班长

On the field, defending the goal is her top priority, but for 凯拉Zapcic ‘21, a goalie on the women’s field hockey team, there’s more at play.

 

Since the beginning of her sophomore year, she has been interning at Sudlersville Elementary School in Queen Anne’s County, shadowing and student-teaching in both kindergarten 一年级的教室. After being accepted into the program at the beginning of her junior year, she is on track to earn her teaching certification in the state of Maryland, alongside her human development major.

Working closely with the education department, 凯拉 is grateful for the guidance 她的教授. “When it comes to finding your placement for your elementary school field experience,” she explains, “[the department] is very diligent, making sure you 拥有你需要的一切.”

 After finishing most of her distribution requirements, she began focusing on her education course load throughout her sophomore year, while simultaneously shadowing 在幼儿园的教室里. “I love bringing the values and concepts we learn at 九州娱乐官网 to real life in the classroom,” she adds.

The next year, in a first-grade classroom, 凯拉 put her teaching skills to the test - writing and teaching her own lesson plans independently. 每周在她的流程中 and Acquisition of Reading course, she writes a lesson plan, three of which will be taught throughout the course of the semester to her first-graders. 带上她自己的 lessons to the front of the classroom is nerve-wracking, yet exciting. “使用 Maryland State Standards, I get to think of my own lessons and create fun, learning 把活动带到我的课堂上.”

In the education department, seniors are expected to teach 全职 throughout their spring semester, a plunge that 凯拉 is thrilled to take. 沉浸在 classroom environment, she can’t imagine a better way to prepare for her future as 小学老师.

Back on campus, 凯拉 is consistently improving her teaching approach, particularly 通过她的课程作业. In Professor Clarke-Vivier’s Educational 心理学 course, she learned new approaches to teaching, particularly as it relates to a student’s 幸福和情绪健康.

“We learn about teaching effectively in a classroom, while also making sure we don’t neglect the human aspect of a student,” she explains, “He/She is a human being with thoughts and feelings of his/her own, which we must take into consideration.”

Apart from teaching, 凯拉 is a Shorewoman at heart. 终于站在人群中 year’s War on the Shore game, she truly felt the camaraderie on campus. 数以百计的 students filled the stands as Goose Nation’s men’s lacrosse team fought Salisbury 在球场上. Regardless of the loss, everyone was unified and excited, and that’s 一个她永远不会忘记的时刻.