NPHS student teachers gain inspiration from student successes
Every day, student teachers across Newbury Park High School’s campus can be found observing a variety of subjects. From assisting teachers with grading to teaching their own lessons, student teachers’ impact can be felt everywhere in the classroom.
Elizabeth Crisp, English student teacher, was originally unsure about what job to pursue, but gave teaching a chance after having the opportunity to substitute. “My brother works in education, and he works at a private school where I could substitute without a credential, so I did that and I’m like ‘Oh, I love teaching,’ and English for me has just always been such an enjoyable class as a student,” Crisp said.
Since she has Jennifer Halpert, English teacher, as a supportive mentor, Crisp feels comfortable going through trial and error. “Student teaching is nice because I can make mistakes, and I have someone here like Halpert, who has taught and has such a great career that she’s able to see things that I don’t see,” Crisp said. She is currently assisting Halpert with grading and is doing a unit takeover with “Brave New World” for her tenth grade class.
Similar to Crisp, Dennis Meservy, French student teacher, also finds many joys in observing students who have a passion for learning. “The most rewarding thing for me is watching high school kids get French for the first time, things click, and maybe especially the ones that really enjoy and start opening their mind towards language learning in general,” Meservy said.
During lesson planning, Meservy looks for ways to get students out of their seats whilst giving them the tools to effectively learn and utilize the language. “I think the most daunting thing for me about high school was sitting at a desk, so when I’m in class with students I want my plan to be something that’s interactive,” Meservy said.
Discovering her love for teaching through her kids’ classrooms, Miranda Dear now follows her ardor as an Art student teacher. “I helped out in the art department, teaching them the different lessons there, and I think that’s where my kind of love of teaching came from,” Dear said. Although she mostly observes her co-operative teacher, Jennifer Lee, Dear makes the most of her time by connecting with her students. “I create bonds in the classroom by just listening to their conversations, and then maybe I can add input to that,” Dear said.
Through assisting in the classroom, student teachers have observed the many developments and successes of students and use this to fuel their upcoming careers. “Seeing that students are capable of starting at a level and then exponentially improving their skills is really important for me to see that students at any level have a lot of capabilities. It gives me a very positive outlook on my future teaching career,” Crisp said.
