As students of Chelsea, it is important to us that we can have a good experience. A main part of that would be the teachers and the student teachers that walk through our doors. We saw this on January 10th with new aspiring teachers from Spring Arbor College coming to observe three different Chelsea teachers.
“I was talking to your principal and I think you guys have a really good environment and atmosphere here,” a Spring Arbor Student said. “You guys seem to have a good diversity of students so it’s definitely been a good first impression here.”
With her experience in the math department with teacher Karen Kurcz all she had to say was how wonderful her experience in her class was. Hearing this as students should make us excited and empowered because it shows the opportunities and resources we have.
“I think [Kurcz] did a really good job. She’s super kind, very patient with all the students and stuff,” a Spring Arbor Student said. “That is definitely one of the most interactive classes.”
Overall the students were amazed at the opportunities we have at Chelsea. The different athletic resources as well as the school in general.
“So the opportunities that y’all have here, blowing my mind, like just spending time in your weight room. It is all just insane to me.” Another Spring Arbor Student said
We see how the visitors’ experience was but now we can see how it was for the mentor teachers and how they felt when having a student in their class as well as their experience in their student teaching.
“As a mentor teacher, having a student teacher in the classroom with you makes you much more aware and conscious of what you’re doing,” language teacher Katherine Beck said. “Maybe it makes you a little bit self-conscious, that can be a good thing because if you know that someone is there observing you, it makes you try to be the best possible teacher.”
Teachers need to be aware of what they are doing as well as how they learned all of their tactics and what they decided to implement throughout their career.
“Everything that I learned about teaching, most everything I learned about teaching was from my placement, working as a student teacher,” Beck said. “So my courses in grad school were beneficial, but you can’t replace being in a school working with actual students and actual classrooms. Nothing can top that.”
This helps to show how important a base knowledge from an experienced teacher is. It also helps to prove that teachers help any students grow into our next generation of teachers.
“These opportunities for students and teachers are important for their growth and development so we can get the most out of our high school experience,” Beck said.
