anyone an elementary teacher?

daisygirl17

and want to let me observe (possibly help out) in your classroom? or does anyone know of any teachers that would?

i talked with someone ad the OSU admissions and it looks like it's really preferred that i have 90 hours of observation or volunteering in an elementary classroom before applying....so of course before going to schools and asking, i thought i'd come to you ladies first!!

if you aren't or don't know anyone...can anyone give me a suggestion of what schools to start looking into for observing? i'm new here and don't know the districts AT ALL...so i don't have a clue as to where to start. i live in SW portland.

BethaBoo

I'm not a teacher (yet), otherwise I would totally let you come in to observe. However, I am in a teaching program. I am doing my student teaching in the Beaverton School District and I would think any of the schools in the district would be more than happy to let you come in to observe. You can also try the Portland or Hillsboro School Districts.?

At the school where I am student teaching, we have one person doing a senior experience and two or three student teachers so they seem really open to having people come in.

?You can also google "School Districts Near [your zip code] to find ones nearby.??

BethaBoo

P.S. Since you posted below about volunteer opportunities, you can always volunteer at a school to get some experience working with kids. A lot of the people I am in my MAT program with did that while they waited for the program to start. It's also a great way to make connections with school districts

LisiLynn

Its a bit of a drive, but my sister teaches in Vancouver's Evergreen school district. I could put you in touch with her if you're interested.

daisygirl17

thanks ladies!! betha -- what program are you in if you don't mind me asking? you can PM me if you'd rather.

and Lisi thanks so much for the offer! I'll definitely keep that in mind...once I know what my schedule is for sure for the fall (i.e. when I finally get a job) and I know for sure if I have time or not, I'll let you know. I wouldn't mind the drive if I have time, but if it's going to be tight, I might have to find something closer. Thanks!

BethaBoo

I'm in the Pacific 5th year program. I love it! Without knowing what it's like at the end of the program, I feel like they've prepared us really well for life in the classroom. I have also heard that they have a really good reputation with the public school systems up here- there are, I think, 6 teachers who graduated from the program currently teaching at my student teaching school and I think most of them did their student teaching at my school.?

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. Good luck!?

daisygirl17

BethaBoo:

I'm in the Pacific 5th year program. I love it! Without knowing what it's like at the end of the program, I feel like they've prepared us really well for life in the classroom. I have also heard that they have a really good reputation with the public school systems up here- there are, I think, 6 teachers who graduated from the program currently teaching at my student teaching school and I think most of them did their student teaching at my school. 

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. Good luck! 

awesome!! thank you! I'm actually meeting with an adviser at pacific next week to discuss the program I'm also confused as to what of my classes i've taken will count towards pre-recs, etc. im also meeting with someone from the oregon state university program as well....only thing about pacific is it seems kinda expensive

if you dont mind me asking, how hard was it to get into the program? (how many applicants? how many accepted? what was the average gpa?)

BethaBoo

I don't know any of the stats about how many people apply/get in. I know that there are three education grad programs at Pacific- the SPED program (Special Ed), the Flex program (a stretched out license and masters program) and the 5th year. There are 60 of us in this year's 5th program- 30 in the early childhood/elementary program.?

It's totally expensive, but I keep telling myself that as long as my student loan debt stays under my annual salary, I'm okay.

It didn't seem that hard to get in to the program. I had about a 3.5 GPA as an undergrad and passed both my ORELA and CBEST, if that gives you an indication.

I will say this- the college of ed is small so you definitely don't feel like a nameless face. I realized yesterday that I had accidently deleted my resume from my hard drive so I emailed one of the program assistants to ask if he could get me a copy (I had to send it to them when I applied). I emailed him at 5pm yesterday and by 3pm today, I had a copy in my inbox. That alone made me really happy with the program ?