March 2013 Dear ED 201 StudentI know how you are feeling right at this moment.

You are wondering how you are going to teach lessons and make time for a field placement while working, taking a full load of credits, and being involved in events/groups on campus. Well, it is not going to be easy, but what you are about to experience is going to make you the most effective teacher out there. There are many steps involved in teaching and learning about the standards, but that is how you should look at what is ahead. You are taking steps to becoming an effective teacher, you are not going to dive in all at once and you are definitely not alone. Alverno does a great job of guiding you through these steps. You are not expected to walk into your first field and teach a 90-minute block full of 36 students. You will build up to that. Each field placement and course builds on the previous. After each lesson you teach you will have the opportunity to evaluate your work and self-assess. The self-assessments will give you an opportunity to reflect on the Wisconsin Teaching Standards for Teacher Licensure and Development and the Alverno Education Abilities. Understanding the standards is another step that will help you towards becoming an effective teacher. Be sure to take the time to assess yourself and apply to your next lesson. You will only improve if you apply the standards and teacher feedback. I know, there are a lot of standards, 15 to be exact, and it may seem overwhelming to self-assess in 15 areas, but they dont have to be done all at once. Each new lesson, literacy plan, paper, and assessment provides you with the opportunity to focus on the abilities. Each education course will help you hone in on certain standards. In ED 201 you are beginning to realize your style of teaching and If you have what it takes. ED 215 you will focus on lesson planning and growing into your strengths as a teacher. ED 321 you will focus on student behavior and creating cohesive units. ED 315 will focus on assessment and preparing for student teaching. Dont forget about exceptional learners and supplemental literacy classes. Each of these courses will add to your knowledge. Nothing you do in any of your classes

or in your fields is useless and nothing you do is going to be perfect. You are not always going to teach the best lesson and things arent always going to go as planned, but the goal is to grow from it and take another step up. It is a lot to think about, but eventually it will become an integrated part of who you are as a teacher. You wont sit around and wonder if you are using all modes of communication or using differentiated instruction, it will just happen. You will automatically address the standards because they become part of the Alverno trained teacher you are becoming. Before you know it you will be doing your portfolio trying to decide which standard to address because youve addressed each standard over and over. Good luck! Stay positive, take it step by step, and dont give up. Those long nights will be worth it in the end. Sarah Ward Secondary Education/History Alverno Class of 2013