The Future is BRIGHT!!

Last week, I got to go to dinner at a local joint right off the campus of Ball State with four education majors who are also officers in their university’s Kappa Delta Pi academic fraternity.  I am telling you that I have seen the future, and my friends, it is bright!  The eyes of each of these students light up with a fire for the best profession in the world.  They are already talking about “their kids” from their practicum experiences.  They are intelligent and passionate.  They have a heart for learning, and are hungry to be better tomorrow than they are today.  One teacher candidate has committed to an urban student teaching experience, even though she is from a town of a few thousand.  One has been to the United Kingdom, and already has a global approach to her teaching, and another admitted to me on the way back to campus that he plans to be a principal and then a superintendent for his educational journey. 

These four are just a few of hundreds of teacher candidates that I have had the honor of meeting over the last few months.  We MUST keep them!  They are the teachers that will be next door to us soon, inspiring us to do better, to think differently, to engage more deeply.  Encouraging them and supporting them is the most important thing we can do for Indiana’s students.  As an instructional coach, I feel strongly that effective coaching for teachers can play a very important role in getting and keeping great teachers.  We can help to lead and support our newest teachers as they create an engaging learning environment and “learn the ropes” of student-centered, responsive teaching.  We can come alongside our seasoned educators to help them try new things, stretch their thinking pedagogically and philosophically, increase student engagement and achievement and, most importantly, reignite their passion for the best profession in the world.  In addition, teachers in the trenches must have open classrooms and steady dialogue with teacher preparatory programs.  Working with colleges and universities to help bridge the gap between college prep and the expectations of an educator’s job in the classroom is the responsibility of every current teacher in a classroom.

Indiana University has an honor and one-year fellowship for educators called the Armstrong Teacher Award.  Eight educators from around Indiana are chosen to participate in Panel Discussions for education majors, and are matched up with professors teaching classes in their area of expertise.  This was the game changer for me.  As I started having conversations with the two professors of elementary education literacy classes, we really got to the nuts and bolts of what they were teaching, and worked to find any missing components that incoming teachers to the field would be expected to understand, but were not a part of the syllabus.  It started with an opportunity to talk with college students about the teaching profession, and evolved into me getting to teach classes about small group instruction, formative assessment using anecdotal notes, and meaningful integration of technology in elementary classrooms.  Now, I have had the opportunity to do this at several Indiana universities.  Never, in my wildest dreams, did I picture myself doing this!  What surprises me most is how much I enjoy the classroom time with college students!  I now know that I am happy teaching ANY kids in ANY classroom.

So what is my biggest takeaway from these experiences?? The students!  People! I have seen the future, and it is bright!  I mean, put on your sunglasses, watch out for a sunburn, knock your socks off… BRIGHT!  Making sure that our teacher candidates are well prepared for the classrooms they can’t wait to teach in is essential for us to get and keep Indiana’s best!  Teach! Indiana!