Future Teachers Leading In The Classroom

On January 12th FTA members stepped into classrooms and took notes on the teaching methods and styles of the Fair Grove teachers. These high schoolers job shadowed teachers ranging from pre-k to twelfth grade.

Seventeen seniors and junior participated in the job shadowing process. The day started off with a short meeting, and then the students started observing at 8:15am. One of the sponsors of FTA, (Future Teachers of America),  Mrs. Kisling, commented, “The goal is for students to see what a day is like being a teacher so they can determine if they want to pursue a career in teaching.” Most of the senior are involved in the A+ program. This program allows them to go down to the Elementary for one hour during the day and help tutor young children. The program only gives a glimpse of what teaching is like. Job shadowing day allows a high schooler to experience a full day of what a teacher does, and they are given the option to pick which grade level/teacher they are put with.

President of FTA, Jacob Buckner, (12), states, “The day went really well. I want to go into teaching music, but I chose to overlook an elementary teacher to see how running a class with young kids would be like.” Every student had a to fill out a worksheet on the teacher they were with, and they also had to write about their experiences in the classroom.

Other events FTA does is help out with grandparents day, go on a college visit to look at the education department, and participate in teacher appreciation week in May. Every club meeting the students vote on a teacher of the month and then they celebrate that teacher. January’s teacher of the month has been Mrs. Walquist who teaches English.