Kelsey Moran
Adrian, MI- The walls of Siena Heights University’s Performing Arts Center are littered with information about upcoming T.E.A.C.H. meetings, local job openings, and upcoming date
s and deadlines for the Michigan Test for Teacher Certification (MTTC). The main office, home to many teacher education professors and advisors, is always buzzing with students seeking guidance and support.
Erica Cadieux knows this building well. A
senior at SHU, she is currently completing her last semesters of course work while preparing to student teach in the fall of 2013. Just before graduating from Adrian High School in 2007, Cadieux began researching universities. Eventually, she settled on SHU for its location, its small enrollment size, and its impressive teacher education program.Cadieux asserts that she always knew she wanted to become a teacher. Growing up, she watched her aunt, an experienced educator, make students feel great about themselves both inside and outside of the classroom. Cadieux has also volunteered since she was nine years old with the Special Olympics. “I just love being around children and watching them grow and learn!” she exclaims. Cadieux will major in special education for students with learning disabilities with a planned elementary education minor.
Although the SHU community is smaller than most Michigan universities, it graduates many future teachers each year. Despite the education program being one of the largest at SHU, it’s not an easy one. Incoming students seeking their certification must acquire and maintain a 2.75 GPA or better, clear a Michigan background check, pass the MTTC Basic Skills Test, and formally apply for candidacy and later, full acceptance into the program.
Not only are students required to student teach, but they are also required to take the MTTCs in both the content area(s) and the grade level test, either for secondary or elementary education. One of the challenges that accompanies the testing is that students preparing to student teach must take their grade level test before actually student teaching and many times, before their course work is completed. For students like Cadieux, this can be intimidating because they may have to take the test before some of the information is covered in their classes and before they’ve learned additional information through their student teaching experience. Cadieux does believe that SHU attempts to prepare its students despite these setbacks, however. “We cover such a wide range of material and information in our courses. Professors provide resources and supplements to help us and we learn about so many different aspects of the curriculum and the classroom. They really do try to prepare us for the tests, but sometimes there is only so much they can do,” she insists.
Once these prerequisites have been fulfilled, students like Cadieux can continue taking the required courses depending on their degree planner which in all cases of the education program, includes liberal arts classes, teacher education classes, and hundreds of hours of field experience. Students and professors in the program have diligently communicated with Lenawee County school districts and administrators to establish working relationships with teachers throughout the area. When asked how her personal field experiences have been, Cadieux responded that they have been really positive and all the teachers she has worked with have been accommodating and welcoming upon her visits. This, she believes, has made completing her field experience hours significantly easier.
Despite these positive working relationships, however, the requirements of field experience hours can be challenging. Cadieux, a commuter, who lives at home with her parents and works part-time at Renaissance Community Homes. She represents the non-traditional collegiate lifestyle of many SHU students. “Finding time to observe and tutor between going to class, doing my homework, and working part-time can be really difficult and challenging,” she explains, “the entire process has kept me busy! I am fortunate, though, to have a job that works around my school schedule. That makes life a little easier.”
In addition to the required field experience, the program requires a hefty load of course work as well, all of which is in preparation for student teaching and the MTTCs, the culmination of all teacher education students’ collegiate career. Although a multitude of classroom experiences is a strength of SHU’s program, Cadieux is still nervous about her upcoming semesters of student teaching. “Although I feel that I have plenty of resources to get a sense of how things work, after doing hours in classrooms and talking to teachers, I’m still not that confident that I could plan a lesson well because I’ve been told that it’s not realistic to write the plans like we have been taught to,” claims Cadieux. “I feel most comfortable about connecting with students, but I am still really nervous about teaching lessons on my own and adjusting to ‘real-world’ situations when things happen spontaneously and don’t follow a designated plan,” she says. Cadieux notes that things aren’t as structured in a real classroom the way we are taught in our classes to believe they are.
As Cadieux prepares for her semesters of student teaching and her upcoming MTTC testing, she declares that although she is nervous, she is equally excited, “I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and I can see my future as a teacher in reach.” Cadieux, who is newly engaged and has recently begun planning her wedding, is looking forward to the next steps, but knows she will still face many challenges. “Even though I can see that light at the end of the tunnel, I’m still anxious. Student teaching and the certification tests are a whole new can of worms. I know I’m going to face some serious challenges in the upcoming year.”