To some people, teaching seems to be just another profession that involves kids. For others, being a teacher isn’t just a job – it’s a commitment that takes patience, a passion for being with kids, and a love of teaching.
Ready Set Teach is a program that allows students to explore the world of education, whether it is at the secondary or elementary level. Not only do the students learn about specific curriculum, but they also talk how to handle different situations that occur in classrooms.
RST teacher Nina Wright says that to be a good teacher, students must understand what being a teacher truly means.
“It gives them a glimpse of what teaching is so they can decide if this is a profession that they want,” Wright said. “It also gives them an ease with kids because as soon as they go into the education program in college, they’re going to be put into different schools to do observations and tutorials.”
RST teaches students about how to handle certain situations in the classroom, as well as lessons in other area outside of school.
“We learn how to handle students and classroom situations and how to give them lesson plans,” senior Jessica Salazar said. “[It also helps] teach us how to handle kids and other people in general.”
Senior Valeria Davila says that joining RST will help her get into the college she wants and will definitely be beneficial for her in the future.
“I’ll have a good resume for internships,” Davila said. “I’ll know how to do curriculum and schedules, and I like that sort of thing. I really like being with kids, I just enjoy spending time with them.”
RST students interned with special education classes and worked with Life skills students in various activities, like playing with them during P.E. and helping them in the lunch lines.
“They were really good for helping our kids practice their social skills, and still when the kids see them in the cafeterias or somewhere in the school, they’ll say hi to them appropriately and interact with them at an age appropriate age manner,” Life skills teacher Lynn Torres said.
Working with Life skills students will benefit RST students after they graduate.
“I think that when they go into the classroom, they’ll already have had some experience with kids and they’ll know what the professor is talking about,” Torres said. “If they decide not to go to college and decide to be a teacher assistant, they’ll know what they’re getting into.”
RST students have learned lessons about dealing with different situations, from keeping students on track in the classroom, to taking the time to get to know different kind of people.
“It gives me a different perspective of they are,” senior Angelica Ruiz-Duran said. “They’re just like normal people. They’re just teenagers and like to have fun. Other than teaching, it helps me be a better person and get to know someone instead of just saying that they’re different.”
After working with different types of students, from high school to special education and elementary kids, RST students have numerous options in the teaching field.
“At first I wanted to teach kindergarten or first grade, but now I’m thinking that I kind of liked working with Life skills,” Ruiz-Duran said. “There’s not a lot of teachers that work in that field, so I’m still thinking about it.”
Having the opportunity to work with the specialized students gave RST students a new perspective.
“I wanted my students to see and know these kids and get to know their personalities and realize the challenges they face everyday just coming to school,” Wright said. “I think it opened their eyes and they saw the bounds that these kids have. Everyday they would come up with a story of something that went on and how it affected the teacher and how the students would have handled it differently.”
