Springdale High School Foundation of Teaching students received feedback on their final projects from real-world education stakeholders.
Students in Wendy Eidson’s class hosted a gallery walk of their finals for district administrators, teachers and education stakeholders May 25, which included classroom concept dioramas, supporting portfolios and poster boards detailing concept specifics.
Students “populated” their diorama classrooms with students with a variety of educational needs, such as speaking English as a second language and individual educational plans.
“They were supposed to learn about how to do accommodations for students of all different levels,” Eidson said.
The potential future teachers also created daily routines, a plan for the first day of school, concepts for connecting with parents and ideas for finding out information about their “students.”
Yahilhanie Rodriguez, 16, said she learned a lot from the final project.
“We made our box to give us an idea of how we can make our classroom and certain accommodations we could do,” she said.
Rodriguez placed students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and language barriers close to her desk in her diorama so they could receive additional support.
“It gives me an idea of how I can set up my actual classroom,” she said.
Rodriguez, a sophomore, said she’s interested in becoming a teacher following high school.
Dustin Seaton, Northwest Arkansas Education Service Cooperative recruitment specialist, said he was impressed with what the students put together.
“They're answering questions that we've never talked about in education in the high school setting,” Seaton said of the IEPs and personalized learning plans. “It's important that they are looking at education holistically.”
Eidson said she invited stakeholders who’re invested in teacher recruitment to the event.
“It's important when you're looking at recruitment for teachers and future teachers that we actually start in middle school, junior high and high school, because they have so many options now in the real world,” Seaton said. “We want them to really feel empowered and championed to go into the education profession.”
