2008 Woodie Awards
Student teacher finds "real world" early
Ashley Whittemore '08
Issue date: 5/10/08 Section: Features
It is 6:30 on a Monday night as Allison Serafin's 12-hour day comes to a close. The Saint Joseph's senior tosses her black shoulder bag filled with elementary math and English textbooks and a few binders on the living room floor and kicks off her stylish flats. She looks like a professional working woman who is conquering the "real world"-even though she is still a student herself.
Serafin, an elementary and special education major, has spent the last four months teaching fourth grade students at Overbrook Elementary School in West Philadelphia.
All senior education majors are required to complete a semester student teaching at a local elementary or high school. During this time, they no longer take morning classes, afternoon naps, or eat Hawk wraps in the cafeteria. Instead, they make lesson plans, teach children science and long division, grade papers, and eat brownbag lunches from home. On top of that, they attend two weekly night classes.
Every week, Serafin helps manage a crowded classroom of 30 students alongside a cooperating teacher, who is the usual instructor of the class. The two teachers work in unison to provide a quality education for the children, even when the school's resourses are lacking.
At Overbrook Elementary School, there are no school busses or a gymnasium. The cafeteria is housed in the basement, and there is only one bathroom per sex for the almost 400 students in the school.
Emerging from the top of the staircase in her house, Serafin has traded her professional black pants and cotton sweater for oversized sweats and a neon pink St. Joe's sweatshirt. Her chestnut hair falls loosely around her face, which she nestles behind her pierced ears as she plops onto a large floral couch.
"I think education majors get a bad rap," she says, shifting to a more comfortable position on the couch. "[People think] it's not a 'real' major."
Yet, Serafin fully understands just how "real" her major can be. Nine-year-old students curse at her when they do not want to follow instructions. She hears stories of students who go home to empty houses each day because their parents work night shifts.
Serafin, an elementary and special education major, has spent the last four months teaching fourth grade students at Overbrook Elementary School in West Philadelphia.
All senior education majors are required to complete a semester student teaching at a local elementary or high school. During this time, they no longer take morning classes, afternoon naps, or eat Hawk wraps in the cafeteria. Instead, they make lesson plans, teach children science and long division, grade papers, and eat brownbag lunches from home. On top of that, they attend two weekly night classes.
Every week, Serafin helps manage a crowded classroom of 30 students alongside a cooperating teacher, who is the usual instructor of the class. The two teachers work in unison to provide a quality education for the children, even when the school's resourses are lacking.
At Overbrook Elementary School, there are no school busses or a gymnasium. The cafeteria is housed in the basement, and there is only one bathroom per sex for the almost 400 students in the school.
Emerging from the top of the staircase in her house, Serafin has traded her professional black pants and cotton sweater for oversized sweats and a neon pink St. Joe's sweatshirt. Her chestnut hair falls loosely around her face, which she nestles behind her pierced ears as she plops onto a large floral couch.
"I think education majors get a bad rap," she says, shifting to a more comfortable position on the couch. "[People think] it's not a 'real' major."
Yet, Serafin fully understands just how "real" her major can be. Nine-year-old students curse at her when they do not want to follow instructions. She hears stories of students who go home to empty houses each day because their parents work night shifts.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
margaret a. marasco
posted 7/13/08 @ 9:02 PM EST
dear serifin,
congratulations. i would like to do the same thing with my english literature major.
you'll be my idol in this.
god bless you
peggy
MARGARET A. MARASCO
posted 7/13/08 @ 9:07 PM EST
dear sarifin,
congratulations. this is what i'd like to do with my english lit major.
you'll be my idol, till then.
god bless,
peggy
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