Future English teachers

2015 English Teacher Candidates
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I finished up my Teaching Writing class this past Tuesday with the teacher candidates presenting a  series of writing workshops. Naturally, we took a class picture and I snapped a couple of candids. And so off they go. Some will student teach, others will continue with classes until their student teaching in the fall of next year. Each of these folks--Levi, Matt, Maddy, Darryl, Danielle, Emily, Chris, and Amanda--will find a school and a classroom to call home over the next few years. Some may choose other careers, like Levi who's eyeing graduate work in student affairs, but a background in teaching will never hurt no matter where they end up. I still struggle to believe that we teach people to become teachers by keeping them tied to a university classroom as students. I think each public school should be required to mentor teacher candidates and that each teacher in the school should play a role. That kind of work for practicing teachers could be tied to their graduate work. But this work at the university level I'll leave to new professors. For now, I'll simply wish these young people all the best and godspeed.

Are you really taking our photo?