Student Teachers Shadowing Experienced Staff
Four aspiring teachers are refining necessary and crucial skills while working towards their credentials
By Tom Patterson
Four aspiring teachers are refining necessary and crucial skills while working towards their credentials
By Tom Patterson
Working with tenured staff to improve their education, new student teachers have joined the campus in hopes of becoming future high school instructors, perhaps even at Pioneer.
With the addition of four not-yet credentialed educators this school year, fresh ideas and activities will be brought to the classroom while the rookies work to complete their degrees.
Biology teacher Rob Zaccheo has a lot of experience with student teachers and is now taking alumna Allyson Landreth under his wing.
“This is probably my seventh or eighth student teacher I’ve had since I’ve been here at Pioneer,” said Zaccheo. “It’s always a great learning experience for me, to watch a new teacher and see how they do things through the lens of someone who’s just getting started. I’ve been teaching for a long time, so it’s always good to do that.”
Having an intern teacher does come with a lot of work, including losing prep time but for chemistry teacher Laura Bald, the benefits they bring to campus makes it more than worthwhile.
“(They) bring a lot of energy and new ideas but it also comes with a lot of work. You have to help them fine tune their energies into actual lesson plans. It’s great because you get a different perspective,” said Bald.
These lesson plans are often adopted by teachers, being used to teach students in other classes.
Of the student teachers this year, Seleste Lopez, Allyson Landreth, and Allyson Dudzinski, are concentrated in the science department and are already creating memorable labs for their students, like Landreth’s new liver enzyme lab.
“We were looking at proteins and enzymes and we did part one of a lab, involving liver, which I think is cool, just because it’s applicable to themselves. Any lessons they can directly relate to, I hope that they remember the most,” said Landreth.
Student teachers feel it is important to engage with students in a traditional classroom setting, as it is vital to get some firsthand experience while being guided by a practiced hand.
“I’m learning a lot about classroom management every day and how to keep a controlled classroom,” said English student teacher Bridget Nixon. “If students are not paying attention, you redirect their focus, you can call on them directly or a lot of times, by just standing near students, they stop doing the wrong behavior.”
For Landreth, instructing is a remarkably different point of view than being a student.
“It’s very different being on the other side of the classroom, instead of just being a student,” said Landreth. “But I have learned so much in terms of what goes into teaching. It is not just knowing your content, it is a lot of other things to consider in terms of how you develop the activity and how you structure the classroom. I would have never considered how those little things made such a big difference.”
With the addition of four not-yet credentialed educators this school year, fresh ideas and activities will be brought to the classroom while the rookies work to complete their degrees.
Biology teacher Rob Zaccheo has a lot of experience with student teachers and is now taking alumna Allyson Landreth under his wing.
“This is probably my seventh or eighth student teacher I’ve had since I’ve been here at Pioneer,” said Zaccheo. “It’s always a great learning experience for me, to watch a new teacher and see how they do things through the lens of someone who’s just getting started. I’ve been teaching for a long time, so it’s always good to do that.”
Having an intern teacher does come with a lot of work, including losing prep time but for chemistry teacher Laura Bald, the benefits they bring to campus makes it more than worthwhile.
“(They) bring a lot of energy and new ideas but it also comes with a lot of work. You have to help them fine tune their energies into actual lesson plans. It’s great because you get a different perspective,” said Bald.
These lesson plans are often adopted by teachers, being used to teach students in other classes.
Of the student teachers this year, Seleste Lopez, Allyson Landreth, and Allyson Dudzinski, are concentrated in the science department and are already creating memorable labs for their students, like Landreth’s new liver enzyme lab.
“We were looking at proteins and enzymes and we did part one of a lab, involving liver, which I think is cool, just because it’s applicable to themselves. Any lessons they can directly relate to, I hope that they remember the most,” said Landreth.
Student teachers feel it is important to engage with students in a traditional classroom setting, as it is vital to get some firsthand experience while being guided by a practiced hand.
“I’m learning a lot about classroom management every day and how to keep a controlled classroom,” said English student teacher Bridget Nixon. “If students are not paying attention, you redirect their focus, you can call on them directly or a lot of times, by just standing near students, they stop doing the wrong behavior.”
For Landreth, instructing is a remarkably different point of view than being a student.
“It’s very different being on the other side of the classroom, instead of just being a student,” said Landreth. “But I have learned so much in terms of what goes into teaching. It is not just knowing your content, it is a lot of other things to consider in terms of how you develop the activity and how you structure the classroom. I would have never considered how those little things made such a big difference.”