It is a nice time to connect with God before the day starts. I enjoy seeing the sunrises!” Sunberg said.
“Rock Valley is a bit of a drive- about 35 minutes,” said Beekhuizen. “I thought I wouldn’t like it, but it’s honestly been nice to have some time to decompress before and after each day.”
In addition, both Beekhuizen and Sunberg said that getting to know their students has been a blessing.
“They make me smile every day,” said Sunberg.
“They are so sweet and willing to learn/try new things with me,” Beekhuizen said. “I’m going to miss them so much!”
Geary also said that another unexpected blessing has been working with his cooperating teacher.
“I’ve learned so much from him so far, and he’s been a great friend as well.” Geary said “He is very supportive of me, and super flexible. I’ve really grown in my teaching abilities with him assisting me.”
For all Ed students, whether it be Freshman or Seniors teaching next semester, this year’s student teachers had a few pieces of advice.
“Embrace it!” Said Sundberg, “There is so much to learn, but what a blessing to learn it before you are alone in your classroom. There are so many people here to support you in this experience!”
“Pour into student teaching as much as possible. The more you put into it, the more you will get out of it.” Geary said “Remember that how you treat this student teaching semester is going to be pretty similar to how you treat your teaching career. “’Strive for consistency, self-growth, and put God first.”
