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Teaching the teachers: SIUC students learn how to educate

By Codell Rodriguez, The Southern

CARBONDALE - Caitlin Heitz stands in front of a fourth grade classroom at Lewis School teaching the children about good manners, keeping the class from getting too rambunctious and using positive reinforcement when the kids do well.

But Heitz, a senior in elementary education specializing in social studies from Alton, is still a student herself. Nearing graduation she is getting her classroom experience in Pamela Chappell's fourth grade class. She has been student teaching since August and said the experience has been invaluable.

"(The experience) has definitely made me prepared," Heitz said. "You definitely learn 100 times more in (actual) class but the (college) classes prepare you for what you need to know."

Getting to the front of the classroom is the culmination of studying elementary education at SIUC. The students must also learn how to be a proper instructor before and during the hands-on work.

In Ann Garrett's Teaching Elementary School Language Arts course Wednesday, the students learned about assigning a poem to write during the coming break from school.

The student teachers had to come up with a rationale, an objective and measurable assessment.

The students were separated into groups of three and told to come up with projects for kindergarten through second grade, third through fifth grade and sixth through eighth grade.

After coming up with a plan, they present it to the rest of the class for feedback from their classmates and from Garrett.

Prepping for diversity

Ashley Tindall, a junior in elementary education specializing in math from Benton; Mindy Brandon, a junior in elementary education specializing in science from Herrin; and Carrie Clark, a junior in elementary education and special education from West Frankfort proposed a poem to write about Thanksgiving.

After the proposal classmates suggested that the poem should be changed to fall break because it may be a classroom where not every student goes home and celebrates Thanksgiving.

Garrett also asked the students how they would respond if a parent felt that poetry was not important for testing. Students responded that the exercise would build writing skills and boost creativity.

Brandon said the class helps them prepare for classes where they will encounter students from diverse backgrounds. Tindall said the feedback from other students helps them brainstorm and better their lesson plans.

"I just think it helps further the thought process," Tindall said.

‘Above and beyond'

Mindy Absher, a senior in elementary and middle school education from Mulkeytown, said as far as preparation, she feels more than ready to teach.

"I think SIU overdoes it," Absher said. "They go above and beyond."

She said she wanted to become a teacher after having children of her own but was unsure if she could make the grade.

"At first I didn't know if it was something I could do," Absher said. "I didn't have that confidence but being at SIU has built that confidence."

Heitz said a big help for her was getting a classroom with a great teacher.

"I thought it was going to be a lot worse," Heitz said. "(Chappell) is an awesome teacher and she made me feel comfortable. I definitely couldn't have asked for a more cooperative teacher."

Chappell, who has taught at Lewis School for eight years, is also a product of the SIUC elementary education program. She came to Carbondale from Chicago and graduated in 2000.

Chappell said the student teachers she gets in her class are generally well prepared for the classroom. She said her only suggestion to the program would be an increase in classroom management courses because it can be a shock for a teaching candidate who does not come from a diverse environment and teaches a diverse class.

But one thing she does like about the program is that it's always changing to keep up.

"I think SIUC has a really good program," Chappell said. "It's diverse and ever-changing."

From the Southern Illinoisan...

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College of Education: Report poorly done

By Codell Rodriguez, The Southern

A recent report by the National Council on Teacher Quality gave SIUC's undergraduate elementary education program a C-minus. The College of Education gave the report an F.

The report looked at 111 undergraduate and graduate programs in 53 schools across the country.

Other schools in Illinois did not fare too well with undergraduate elementary education. Northern Illinois University received a D, Illinois State University was hammered with an F and Eastern Illinois University received a C. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign did get a B.

In special education, SIUC received a D-minus.

In the report on special education, Jan Waggoner, director of SIUC Teacher Education, responded to the study with rebuttals. The report faulted SIUC for its selective admissions saying that the college only requires the "state's minimal requirement that applicants pass a basic skills test" and that those admitted are below the 50th percentile of the college-going population.

Waggoner responded in the rebuttal that the program admission requires a 2.75 GPA with other criteria and there is no evidence that annual faculty reviews prevent weaker students from completing the program.

The report said the university only partially met the standards of preparing teacher candidates for English language learners because only one of the reviewed non-reading courses addressed the issue.

Waggoner responded that this was "the most glaring omission of all" because methods classes specifically address the standards and ways for the teaching candidates to meet them.

"Our EDUC classes, as well as major classes, have several assignments and assessments specifically on lesson planning around the standards," Waggoner said in the report.

Kenneth Teitelbaum, dean of the College of Education and Human Services, said the data collected was "flimsy" and concentrated solely on syllabi with no actual visits to the campus. He also mentioned the advisory boards that Waggoner talked about in the report.

"They didn't ask for any of that information," Teitelbaum said.

Ann Garrett, instructor in curriculum and instruction said the faculty found the report rather shocking because the students seem very well prepared when they leave the classroom.

"It's kind of insulting because I know how hard we work," Garrett said.

Teitelbaum said such a study could have negative effects on SIUC because if he was a parent and saw the grades from the report and didn't know any better, he would be wary about the program.

"Yeah, we do worry because we do wonderful things and graduate wonderful people into teaching," Teitelbaum said.

Waggoner said there are great things coming from the faculty and students in SIUC including student teaching and volunteering at programs such as I Can Read! at Eurma C. Hayes Center.

She said the findings in the report do not to match what she sees every day in the department.

"I don't know what teacher education program they're talking about but, they're sure as heck not talking about ours," Waggoner said.