Teacher-to-be teaches lessons

In life some feel that personal knowledge is best used when shared with others. That is the mentality of the graduate major in education, which is one of the largest masters programs at GCSU. Master of Arts in Teaching student Jessica Broadnax entered into the intensive year-long program earlier this fall and will graduate in May certified to teach secondary math education.

Broadnax graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics last May and chose to remain on campus because of the healthy reputation GCSU’s program has.“The M.A.T. program here is renowned across the state,” Broadnax said. “I had already built up my profession with a mentor and community of support in the city.”

While most M.A.T. programs occur over two years of separate field and classroom work, the teaching program is a one-year program where students both learn and practice aspects of becoming professional educators.

GCSU M.A.T. students research in school, while also going into schools throughout Baldwin, Jones and Putnam counties. The GCSU program places its M.A.T. students in environments that allow them to take on the mindset of an educator while also relating and catering to the mind of a student.

“It means teaching the whole child and being an active part of the education community within the school you work in,” Broadnax said.

Another advantage to GCSU’s M.A.T. program is the variety of educational environments students are exposed to.

Broadnax has worked in the Georgia College Early College, Baldwin County schools and Jones County schools, which are all very different from each other. By the end of this semester Broadnax will have already spent 900 hours in the classroom.

A third advantage that the GCSU M.A.T. program offers is realistic preparation for job hunting.

“(The program) prepares you to be a teacher and get a job,” Broadnax said. “We have mock interviews with principals, are trained on what to look at when searching for a job and how to create standards for what we want in a school.”

Broadnax will submit a Georgia Systemic Teacher Education Program (GSTEP) portfolio in April, which showcases narratives, articles, pictures and lesson plans. This portfolio will fulfill the final requirement of the M.A.T. program.

After graduation, Broadnax desires to get a job teaching high school math and wants to remain active in the education community.

Posted by Emily McCurley on Dec 2 2010. Filed under Close Up, Other. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.