Walerius gains valuable experience toward goal of becoming a teacher

EDITOR'S NOTE: Katie Walerius enrolled in the "On the job Training" class offered at Minneota High School during the second semester of her senior year. This class is there to help students gain experience in their area of study before going into field work. When Walerius graduates from college she wants to become an elementary teacher. With shortages of teachers across the country, as noted in a recent Mascot article, Walerius is encouraging others to follow her path.

Being in the classroom is a great time to get a feel of what being in my own classroom may be like. I am able to work both in groups and individually with the students. I am able to see how I do in those circumstances.
Through this course, I have even gained more confidence while helping the students.
I am in Miss Gades' classroom. I enjoy being in her classroom because she is also my speech coach. Since I already know her, I am not as nervous or worried about doing things.
One of my responsibilities almost every day is watching over the kids while they do their word work pages. I watch over them and make sure they are doing them correctly. I also check their work when they are done to make sure they did everything the right way. I also do smaller jobs here and there. I sharpen pencils, hand out papers, walk the kids to music, and read with the kids.
My favorite is when I lead the spelling and sight word practice.
I strongly recommend taking (this course). Through this class I have been able to see up close what teaching an elementary class is like. I have been able to see things that I had never taken into account. For me, this class solidified my career path. For others, it may show them that they do not want a specific career path they had previously thought.
For these reasons, I would suggest taking this course.
Miss Gades is great at answering my questions, giving me tasks, and showing me the ropes. She makes sure I understand why she is doing certain things. I am very pleased with my experience in this course and classroom.