Local H.S. students test drive teaching third graders

MEDFORD, Ore. — Teachers are hitting the classroom to shape the minds of tomorrow, but these teachers are young minds themselves.

Medford elementary school students at Griffin Creek and Jefferson had some new faces standing in front of them Thursday morning. A class of South Medford High School students has been preparing all school year for their 30 minute lesson plans.

“I’ve always wanted to be a teacher since I was in kindergarten, so I really wanted to jump into the opportunity of teaching,” Bella Katz, junior at South Medford H.S., said.

After fourteen weeks of perfecting their lesson plans, Bella and other Pathways to Pre-Education students at South Medford High School were able to put their knowledge to the test.

Third grade teacher Shelby Moffitt says her students have been eager for the visitors.

“They were so excited. I talked to them yesterday and I said, ‘We get to have these teachers. They come from the high school’ and the kids were ‘Are, are they high schoolers?’ and I said ‘Yes. They want to be teachers and they get to practice with you,'” Moffitt said.

Each group planned a literature study with an art project.

“I’m reading ‘Mr. Brown Can Moo Can You?’ by Dr. Seuss and then we’re going to connect that by doing an art project about making animals from the sounds in the book,” Katz said.

“We’ve got to have good teachers in the future. They are the foundation for every profession,” Sherri Smith, South Medford High School teacher, said.

Smith teaches the young teachers-in-training. It gives students like Bella, a chance to try out the vital profession.

“To understand the different types of students, so then when I go out in the real world I can make sure to teach them all the right way,” Katz said.

“We’ve had some kids that come in and go, ‘Oh my word, I cannot do this. This is not my thing’ and some go ‘This is my jam. This is what I want to do,'” Moffitt said.

And if you ask Smith, it doesn’t take long to spot the ones who have what it takes.

“I can’t teach intuition. They come wired with it and there’s a bunch of them that are just wired with it,” Smith said.

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