Inside Stout
Inside Stout
Inside Stout Ep. 12 - Teachers in Training
Calling all future teachers!
This week we're focused on the Early Childhood Education program and the incredible individuals who choose a career shaping and influencing young minds.
Guests Terry Kohlmeier, Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education, shares a very heartfelt and honest appeal to those interested in a future teaching career. UW-Stout student and current Student-Teacher, Brianna North, also joins us to share insightful perspectives on the program and what inspired her to choose this career path.
Interested in the Early Childhood Education program?
Explore the program here
Guests:
Terry Kohlmeier, Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education
Brianna North, UW-Stout student and current Student Teacher.
Co-Hosts:
Rachel Hallgrimson
Emily Laird
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Hello, everyone. Welcome to inside stout, a UW stout podcast that focuses on the stories of students, faculty, staff, and the entire campus community. Today. We're all about education,
Speaker 2:Which makes sense. Cuz we're a university podcast.
Speaker 1:You couldn't have education without educators. And so today we're gonna focus on our early education programs here at UW stout. Rachel, let's go back on a nostalgic trip. Take me to the earliest teacher you remember, or some teacher from your early years that really impacted your life?
Speaker 2:Well, the first person I thought of was my kindergarten teacher, which was my first teacher and it was miss needer G commo. Wow. And she was amazing if you're listening out there. I don't know if that's still her, her name. I don't remember if that was her married name or maiden name, but if you're listening, you're an amazing kindergarten teacher. Was
Speaker 1:That, that name?
Speaker 2:Yes, she was so compassionate. So interested in all of our crazy weirdness and I just really appreciated that. Anyway. I do think still very fondly of her and she let me take my Pokemon to show and tell for like every single time,
Speaker 1:What kind of Pokemon
Speaker 2:It was just Pikachu. It had it like, it was like a stuffed animal, but it lit up. But anyway, on a more serious note, I do think of my 10th grade English teacher, Mr. Deb. And I'm gonna send this to you, Mr. Deb. He inspired me to go into English because he invested a lot in me, in my writing. And in my speaking, he was the speech coach for the speech team, which I joined after I joined his class for the first time. And I just felt really excited by writing and I, that I did a good job and he confirmed to that. And that's why I went into an English degree and into writing and communications because of his investment in me and his style of teaching. And he had a really great dry sense of humor, which I also feel like I absorbed from him as well. So thanks Mr. Deba.
Speaker 1:Thank you. And that's amazing. First of it's incredible how much we can be inspired by those instructors teachers in our lives. I was the opposite. I was the little kid that wasn't necessarily inspired. I was the reason that, you know, they inspired me to like, not, not stand on my desk, not throw paper airplanes, um, you know, use your ins side voice. I heard that a lot. Um, but it's those, those moments that really made us. So today we're gonna hear from two amazing guests from our early childhood education program because the world needs more teachers. We need more educators to inspire our youth to really continue in education and grow into the amazing, wonderful people that they can become. So today we have two amazing guests from our early childhood education program. One is an instructor and the other is a student currently completing her student teaching.
Speaker 2:Let's get to it.
Speaker 1:So have you introduce yourself?
Speaker 3:Yeah. Thank you for having me today. I, um, am Terry coal Myer. I am a professor in the early childhood program in the department of teaching learning and leadership, which is also a part of the school of education here at UW stout. I have been in the field for oh golly, about 45 years. Yeah. I, uh, went back when I was 56 years old to get my PhD because I wanted to continue my career and end my career in working with, um, future te awesome and help, you know, help to prepare them. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks
Speaker 2:For being here. You're welcome. Thank you. We have another guest.
Speaker 4:Hello. I am Brianna north. I am currently undergoing my student teaching. I am a student at stout going for early childhood education. I'm also adding on my middle childhood education as well. So when I am all done, I will be certified through sixth grade. My graduation is expected in may and that'll be certified through third grade and then this summer I'm completing my middle childhood. And so at the end of the summer is when I will be certified through sixth grade. My goal upon graduating is to have a job I'm interviewing Tuesday. Awesome. And, uh, have the job lined up and starting in my own classroom.
Speaker 1:Amazing. And congratulations on your upcoming graduation. That's so exciting. Yep. So Terry, let's start with you. What's the path a student takes to get to where Brianna is now? Oh
Speaker 3:My well, uh, usually most students follow a four year plan, which Brianna, um, has, uh, but she is adding on middle childhood, which is an extension of our early childhood program birth to three. So she will, or she has already taken the coursework necessary and now just needs to finish her student teaching, uh, in a fourth, fifth or sixth grade classroom. But Brianna began with, uh, early childhood 100, which is our introduction to early childhood and all freshmen take that course right off the bat to kind of get a feel of what is expected required. Uh, they begin observing at our lab school right away. So they have, uh, that beginning then, um, of course they've got their general education credits to, to work on. Um, typically their second semester they will, um, take human development and then also move forward. Uh, sophomore year are taking more early childhood courses, more, more observations in the lab. Um, then excitedly their junior year, they conduct their pre student teaching in a program, either infant toddler or pre-K depending on some prior experience, then they move forward, uh, after their pre student teaching to their methods courses, which are primarily, um, focused on the primary grades for second and third. And next thing you know, they're doing their student teaching. So they get lots of hands on lots of applied experiences prior to, to getting out into the field.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Speaking of hands on, you mentioned labs, which is something when you first mentioned it to me last week when it comes to teaching and early childhood, I just would not think about that. I, I come from a totally different area of study with different types of labs. So what are the labs like for students here at stout? Terry can answer and so could Brianna,
Speaker 3:Yeah. Brianna can answer from a completely different perspective of, so let me just give you an example today. Uh, labs are an opp really provide an opportunity for students observe to apply what they're learning in the classroom, uh, working directly with children. So the U cool thing about UW stout is we have an infant toddler lab and we also have a lab serving preschool, age, threes, fours, and fives. And we have a 4k program that is a collaborative, um, with the, uh, nominee school district. So, you know, it's really kind of an opportunity for them to really be with children. Is this really what I want to do? Um, we also offer a lab, we don't call it a lab. We call it a block. The students will go out and, um, work for three weeks in a primary classroom. So although we don't have a primary program here at stout, we have a great relationship and collaboration with the nominee school district and surrounding schools. Um, and so students are really able to see what that's like feel what that's like for three solid weeks, all day long. And they, uh, learn so much, which prepares them to go into their student teaching, I think gives them a little confidence that they need. So labs are not just observing, but actually getting in there and working with the, the children. Right. And, uh, I'd love to hear what Brianna has to say about her lab exp lab experiences.
Speaker 4:Yes. So as a student, when you're going into the labs, you start off going into the infant toddler lab first, and then after that you have another lab experience in the preschool and those experiences are just building off one another. So as Terry kind of mentioned, it is more so for me as the student, it was going in there and starting to see how you can interact with the children and just getting those beginning foundational skills in of the pre basics before teaching, are you, are you able to work with the children? What questions do you ask? How do you support them in growing and continuing? And with that, you get to teach a few lessons. So you get to practice what we've been learning and all the different child development courses you take at early on in the program. You get to see that and you are planning, developmentally appropriate lessons at the younger level. So that way, when the program is continuing, you're able to build upon that. So when you are in your block experience and teaching in a primary classroom, I happen to be placed in a third grade. You have all that prior experiences from your labs and interacting with the children, you know, where they're coming from in their background. And you're able to think about that as you're planning these lessons now in the primary setting,
Speaker 1:Brianna, I'd like to ask you thinking about when you were first going into the labs, um, until now, did those experiences help shape your decisions toward what you ultimately wanted to do as far as what age group you wanted to be with in the future?
Speaker 4:Yeah. I am very thankful that I had my lab experiences in the young with the infinite toddlers and at the preschool level, but it was very eye opening to have those experiences first. So that way I could build up my confidence a little bit and get in my group. And after having my third grade block experience, yes, I definitely want to be with the older ones. So it was very beneficial to have those experiences.
Speaker 2:Terry, I wanted to ask you and Brianna, if you have thoughts as well, I'd love to hear them. I wanna hear from you what you've heard and your response to the lack of teachers currently in, in education. I think today's conversation is mostly K through 12 and 4k. What would you say? I mean, why and how can we encourage and find those people that were made to be teachers that would be really good at it? How do we get them
Speaker 3:Here? Right. Well, that's a really good question. And I mean, after 45 years in the field, um, I have seen, uh, I've seen teachers get into the programs, get into the schools and, uh, there's a, been a high level of burnout for teachers. So what we are doing even here at stout now is we're providing some leadership opportunities. We talk about burnout. We talk about how to balance life, you know, and your work that teachers can future teachers can understand that. Yeah, it's tough. It is. It's like with any new job, right. That first year is a matter of survival. Um, yeah. And yes, we are losing some teachers, you know, we can debate, we can talk and debate. Okay. Is it because of pay? Is it because teaching is now it can, it's very complex. You know, we have to individualize for so many children. We have to differentiate our instruction. And what I mean by that is that we have to, we have children in our classrooms today that inter inter first grade, some are reading at a, a, you know, a third grade level and some are, um, highly verbal and social skills are strong, but then you have your students that, and this is, this is very true. In fact, I just heard yesterday, we have some students that, that don't even know their ABCs, so they don't even have some of those foundational skills. So you, you go into teaching and you have to think, okay, I have to really individualize. I have to challenge the second grader or first grader or third grader or fifth grader. That's reading above level, that's, you know, doing more independent work. And I also have to support the, the students that, um, don't even have the basic skills. So it's, it's, it is, but you know, you've gotta have a passion for teaching. You have to say, this is what I wanna do. You have to know that the rewards far outweigh, um, the challenges. You have to know that today in our schools, we have an abundance of collaboration so that you're never alone. Um, you have mentor teachers when you're a new teacher, you have a special education team that works with you. You have a school psych who is there, pour you. Um, you have, I guess I will end by saying this too, although I could go on and on. Yes. Uh, there is a, a, a need for teachers. There is no doubt about that. And we are encouraging it. We are now providing incentives. We're now realizing that pay, that someone's salary who works nine very long months, needs to be recognized both a financially and economically, but also, you know, in other ways. So we're really working to, um, provide opportunities for individuals to go into education. Um, we're offering more scholarships. We are, um, specifically in Wisconsin, I know there's initiative right now, um, to encourage individuals to start at schools by offering them, um, you know, a nice, um, beginning salary, but also encouraging them with some, um, financial incentives initially. So we're, we're working on it, but it's, it's, it's a job that someone really has to have in their heart, has to be, they have to have passion about it. And if it it's all about the money, then I have to be honest. After 45 years, don't go into teaching. If that's what it is, if it's all about the money, it's gotta be about children. It's gotta be about growth, gotta be about reflection. It's gotta be about, um, just work hard work. That's why, you know, I said to my students yesterday, how awesome that we have that time in the summer to recoup and plan and think and determine what changes we're going to make and how we're gonna, and to improve our own teaching skills. Um, so I mean, it, it, teachers work hard. We know that. Yeah. And they, they really need to be recognized by our country. We really need to focus on education as a priority, not just financially, but across the board.
Speaker 2:That reminds me of a quote. I don't remember if it's anonymous or not, but it's the joyful are never poor. Yeah. And that sounds like the mentality that people passionate about teaching have Brianna, what do you think and what would you say?
Speaker 4:I agree with Terry's points there. I definitely think that someone who is going into teaching needs to have that passion for it. And I think that educating, uh, pre-service educators, those going into teaching about those different things in teaching and the long days, and how to differentiate those lessons and work with the children, have that child develop all those different things that you're gonna be incorporated in your classroom. Just knowing that beforehand, before you go in. So that way, when you are in your first year, and it's that tough first year, you know, just trying to adjust and figure everything out that you are equipped with that background information. So that way you can start strong and keep working through it. So that way there could be less burnout and just being aware of everything that's going on. Obviously there'll be things that come up and you won't always know what it's coming and things will happen. But just having that background information, I think would help a lot just with the pre-service educators. And just knowing that what is coming will is very beneficial.
Speaker 3:I think. Can I just say one more thing? Of course. Sorry, just to, just to build on what a Brianna said, what of the things that we do here also, we're just a good program. Uh, a good teacher prep program should also provide opportunities to allow teachers to be creative and, you know, think outside the box. And we try to do that here at stout. You know, we collaborate with aim arts and the nominee. We also do some of the latest mindfulness, um, in our programs here. I mean, it's, it's here. It's it's, you can see it in the hallways. You can see it in the classrooms. Um, we also, uh, offer and encourage our, you know, teachers to get out there and, and again, do things that they enjoy to balance that long, you know, long work day, if you'll
Speaker 1:Sure Brianna, what inspired you to go into this field?
Speaker 4:I have always had a love for children. I grew up in a bigger family and I have a lot of different cousins and they were all little and I always wanted to take care of and babysit and just playing with my dolls. And so I I've always had that passion for children and just working with them and everything. So I originally wanted to go to be an OB GYN or an OB nurse. So delivering babies, cuz I also really liked the family ask back to the children as well. And after evaluating that I was hospital environments are not for me. And that's good. A good thing to learn
Speaker 1:Me either.
Speaker 4:Yeah. And I was told by many people, the, they told me you would be a great teacher and cuz it was something I hadn't really thought about. And so when I was in high school, I volunteered at a preschool and I fell in love with it and everything just spiraled from there. And that's how I got into where I am.
Speaker 1:And why did you choose stout?
Speaker 4:I chose stout because I was looking up early childhood programs because I originally wanted to be a kindergarten first grade teacher. And I was like the younger ones and stout had the early childhood program. They're the only school I really looked into and applied to. I really liked that stout was the Polytechnic university and had that those hands on learning experiences. And that is kind of the reason I looked into stout and only stout
Speaker 1:Wonderful.
Speaker 2:When a student first begins their program here in early childhood, what can they expect when they arrive and their first week or couple weeks in the program, who are they gonna get to know what labs are they gonna get to see what messages are given to prepare them for what they're getting themselves into?
Speaker 3:You know, the first couple weeks is always, um, there's a lot of social learning going on. Uh, I would begin by just saying that that intro to early childhood is a two credit course. And within the first two weeks, students are clear on what a four year plan looks like, where am I going? What's my end goal. When I taught ECE 100, we talk a lot about foundational importance of foundational skills for young children, but we talk, we also talk about teacher development over time. Um, we tie students are responsible to set up their e-portfolio. We talk about, um, you know, all the various re requirements over the four years. So usually within the first month they've had an opportunity to observe in the lab, given some, uh, a framework as far as what to look for. But one thing I'll just add to that is, um, we have a pretty strong advisement program here at stout. Okay. And every semester we have an advisement day and we meet with all of our students, one on one if needed or pre COVID. We met as large groups then over COVID we met one on one, which I really liked. Yeah. Um, and then we've gone back to meeting as a large group to share general information with our students. And then if students wanna eat with me one on one, that's great. We have office hours. We're always available. I, you know, I've even given students my phone number because I, you know, if they have anything specific and that last but not least, and this is a general stout comment, but we have a really good student support framework at this university. Yeah. And so beyond just the classroom setting, getting used to living in a dorm away from home, we try to be as supportive as possible.
Speaker 2:What do either of you see or have experienced as some of the struggles that people in an education program might have have in their first year? So things that they might not know how to handle or they might be thinking, this is not for me, but it actually is. How do you go about approaching those struggles and how to overcome them? Brianna, do you have anything?
Speaker 4:Well, I know personally from my experience, I had credits coming in and just maneuvering my credits that I already had from courses I had taken in high school and seeing which pro or credits courses I've already have covered and which ones I still need. And if you're adding on something different, I was gonna originally add on mathematics teaching because I have a strong passion for math. And I was a little bit misled my first two years with that. And like making sure that at the end of my program, I would have been able to be certified. And so I was taking different courses and stuff and meeting with advisors and people. And I was thought I was on track. And then when I went to check in with the school of ed to make sure I was good with my mathematics teaching stuff, I was, uh, unable to, to complete the minor without in my four years that I had originally planned and had my four year plan with. Gotcha. So just something was just making sure that you have those, all those pieces together. So that way you're not taking courses you don't need to, or fixing your program at the appropriate time.
Speaker 1:Sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Sounds like consistent conversations with your advisor and walking through that at every stage, making sure you're not enrolling in classes that you don't need. So that's really great advice, Brianna, thank you. I think that would be very helpful to a future student potentially.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. And I always kinda like to wrap things up with advice. So imagine we're talking to a high school, junior or senior they're considering this program. What advice do you give them
Speaker 3:From, uh, long term, early childhood kit? I, I think it's important. I mean kind of know why you wanna work with young children. Um, we, children are, they're, they're fun to love. Uh they're they're um, I guess I, I would just say, and I say this to my teachers, you know, kind of figure out why you think you wanna work with young children. Is it, is it, you know, is it teaching where you think you wanna go? Is it, um, you know, maybe as Brianna said, you know, working more with the child and the family together, um, I think that that's what you have to think about. You have to think about why, and not just because we, we love children, it's it is, it's one of those jobs that requires a lot of teaching is a 24 7 job. And a lot of people might disagree with me on that. But you know, you're constantly thinking about your kids. You're constantly seeing a new idea and going, oh, I can use that in my classroom. You're constantly thinking about that child that might be struggling behaviorally you're you're you're constantly think, and it's my, you know, you come home and you have to kind of switch gears to family life because teaching you think about Students a lot and, um, and ideas and you reflect. And so I guess, you know, my recommendation is know why you're going into teaching and kind of feel out your passion. Why is, why is this something I'm truly passionate about doing? Because I think is a, it's a, it's a real critical piece when it comes to teaching. Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Brianna, what would you say?
Speaker 4:I agree with Terry, uh, finding out your why, if you have that love for children and stuff. Okay. So now you have different options with careers, you know, maybe you want to go and work in the hospital environment with it or those different areas and just figuring out the why. So like, why do I enjoy working with children? What is it that I like? Do I like seeing those light bulb moments? Do I like helping them physically and working in that hospital environments more so, and just finding out that why you have that passion for children, if you know, you have that passion and advice, I would give to a junior senior who has that passion and wants to go into teaching. I definitely would say, look into those different schools, look into those ones like stout that are Polytechnic and have those hands on lab experiences and are able to get you in the field and get you comfortable and ready so that when you graduate, you are able to have your own classroom and you feel good and you can make those differences in the lives of the children.
Speaker 2:That's a really good answer. Both are really great answers.
Speaker 1:They were really great answers. One thing that I really took away is just Terry, you kept saying, you know, you really think about your kids a lot. You really think about your students. It's a 24 7 job. And I think, um, from my perspective, and I know Rachel, I think you'd agree with me. It's so heartwarming and endearing to hear that teachers are that passionate about our students because as Rachel and I reflected what, when we started this show, you know, these are the memories you have when you get older. Yeah. And these are the people who inspired you and set that real groundwork foundation to become the person you become today. I mean, we, we think back and our minds are framed by these amazing experiences by these teachers who have inspired us.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And the ones that I, I thought of immediately were from K through five, those were the ones that I, and I have a horrible memory. I mean, my memory is bad. The people, people stand out to me, events don't stand out to me, but people in my life stand out to me and I can, I can picture perfectly all of my K through five teachers, so well, and remember how loving they were and compassionate, and helpful and corrective in the ways that they needed to be, which were very helpful to me. That was my experience. Yeah. Which
Speaker 1:Very corrective, but it, it tracks, it makes sense.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Thank you both so much for being on the podcast. We really appreciate it. We wanna support the school of education as much as we can here on the podcast. Absolutely. And we hope that by people listening to this perspective, students will be inspired and realized their passion for, for kids and for teaching. So thank you both for being on.
Speaker 3:Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 4:Thank you for having me too.
Speaker 1:Well. We can't thank our guests enough today for giving us an incredible snapshot of the early childhood education program within our incredible school of education here at UW stout.
Speaker 2:If any of our listeners would like to learn more about our programs here at stout, we will link them in the description of the podcast. And if any listeners have topics that they'd like to share for future episodes, or just wanna connect with us, follow us on social media, Instagram at UW stout, pics Twitter at UW stout and by searching U of Wisconsin stout on Facebook and LinkedIn subscribe to inside stout on apple podcasts, Spotify and Google podcasts. We'll see you next time when we share even more stories that go inside stout.