Fifty-four Elon University seniors are student teaching this semester in preparation for careers in elementary, middle and high school education. This year, principals have the opportunity to offer job contracts to student teachers prior to graduation.
“In the past, they’ve had to wait until the school board approved the budget in June or July, which meant we often lost a lot of the student teachers to other counties that were already hiring,” said Marna Winter, lecturer in education and director of education outreach at Elon.
Winter works closely with local, private and charter schools in Alamance and surrounding counties to build relationships with the schools to which Elon students are later assigned.
“The principals [in Alamance and surrounding counties] really want our students there,” Winter said. “They know they’re well trained.”
Last week, student teachers began their semesters at 21 different elementary, middle and high schools in the Alamance-Burlington School System, one high school in the Guilford County Schools and one middle school in the Orange County School System.
Elon’s student teaching program is unique because it places its students at one school for the entirety of their student teaching period. All programs begin in the fall with a practicum and an average of 100 hours in the classroom. When student teachers begin full-time student teaching in February, they’re already familiar with the schools, classrooms and students, Winter said.
“The way Elon structures student teaching is very beneficial in that you really get to immerse yourself in the process,” said Sally Day MacLeod, a senior who is student teaching a kindergarten class at Marvin B. Smith Elementary in Burlington.
Student teachers begin their spring semester by gradually taking over subjects from their cooperating teacher in their assigned classroom, MacLeod said.
She also said it’s important to plan for lessons thoroughly and have them approved by the cooperating teacher in advance, as the students thrive off of consistency.
“I come home from school each day and spend at least two hours working on all aspects of the lesson plans,” MacLeod said.
Eventually, student teachers take on the responsibility of teaching all subjects to their class. After about six weeks, they begin handing the responsibilities back to their cooperating teacher in preparation for the end of the semester and Elon graduation.
Although MacLeod isn’t set on teaching in North Carolina after graduation, students who choose to remain in state must apply for a teaching license after completing Elon’s yearlong experience of student teaching.