What will you take away from your teacher education at SNC?

I had wonderful student teaching experiences. In my first year I helped with an after-school program. My sophomore year was our Covid year, so I was in a 4K classroom online. My junior year I had a placement tutoring one-on-one in reading, and I was also doing almost like an internship at the Children’s Center on campus. And then for my student-teaching semester, I was at Wrightstown Elementary with first graders. It was nice to have the freedom to be in the classroom and experiment with the group of kids but then come back to St. Norbert and talk through things that were happening in the classroom and get feedback from our professors.

How did the personal connections you made help you develop as a teacher and a person?

I really connected with Dr. Andria Moon, and Dr. Stephanie Shedrow (Education). They are both big into developing reading and writing skills, which were two things I was kind of nervous to teach, so they were welcomed mentors. Dr. Shedrow taught a children's literature class that was all about picking the right read-aloud books in your classroom, and what to do when you’re reading them. I found a lot of the books that I will be using in my classroom from that class. She also taught us a lot of practical skills like reading intervention, where you may have a kid who’s a little behind in reading and how to work with them in a smaller group setting.

My experience with Wishmakers on campus was incredibly helpful as well, because they are working with kids who have different critical illnesses. I learned about students who are having a different experience than what you might think a typical child might have. So, it allowed me to kind of expand my thinking a little bit more and be more inclusive in my own classroom.

I loved it at St. Norbert. I can't speak highly enough about the people who are there. It’s so nice to be in a little community like that and to be able to walk into the caf, and even if I’m going alone, I know I won't be sitting alone because there’s got to be someone in there that I know. It was more than I could have ever asked for in the college experience.

What are you most looking forward to in your first year of teaching?

I’m excited to build deeper relationships with students when I get them in my own class. It’ll be nice to use all the things that I’ve learned and put it into practice in my own space. 

And one thing I cherished from student teaching was seeing the students start to catch on to things and get excited about learning and exploring. It’s those tiny little things like pictures they draw for you where you know you’re making an impact in their life, not just as someone who’s giving them knowledge but someone who is also there as a person that they respect and who cares for them.