The Teacher Ed Experience

1312: "Intro to Teaching" Fieldwork

“Y’all are doing awesome,” the teacher said to her young readers. “You’re crushing it, and I can really hear your expression. Great job!”

The teacher in this case was a Baylor freshman — a “novice” in the Baylor program — experiencing her first education course, and doing it remotely through a video screen.

Baylor’s teacher education program integrates hands-on learning in local schools, and no pandemic was going to stop that. For the fall of 2020, the 57 first-year students in the “Introduction to Teaching” course tutored virtually at Hewitt Elementary School in Midway ISD. This spring, with fewer than 20 Baylor students enrolled, the class members were able to teach in person one-on-one with Hewitt Elementary first-graders while distanced in the cafeteria.

Hewitt Elementary was a new PDS (Professional Development School) campus starting in the fall of 2020, and leaders there were “amazingly flexible” — not to mention technologically savvy — in coordinating the experience, said Dr. Barbara Purdum-Cassidy, coordinator of the SOE’s elementary education program.

Sneak Peek at Teacher Life

If you’d like to glimpse a “day in the life” of a Baylor teacher education student who is teaching in local schools, Instagram is the place to do that. The School of Education’s Instagram account — @baylorSOE — provides a peek into the life of students through “Takeover Tuesday” every week during the school year.

Takeover is typically hosted by a junior or senior student who is teaching in a local school four days a week. Juniors spend a couple of hours each morning teaching small groups, and seniors teach full days throughout the academic year.