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Dear ED 201 Students, Welcome and congratulations!

How excited and nervous you must be to be taking your first steps in your journey to becoming a teacher. I can remember being accepted to Alverno and knowing without question that I wanted to be a teacher; then I walked into Scott Lawrences ED 201 class and suddenly I was no longer so sure of my decision. He told us that we would complete a I Have What it Takes presentation, 25 hours of field and two lessons in front of a real live classroom full of students; I had never even written a real lesson for real students! All my peers looked so sure of themselves and so much more professional and together then I did; I was beginning to doubt myself. I have no doubt some of you are also feeling the same way. As I sit here typing this to all of you, I cant help but laugh at how my first meeting with my very first cooperating teacher (CT) went. I walked into the classroom at the end of the school day and a 3rd grade boy ran up to me and said, Youre going to be our new visiting teacher, can I get off Alex Island now? I had no clue what he was talking about! My CT was running back and forth in the front of the room with a group of 4 or 5 students running behind her like baby ducks after their momma. She looked at the clock at least 4 times in the next 5 minutes as she gathered papers for this student, signed student planners for that student and told Alex to sit on his island at least 7 times. During all of this she managed to tell me she would be right with me and get all the students dismissed for the day on time. How amazing! As we sat down to meet, she suddenly burst out that she forgot to give them tomorrows math assignment; and then apologized because the whole day had been thrown off by a Code Red drill and a computer issue with the school computers. She stated that some days go off the way you plan them and others not so much. We decided on two part time days a week and talked a little about lessons, but she wanted me to get the feel for the class first. She explained that field teaching is about becoming comfortable with the ways we teach for student success.She said that she had other field students from other schools that would enter their student teaching having not even a quarter of the time in a classroom as what I would get from Alverno. I suddenly understood that no matter how inexperienced,

unprofessional and unsure I felt my first day of ED 201, the field was where I would get the validation that I Have What it Takes. Suddenly, I understood what the final presentation was about. Through all 4 of my fields, I was told that the field is where it is okay to approximate and practice the skills I was learning about, it was where I had the support of my CTs, peers and Instructors. I cant help but notice how my education at Alverno is a lot like Vygotsky and the Gradual Release Theory (you will learn about it soon). Our education instructors model what a good teacher looks like before, during and after instruction. We get to create the lessons taking our new learning into account and with their guidance teach those lessons in our fields. Then as we self assess our strengths and weaknesses and make goals for improvement we are released to teach more lessons demonstrating how we are becoming stronger teachers. The final release of responsibility comes when we student teach and are able to demonstrate our mastery of the Alverno Abilities and Teaching Standards. You will begin to see that the Standards and Abilities align to help guide us how to teach to our full potential. They are the reminders of what to look for in our teaching and lesson planning. I still laugh every time I say Class, Class if you can hear me clap your hands, and a room full of Kindergartners all clap their hands. Or how about when a student wont participate in a lesson because they are hung up on space ships and the teacher used apples as an example. Its those small things that remind me that I am teaching to Teacher Standard #5: Teachers know how to manage a classroom. These connections are awesome, remember that! With all that being said, it has not been easy to get from where you are to where I am, but it feels awesome once youre here! So let me give you some advice; first remember Alverno loves social interaction and that means you have a community of support all around you. Talk to your advisors, peers, instructors and CTs; remember that Communication is an Alverno Ability. Peers are awesome when trying to bounce off ideas for lesson plans, and instructors old and new are always willing to look over them for you. This also means that when you feel like walking away you need to find those supports and remember that you got into Alverno because you Have What it Takes.

Next, dont get rid of anything! Organize you binders, your semesters and take advantage of the multiple sources to store all your assignments and feedback. You have no idea how much easier this will make your life when you get ready to complete portfolio. Your instructors and CTs may even want to use some of your Golden lesson plans. Youre going to hear a lot about the Wisconsin Teacher standards (WTS) and #10 says that: Teachers builds relationships within all aspects of her educational community to help support students learning. So that lesson plan you wrote may be one that your instructors or CTs think really was a good way of representing the learning objectives. Be proud of your work! Seriously though learn the 10 WTS and the 5 Alverno Abilities: Conceptualization, Diagnosis, Coordination, Communication and Integrative Interaction. They will follow you all throughout you Alverno career and you will be asked to demonstrate your growth in each one. Lastly, take your time. If you have to miss a movie here or there, it will be worth it to take the time and put your best work out there. Pay attention to the negative filters that will prevent you from getting your work done and do something to change it. Your professional obligations are depending on you. Internalize the lesson plans that you write, everyone notices a difference when you know your lessons, even the students. Learn to engage and motivate your students, it is the greatest feeling in the world! Enjoy the fact that you will have the experience behind you at the end of your Alverno education to walk into Student Teaching with confidence that you Have What it Takes!

Remember You Got This, Carrie Houston

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