By Risa Askerooth

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Starting on March 31 and continuing biweekly for six weeks, the Explorations in Education and Early Childhood Education class has been visiting Mililani Waena Elementary as part of the Mililani High School Pre- Service Teacher Experience. By observing and interacting with elementary school students and writing reflections, this program gives students a taste of being at the head of the classroom.

“I like seeing what it would be like if I were a teacher and kind of getting experience before I even like go to college for it. And the kids are really cute too,” stated Junior Caroline Kelley.

Depending on the nature of the lesson, the 23 students part of the program will either work directly with elementary school students to complete an assignment or activity or observe. “So if the teacher’s in the front lecturing or whatever, my students usually just observe. But then if the kids are doing some kind of assignment, like math, for instance, then the kids will actually go out and answer questions and help them fill it out,” said Explorations in Education and Early Childhood Education teacher Karla Deguchi. “This gives them an opportunity to actually see what kinds of things the kids are doing, what they’re capable of, and it gives them that chance to work with them.”

In second and third quarter, the students created lesson plans relevant to elementary-aged children and presented them to each other. After watching teachers’ lessons in the classroom through their visits during fourth period, students write reflections at the end of each week in order to better understand the process. “We do teach lesson plans to each other so in class we’ll come up with something we’ll prepare to teach to our kindergarten class or fourth grade class,” recalled Senior Alexis Peru.

This is the second year of the program, which started when Deguchi contacted Mililani Waena Principal Dale Castro about possibly providing a new experience for her students. Deguchi stated, “They’re super supportive about it. The teachers we worked with last year were really great about getting our kids to do stuff and be hands-on with it.” Both Castro and Student Services Coordinator Laurie Uyeno from Mililani Waena were central in organizing and coordinating this initiative.

The valuable lessons and experiences of this course has even altered the career paths of some students. “At first it was just a fun elective but after taking this class for three years it kind of has sparked an interest in me wanting to become a teacher someday,” said Peru. Kelley added, “In the beginning of the school year I didn’t really want to be a teacher all that much, but since we’ve been doing these observations and doing lesson plans, it’s made me excited and I really want to be a teacher.”

If she has the chance, Deguchi hopes to make the program last even longer in order to give her students more exposure to teaching.