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Each weekday morning, Ole Miss senior Logan Dodson is here outside Ms. Mann's room at
Oxford High School.
The Education major is part of a pilot program for student teachers in mathematics which
places the 4th year teacher candidates in the classroom well before their college classes
begin.
Normally if you a student teacher you're just in and out you know observing or whatever,
not actually in the classroom teaching uh you build a lot better relationships with
these kids and they're you know they're expecting you to be there for their first through third
periods uh expecting you to come in contact you know ready to answer questions for them
um you know I mean I all ready know right now all ready in the six weeks I've been building
relationships with these kids and they're actually you know getting something out of
it and even the averages are higher in the first through third periods when I'm there
so which is definitely encouraging.
Being here at the beginning, establishing those relationships it's just made such an
easy transition into the teaching role in the classroom I think that's been the biggest
difference that I've seen.
In addition to the students beginning before classes start at Ole Miss, they complete more
than six times the hours of experience in the fall than is required by the School of
Education. From 40 to 270.
When you see these students, you realize this is someone who's dedicated this year to be
the best teacher they could possibly be no matter what it was going to cost them in respect
to time and being with their friends.
Results so far show the pilot program is on the way to receiving a high score,
I can tell a difference in my afternoon classes when he's not here um cos it is harder. It's
harder when there's one of you and you're trying to reach all twenty-seven and um they're
on so many different levels.
And maybe most importantly Dodson says he feels treated like a peer by the high school
teachers
The first couple of weeks we had to be here all day instead of leaving at eleven or 10:30
when everybody leaves um at the end of third period so that was cool we got to interact
with them professional development days that really helped out a lot we did a lot of group
work as teachers so they kind of just threw you right in you know as a teacher so definitely
up here you know um they all just you know respect you and stuff and look at you as a
teacher cos you basically are just for those two or three periods a day.
The goal would be for people to realize that if you get an Ole Miss first year teacher
you have someone who has more experience than any other first year teacher in fact probably
has more experience than a second or third year teacher.