UGA sophomore Christina Haddon helps a student with her science project in Mr. Cardenas’s fifth-grade class at Gaines Elementary as part of Haddon’s work in Education 2460. |
New Education Course Allows Any UGA Student to Get a Taste of Teaching
Education 2460, a new class offered for the first time this fall through the College of Education, offers opportunities for students to work with P-12 teachers in various capacities, including tutoring, classroom assistance, and family engagement.
Kathleen Kuss | Oct 17, 2007
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On a recent Wednesday morning, University of Georgia student Christina Haddon found herself reading Dr. Seuss’ Oh, the Places You’ll Go to students in a fifth-grade class at Gaines Elementary School.
She had guided the pre-reading discussion, and after the reading, she led the students in journal writing about places they would like to visit.
On another day, she helped teach a lesson in double-digit multiplication.
“I came across a student who was struggling, so I stopped to help. The student looked at me with a very discouraged, sad face and said, ‘I can’t do it. I just can’t.’ I looked at the student with a big smile and said, ‘You most certainly can; let’s take it a step at a time.’ After I explained the problem again and really took my time, the student smiled and exclaimed, ‘I think I have it!’ This was one of the most rewarding experiences of the day because I knew that I had helped someone who had been struggling.”
Haddon is enrolled in Education 2460, a new class that was offered for the first time this fall through the College of Education. The class, which will be offered again in the spring, is open to any undergraduate at the university who is:
- interested in learning about and being part of P-12 school communities;
- considering majoring in education;
- interested in pre-professional service experience with Clarke County Schools.
“What’s great about this class is that the teachers want you to see all aspects of teaching, often encouraging us to watch different grades, teachers and techniques,” said Anamaria Berry, another student in the class. “It is a ‘teaching school,’ the same idea as a ‘teaching hospital.’ I don’t think there is another class out there like this, and because of that I highly recommend it.”
“This class allows the College to continue its engagement with Clarke County Schools and allows students to get real classroom experience much earlier than normal in their academic programs,” said Karen Watkins, associate dean of research and external affairs at the college. “It also gives students, who are undecided on a career, the opportunity to step inside a classroom and experience what it’s like to be a teacher.”
Education 2460 students work with P-12 teachers in various capacities, including tutoring, classroom assistance and family engagement. Designers of the class say that the early opportunity for classroom experience may draw more potential teachers from other career tracks, while providing a reality check for those who may think they want to teach but later find the classroom experience daunting, ultimately leaving the field within a few years.
Class requirements include spending at least four hours a week doing service learning in one of the three levels of schools – Gaines Elementary, Hillsman Middle, or Classic City High.
“This class has contributed greatly to my knowledge of education,” Berry said. “Before this I had not been very involved in a classroom. Now, I have been able to see the good days and bad days teachers face. I wanted to see the reality of teaching, and this class is giving me just that.”
Students also attend a weekly one-hour seminar on education issues held at Gaines Elementary School, where district teachers and administrators and UGA faculty and staff discuss topics such as cultural and linguistic diversity, literacy, tutoring, life in schools, and careers in education.
Co-instructors for the course are Kathy Kuss, third-year doctoral student in gifted and creative education; Scott Conklin, graduate student in community counseling; and E.J. Carter, graduate student in middle school education.
Depending on the intended program of study, the 48+ service hours completed in this course may be applied toward students’ pre-professional service.
For more information, contact Conklin at sconklin@uga.edu. To register for the course during spring registration, see your academic advisor.
An editorial in the Athens Banner-Herald lauds this new UGA College of Education class as a "great idea" on many levels.
Kathleen Kuss is a doctoral student in gifted and creative education in the department of educational psychology and instructional technology.
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