By Kelsey Kendall
Over the last several weeks, Sarah Oliver has received hands-on experience in front of a classroom through the Darden College of Education and Professional Studies’ Teacher in Residence program. Now, she is set to graduate in May with a degree in elementary education.
The Hampton native came to in Fall 2021 after earning an associate at Virginia Peninsula Community College. Most of her experience at the University has been within Darden College, preparing for a career in teaching young students.
Oliver said each class she took leading up to her student teaching experience taught her invaluable information that will help her in her future classroom – which she already knows will be decorated with bees.
The most impactful experience was the Teacher in Residence program, she said.
The cohort of fellow student teachers, a University supervisor who assists the student teachers outside of the classroom and classroom coaches provided advice and help where Oliver needed it. Overall, Oliver feels ready for her first teaching job.
“That’s the best part of the program for me – all the support,” Oliver said.
Oliver, an elementary education major, is currently a resident teacher at Hunter B. Andrews PreK-8 School in Hampton teaching third grade, and she will be there until school lets out for the summer.
Throughout the semester, Oliver watched her coach, the teacher she was paired with, lead classroom instruction before slowly starting to get more involved. She would step in to help with a lesson here and there. By week five, Oliver was the main teacher in the classroom leading all the lessons with guidance from her support system.
“It was scary at first, but it was so worth it,” Oliver said. “Because I have learned so, so much, and I gained a lot of confidence in my ability to actually be a teacher.”
She will walk away at the end of the year with practical experience in classroom management and teaching strategies. She knows how she wants to make her lessons fun and engaging, so Oliver likes to throw jokes in while teaching. She learned that from her coach. It helps capture the third graders’ attention and build a relationship with them, Oliver said.
Everything she learned will help her as she gets ready to step in front of her own class for the first time. The University supervisor let the group “go shopping” for classroom supplies to help get their classrooms started. Oliver grabbed books for varying reading levels, counters and dice for math lessons, crayons and stickers.
Oliver will start at Bassette Elementary School in Hampton next year. Whether she will teach third or fourth grade is still undecided, but she is excited for either.
“Sarah is a very hard worker, very dedicated and focused, driven,” said La-Neka Brown, director of the Teacher in Residence program. “What I really appreciate about her, and I would say will make her an excellent educator, is she knows how to buckle down and get it done.”
Brown said Oliver piloted the program in Hampton. As the “lone soldier” on the Peninsula, Brown said it would have been easy for Oliver to end up isolated and feeling like she was in it all alone. That was not what happened, though. Brown was impressed by the way Oliver reached out to the other student teachers and the University supervisor for help when she needed it.
“I think that comes from a place of strength and confidence that she knows what she knows,” Brown said. “What she doesn’t know, she’s willing to learn from her colleagues.”
This was the ninth year of Darden College’s Teacher in Residence program and there have been multiple changes throughout the years. This year was the first time the student teachers were paid and there were changes to how long the program lasted. The cohort of six student teachers – five in Norfolk schools and Oliver in Hampton – entered their classrooms in January and will remain there until the end of the K-12 school year.
This provides new opportunities for the cohort to experience the end of the school year, which includes state testing and getting ready for the fall. They will learn how teachers pass on information for students with specialized learning plans and close their classroom for summer break.
An extended paid research residency for undergraduate education majors provides new opportunities for teacher residents to experience what it is like to work for their host districts. They learn the culture and climate of not only their host school but the hiring district. This makes the transition into being a classroom teacher easier, because they have a network of people from their residency experience who will support them as a new teacher.
Brown said there are plans to expand the program so more students in undergraduate teacher licensure programs can get financial support and residency experience.