Next year, students will have the opportunity to teach through a new teacher internship program at Morton East.

The teaching internship is a yearlong, double-period course covering first and second periods. Students enrolled in this course have already taken prerequisite classes prior to joining the teaching internship. The internship is available to juniors and seniors if they meet the prerequisites. The prerequisites require students to have completed or taken the Parenting and Teaching Methods II course before they are eligible for the teaching internship.

Loukia Matrodimos is the new program coordinator. She was kind enough to answer some questions:

Q: Did students suggest this program, or is it being offered as an elective to see how many students would be interested in it?

A: “This is a course like any other course in our course catalog that was approved by the Board of Education. Next year will be the first year we have adequate enrollment to run the course. Students will spend two to three days a week in a teacher’s classroom, either at an elementary or high school, learning how to be a teacher.”

Q: What qualities should a student have to be an effective teacher?

A: “There are a number of qualities that make an effective teacher, including strong content knowledge, classroom management, good instruction, empathy, caring, kindness, and passion—just to name a few.”

Q: Do students get college credit?

A: “At the moment, this is not a dual-credit course.”

Here’s a quote from a student currently in Teaching Methods:

“When students are given the opportunity to teach in the class, it becomes the make-or-break moment when they realize if teaching is truly their calling or if childcare is more suited for them. It opens a student’s eyes to the reality of teaching. I believe students can be very effective teachers, as they have more experience with a modern classroom, giving them more ways to connect with their students than teachers with more years on the job. I believe the teaching internship will inspire more students, as it rewards them for taking the teaching class and gives them the opportunity to see if teaching is their calling before college, which is more costly,” said Junior Esteban Salazar

But, teaching isn’t for everybody.  It takes grit; it’s not for everybody as another student notes.  

“One aspect of teaching I find unappealing is the lack of respect society has for teachers. One experience I had was seeing how middle school teachers were disrespected by my classmates. One essential quality a teacher must have is patience, which I would run out of quickly. The teacher told a student to hand over their phone, but they responded, ‘I wasn’t even doing anything,’ even though they had been told multiple times and continued to ignore the teacher. It’s small experiences like this that I’ve seen happen to teachers. I don’t want to say I’m intellectual, but in ‘easier’ classes—which I’m not in—I’ve noticed it happens more often. Also, considering the low salary, I’d rather not,” said Junior Jorge Luna

This provides a brief summary of the opportunity that students will have next year.