Albany State education students get classroom experience
Special Photo: Reggie Christian/ASU
From staff reports
ALBANY — Students enrolled in the School of Education at Albany State University receive classroom teaching experience to prepare for a career in education after matriculation.
ASU partners with school systems regionally and statewide for student teaching opportunities. This experience provides insight into how students can apply what they have learned in the classroom. The School of Education helps candidates evolve into reflective, culturally responsive, and technologically competent practitioners.
Jaylen Cherry, a senior elementary education major, is currently student teaching at Lincoln Elementary Magnet school in Albany. She says that student-teaching consists of “teaching and creating lessons, and completing the daily responsibilities of a teacher while managing different class periods.”
Jada Shipp, a senior elementary education major, is currently student teaching at Live Oak Elementary school in Albany. She credits her readiness to the professors at ASU.
“I learned that no matter how much knowledge I have, I can still be teachable,” she said. “Being teachable allows room for growth, and during my time at ASU I can truly say I’ve grown into the educator that I’ve desired to be by the way of my amazing professors.”
“Our candidates learn to teach their students to examine the multiple perspectives of our changing nation and world, providing the students the opportunity to become informed global citizens,” Associate Professor for Elementary and Middle Grades Education Dorene Medlin said.
One of the many ways ASU prepares its students is by “teaching skills in classroom management, lesson planning, student teacher relationships, staff relationships and how to deal with different learning styles, parents, and stress,” Shannon Ramsay-Jackson, a senior middle grades education major, said. She is completing her student teaching at Merry Acres Middle School in Albany.
The School of Education at ASU strives to provide opportunities to model both concepts of nature and nurture in the teaching and learning process, officials at the school said. These concepts are to ensure that candidates are prepared for the diversity of students and classrooms. This mission remains a prominent factor and can be seen through the first-hand experiences of ASU’s student teachers.
“ASU has planned and provided multiple hands-on learning experiences to prepare me as an educator,” early childhood education major Jennifer Etheridge said. “Course work, for sure, but also study workshops and training as well. ASU has gone beyond the textbook, which is where the real learning begins.”
Etheridge is completing her student teaching at Baconton Community Charter School in Baconton.
ASU School of Education officials say the school offers rigorous, yet engaging courses that also require experiential learning. Professors work closely with students to help them identify their personal and career goals, and then provide them with a course of study to develop the professional skill sets they will need to reach those goals and objectives.
As teachers and educators, ASU students are taught to set goals to educate the whole student. ASU’s future teachers help students build their character and self-confidence in their relationship with their peers and the community.
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