Fourth-graders
waved their hands eagerly in the air, arms reaching to the sky so they
could get picked first.
Calling on students
as their arms shot up, Andy Plemmons told the young writers how to pick
a topic for their stories.
Plemmons, a student
teacher at Colham Ferry Elementary School in Watkinsville, has started
a writer's workshop in this classroom. The senior from Blue Ridge is in
his last semester in the University's elementary education program.
In Plemmons' class,
the fourth-graders have the opportunity to learn about writing, experiment
on their own and then share suggestions with each other. Plemmons said
he chose elementary education over middle or high school because creativity
is so important in the younger grades.
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Devon Butcher sings.
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"I really love to
work with the little kids," Plemmons said.
Through hands-on
experience in the classroom, the College of Education is preparing teachers
for the real world, faculty said.
"We are preparing
really good teachers," said Michael Padilla, associate dean.
The waiting list
to get accepted into the program, Padilla said, is so long that they only
"take the best and the brightest."
The U.S. News &
World Report article on America's Best Colleges ranked the University seventh
in the nation in the elementary teacher education program, and fourth in
the secondary teacher education program.
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From left, Bradley
Wireman, Taylor Thaxton, Nick Milo and Thomas Engle read about endangered
animals.
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The program is divided
into several blocks or semesters, with students gradually receiving more
experience so they'll be prepared when they teach full time in a public
school their senior year.
At his school, Plemmons
is involved in four different book clubs, where the children's ideas are
integrated into the assignments.
"I love being able
to let them have a voice in the classroom," Plemmons said.
The aspiring teachers
said they are enthusiastic about their futures in the classroom.
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Plemmons responds to
Demi Alewine's question.
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"I want to give (the
children) something that they will use for the rest of their life," said
Kimberly Smith, a junior from St. Mary's who is in the elementary education
program.
Smith said the most
rewarding part of working with children is "watching them learn and discover
something on their own."