“It’s important that university students learn that they are their own best advocates. Self-advocacy is a vital skill to learn, especially on a large university campus. As students, take the time to have your questions answered, attend office hours, and reach out to faculty, TAs, and other students for support.” - Shana RiddickShana Riddick is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has a masters degree in African American and African Diaspora Studies from Indiana University and a bachelor’s degree in U.S. History from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. She is originally from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her research examines university-community partnerships and community-based educational programming.
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Connecting Placements to the Classroom with Autumn West
Autumn West is a doctoral student in the Language and Literacy Education program in the University of Illinois College of Education. She first attended the University of Illinois as an undergraduate student on the Posse Foundation Scholarship. She is a teaching assistant for both EDUC 201 and EDUC 202. She is from Chicago, Illinois and cares deeply about issues of equity and its connections with writing.
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What degree are you currently seeking and what led you to do so?What topic interests you the most in the education field?Did you have a choice for which classes you were to become a TA for?What about EDUC 201 and EDUC 202 did you find appealing?If there was one thing you wanted to make sure we understood or was clear to us, what would that be?How can we increase teacher diversity? |
What are some steps that you took or would have taken as a TA for EDUC 201?What would be your best piece of advice for incoming freshman looking to become teachers? What do you think is the biggest issue in education? How do you think it can be solved?Should teachers go back to their home communities, or should they go teach in a new place?Many students believed that the workload from the readings, weekly posts, and placements was too heavy, especially for first-year, first-semester students. What are some steps that you would have taken if you were a student in EDUC 201? |
Student Voices with Alexa Redeker
On Setting Semester Goals
At my placement, I would like to focus on being more patient with my students as well as make sure that they are improving in their reading skills. Aside from simply improving their skills, I would also like to inspire them to want to read by being more enthusiastic. It is one thing to be good at reading, and it is another thing to be good at reading and wanting to read. Students need to have a desire to read and learn otherwise they will not enjoy school, and that is what I would want for every child as a future educator.
I am setting these goals for myself because I feel that they will help me to become a better educator and person overall. I feel that by becoming more patient and enthusiastic, that I will take that into my everyday life as well as into the classroom when I have my own someday.
I am setting these goals directed at my students because I feel that it is unfair that they have fallen this far behind in their reading skills. While it is great that they are now getting the help that they need to get to the appropriate reading level, it is still sad to see how behind they are. I want to work towards making them more enthusiastic about reading as well as improve their reading skills because they deserve it.
I think that one goal that could be set for the Boys and Girls Club would be to make the club more accessible for those that do not speak English as their first language. I feel that they would have a great attendance of children and families after school if they had more staff members that could speak other languages. This would make it an even more approachable place than it already it and that would make this great organization even more marketable
I am setting these goals for myself because I feel that they will help me to become a better educator and person overall. I feel that by becoming more patient and enthusiastic, that I will take that into my everyday life as well as into the classroom when I have my own someday.
I am setting these goals directed at my students because I feel that it is unfair that they have fallen this far behind in their reading skills. While it is great that they are now getting the help that they need to get to the appropriate reading level, it is still sad to see how behind they are. I want to work towards making them more enthusiastic about reading as well as improve their reading skills because they deserve it.
I think that one goal that could be set for the Boys and Girls Club would be to make the club more accessible for those that do not speak English as their first language. I feel that they would have a great attendance of children and families after school if they had more staff members that could speak other languages. This would make it an even more approachable place than it already it and that would make this great organization even more marketable
Connecting Placements to the Classroom with Tiffany Harris
Tiffany Harris is a doctoral student in the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership studying social and cultural foundations in education and currently researches the change and continuity of Black teachers' pedagogy and activism. She is also a TA for EDUC 201 & 202 and works on campus in the Writers Workshop as a consultant. Her undergraduate degree is in History and Secondary Education from the University of West Georgia. She has also taught social studies in the Atlanta Public Schools system.
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What brought you into the field of education?My mother was a teacher in a non-formal sense and the women in my family inspired me to do it. I wanted to go into a service-oriented profession. Church members and family members were the people that I admired. I liked school and chose to make it my profession.
How is teaching at UIUC different from your previous placement?There are differences on several levels. It’s the comparison of college vs. high school, south vs. Midwest, college town vs. urban inner-city area. They’re both still public institutions. There’s a huge socioeconomic difference. The high school I worked at in Atlanta was a Title I school which means high need, mostly minority, and poverty. I came from working with 98% of color, particularly Black students and a handful of Latin@ students to a predominantly white environment. I had to learn how to do things in different settings. Some things work in some settings and not others. The culture, there in Atlanta, helped me teach because I was already familiar with it, whereas here at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign I had to learn a whole new thing.
What is the most valuable thing you have learned as a teacher?Learning is a lifelong process. Just because you are “certified” to do things does not mean you know it all. Thinking about teachers should not always be in the formal sense. Don't be afraid to be vulnerable. Be ready to share. Model the behavior you would want from your students. Be willing to make mistakes. Being willing to admit you don't know it all. Shows students that they don't have to be perfect.
What is the most valuable thing that you have learned from your students?Let me divide that between the high school students I had in Atlanta and the students I have here at U of I. With my high school students in Atlanta, I found that they often were calling out structural inequities such as asking about why they had to do certain things and frequently challenging power structures, although I did not always readily recognize it as such back then. My teacher preparation program mainly focused on teaching me how to do curriculum and lesson planning. The lesson plans you have or are provided by the district's scope and sequence may not always apply to the students. It may not be sensitive to or acknowledge the students' lived experiences. You have to listen to your students; you can't fit them in a box. Everyone’s sociocultural context differs from one another and you must be mindful of that. At UIUC, I have learned the importance of support and more so than my own teacher preparation program there is at least a willingness to talk about issues of diversity and equity. Context matters, relationality matters. I reflect on my time being a pre-service teacher when engaging with EDUC 201& 202 students and the content that I wished I had been exposed to once entering the classroom.
In what ways do you think our placements connect back to class?I definitely think that the community placements connect back to the key concepts and themes discussed in both EDUC 201 and 202 courses such as privilege, how we are socially positioned, individual interactions vs. structural level/practices, the relationship between schools and society, institutional inequities, education vs. schooling, historical marginalization, advocacy and activism, self-reflectivity, intersectionality, etc.
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What do you hope for students to gain in their community placements?I want them to get outside of the University, learn from the local community, and to acknowledge their surroundings. I want them to remember that your future students are part of the community. If you can’t acknowledge that you won’t be able to really understand them. You need a holistic view instead of the tunnel vision people are oftentimes socialized to focus on. EDUC 201 & 202 students should learn how to tap into the resources of the community and think about what are they doing and how they reach the students in the community, who are the stakeholders, what resources are available such as people, materials, even people's experiences can be a resource. Figure out how to navigate the community. Think about the different aspects of teaching aside from the classroom teaching. Take in the experiences and understand them to the best of your ability. Take ahold of all opportunities because you need to build these skills and creativity you might need someday.
What do you think is the biggest issue in education? How do you think it can be solved?Distinguishing between education vs. schooling. Not education reform but instead schooling reform. Learning how to teach and connect with students. Using practices that are meaningful for the student. Neoliberalism is the context education has been under since the 1980s which emphasizes the importance of individualism. Ignoring structure and the history of what happened in the past. We need more teachers of color and other traditionally marginalized backgrounds to be more representative of the overwhelming diverse student population. The field of education is being de-professionalized. There needs to be more time to prepare teachers so that there can be better retention. We need to deconstruct why teaching is considered to be a profession primarily for women. Also, we need to find better disciplinary actions e.g. restorative justice practices rather than punitive practices such as zero tolerance policies that contribute to the school to prison pipeline.
What are some tips you can give to the incoming freshmen about EDUC 201 and 202 to handle the workload?My advice to incoming freshmen enrolling in the EDUC 201 and 202 courses is to be open minded about learning from others (classmates, TAs, professor, community placement site, guest speakers, etc) and new expereinces. Learning is not always an easy or a comfortable process, but knowledge that you will gain will be beneficial for your career and as a life long learner.
What do you think are some advantages of the community placements? What are some disadvantages?There are a number of advantages that come along with the community placements. In retrospect, I wish that an opportunity to engage in a community placement during my own teacher preparation program. The community placement provides students with a firsthand, hands-on experience of interacting people and programming in the local Champaign Urbana area. It is important to participate in life outside of the university setting and campus context for a better understanding of what the theoretical concepts discussed during class look like in actual practice in different spaces. As future teachers, EDUC 201 and 202 students will wear multiple hats that are not always directly related to classroom practices. In other words, every community placement interaction becomes a learning experience. Obviously, there were some issues with the community placement process during Fall 2015 since it was the pilot semester.
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Advice on Managing the Student Load
From Former EDUC 201 Students
Find Your Study Spot
Stay Organized and On a Schedule
Communication
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How to Read
Community Placements
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Tips for Navigating the Bus System
Google Maps Schedule Explorer
Bus Schedules
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Using Your I-Card
Best Bus Apps
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Other Tips
- Plan ahead! Always arrive to the bus stop at least two minutes before the expected bus time, because you never know if there’s a glitch in the system.
- The earlier you figure out the bus system, the better. Honestly, in the beginning of the year, I just jumped on a bus, followed it with my GPS, and figured out where it went. You want to know what to do if you ever oversleep or get lost before these situations.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Most bus drivers seem like they’re in a rush, but don’t be intimidated. They’re there to help you! Also, feel free to ask other students. I actually made a friend by doing this! Anything is possible.
EDUC 201 Placements
Campus Bike Center (On Campus)LGBT Resource Center (On Campus)Engineers Without Borders (On Campus)The UP Center (Uniting Pride) (Off Campus)Urbana Park District (Off Campus)Developmental Services Center (Off Campus)Tap In Leadership Academy (Off Campus)Eastern Illinois Foodbank (Off Campus)Urbana Adult Education Center (Off Campus)Pavilion Foundation School (Off Campus)Illinois Safe School Alliance (Off Campus) |
CU Immigration Forum (Off Campus)Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club (Off Campus)SOAR (Off Campus)Special Olympics (Off Campus)CU Schools Foundation (Off Campus)East Central Illinois Mutual Assistance Center
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