Spectacular Student Teachers of Science!

Submitted by tara.pina on

Tall, beautiful, young, magestic creatures lurk around Mr. Bass’ classroom, but don’t worry it’s just Ms. Carey and Ms. Merrill. They are the student teachers. Their job is to learn how to teach a class one day, and help the teacher they are shadowing. Unfortunately they’re leaving after spring break of this year.

Ms. Merrill, one of the student teachers, loves teaching here. “I love the atmosphere. I love that the students are excited about learning [and that the] faculty is really nice and welcoming. Students are nice to each other” she said. Mr. Bass has taught her a lot of new things. “He helps me figure out what kind of teacher I want to become; methods of teaching different concepts.” Merrill said. “Helps us everyday. Always willing to bend over backwards to get us what we need; great ideas of what to teach; gives great feedback.” Ms. Merrill said talking about how Mr. Bass helps her. She wants to make a difference in students lives. She wants to teach them to “Learn to love to learn.” Ms. Merrill wants to teach science because it “explains almost everything in the world. You see science everywhere you go.” She wants to be a teacher because both of her parents are teachers themselves, they “inspire me to an educator” she said. She would go on roadtrips with her dad and he would say to her “Look out there, can you see the shield volcano?” She wants to be just like him. Ms. Merrill is currently working for her Bachelor of Science and Earth in Space Science Education degree at BYU. She’s been wanting to teach since first grade. Even though there are those difficult days the good outweigh the hard things.

Mr. Bass absolutely enjoys the extra help. “It means I can be innovative and creative, get supplies in order; take care of individual students; improve grade book maintenance.” He said. “They don't need a lot of help; they have an excellent base of knowledge; it's a matter of teaching to own styles.” Mr. Bass said. When he does help them it's “mostly by creating a supportive environment that allows them to be creative in their own way.” Without their help it would otherwise take time away from more important needs. Not only is Mr. Bass teaching the two of them but they're teaching him as well. They give “their fresh ideas. Help with technology. They have a different frame of reference and point of view.”

The reason that Ms. Carey loves teaching at our school is, “The students are generally fun to be around and are mostly willing to do their work. The people are very personable and down to earth, which is always more fun to be around. I like that the students are willing to learn, even though it might always be about fun or exciting things. There are many resources to help teachers to enhance the learning of their students. This has overall been a good experience so far.” Being a student teacher gives you a lot of opportunities to learn. “I have learned that getting to know the students and their interests helps me to be able to understand how to try to relate what we are learning to what they enjoy doing.” Ms. Carey said. It can be difficult at first to come into a new place with new people so do to get used to the place Ms. Carey said,  “I started off observing Mr. Bass, but now Ms. Merrill and I write our own lesson plans and teach the classes ourselves.” She is learning to be a teacher “Because it is important to me to contribute to helping young minds learn; that is learning not only on the subject of science, but a huge goal is to help them to become good and contributing citizens.” she said. But why science? Well Ms. Carey said it was because “ Scientific principles are evident everywhere in life, whether we think about it or not. Physics/engineering - roads, houses, buildings, etc. Chemistry - how our bodies work. Geology - just look at those mountains and everything else! It is so applicable and neat to figure out how the world works.” Her inspiration is.. “I had several teachers who taught me so much more than their subject matter; they showed us that they really cared about us as individuals and not just as another of their bunches of students. I learned a lot about life, being kind to everyone no matter how they treat me, and how to be an informed and contributing citizen. They inspired me to want to make a positive difference, as well.” She is currently working on getting her Physical Science Education degree at Brigham Young University. Ever since middle school she's wanted to be a teacher. Yes it can be hard to be a teacher but with what Ms. Merrill said the hard things are outweighed with the good. It can be hard with the preferences of each student, making it nicer for students to learn and the different science concepts can make the job hard.

Now after reading about the hard work and what it's like to be a teacher or student teacher, make sure you let them know how much you appreciate their work. It would be fair enough to say that Mr. Bass, Ms. Merrill and Ms. Carey are the most iconic trio at Springville Jr. High.

Attributions
Article by Jocelynn Garner - SJHS Student Staff Writer