Meet Erin. She's confident, capable and charismatic. She's going to be a great teacher. Her confidence, she explains, comes from the strong background she's gotten as a foreign language education major. That includes not only the courses she's taken, but also the experiences she amassed in other areas of this major.
"The College has a study abroad program in La Rochelle, France, which is a wonderful site. Initially, I didn't think I could go abroad given my schedule, but it all worked out. The program is amazing. It's well established and there's a tremendous network of host families involved. For me, it truly was an immersion experience to spend a full semester there. As a foreign language major, I feel it's imperative to take advantage of this kind of experience. You have the chance to be among native speakers, and interact and make mistakes. I got a lot of confidence and comfort from that."
Since then, Erin has been focused on her course requirements. "Among other things, we have to take four classes that lead up to our student teaching experience. Collectively, that's about 125 hours of in-class observation where we're paired with a teacher in a specific school. Charleston is a great place for this because it has a real diversity of schools: large ones and small ones, rural and urban – all kinds."
Those observation sessions, she says, are invaluable. "The teachers I've observed have been open and helpful. I've learned a lot from them, such as how to use a smart board, how to organize files and plan lessons. Those are really practical things that you don't always get from a textbook. "
Erin says she's confident that she'll be fully prepared when she steps into her first classroom. "I've had a really great experience in this program. I know that I'll hit the ground running when the time comes."