Many students thoroughly enjoyed the breaks from school due to inclement weather, but some student teachers are having a difficult time getting caught up in their classrooms. Due to ice, snow, hazardous road conditions and long commutes, many of the student teachers spent several days away from their students, causing them to get behind in their lesson plans and observations. Adam Baker, the director of middle childhood education and assistant professor of education, said that missing so many days in a row should minimally impact student teachers’ lesson plans. “The student teachers will have to review a bit before continuing new material, however teachers have to have an ability to be flexible in their lessons and in their teaching,” Baker said. “The snow days will make student teachers evaluate what material they need to spend less time on and what is most important.” According to the college of education, the ice and snow days that have taken the student teachers out of school will not affect their graduations this May. However, if their schools decide to make up any of those days during their spring break, the student teachers will be required to stay and fulfill their duties. Senior elementary education major Krisann Rhodes is student teaching in Judsonia at White County Elementary School in the kindergarten class. Rhodes missed four days of teaching because of the weather.
“It is recommended that interns complete two weeks of full-time teaching in each placement,” Rhodes said. “I no longer have the opportunity to do this in my kindergarten placement. However, I have rearranged my schedule in order to gain as much teaching experience as possible with the time I have left.”
All of the school districts recover the lost days differently. For example, White County Central School District has opted to extend their school year by adding four days of school in May. Several schools have also decided to solve this problem by having “cyber days” instead of complete “snow days,” allowing students to make up their classwork online. Student teachers are required to be at school every day it is in session up until May 6. Senior vocal music education major Matthew Eller is student teaching in Cabot at Central Elementary school and Stagecoach Elementary school. Eller teaches music to grades K–4 and missed six days of teaching due to inclement weather. “I enjoyed the first two days off school because it gave me some time to catch up on sleep, but after that, I started to get cabin fever,” Eller said. “By the time I finally got to go back, I was very excited.”
Baker said that the student teachers missing these days in the classroom may seem overwhelming now, but is irrelevant in the long run.
“Our student teachers are open-minded, resilient and ready for the classroom in most cases,” Baker said.”It’s just another day at the office, with a little extra work piled up, that they will meet with a determined spirit and well-planned lessons.”
