Pre-Service Seminar prepares Alcorn student teachers for success

Pre-Service Seminar prepares Alcorn student teachers for success

A generation of youth will soon get the chance to be educated by some of Alcorn State University’s best upcoming teachers.

Alcorn students who are preparing to step into the field of education endured a week long Pre-Service Seminar, a program where six pre-service student teachers were exposed to various teaching tasks, legal issues in education, professional knowledge and professional practices in the field of elementary and secondary education. The seminar was held in the Walter Washington Administration Building.

Senior and elementary education major Tischonia Hawkins’ urge to put her teaching skills to the test has stuck with her during her time at Alcorn. Now that she has the opportunity to go from student to teacher, she can’t wait to display what she has learned.

“I’m excited to get hands on experience,” said Hawkins. “It’s been four years of sitting in a classroom and learning about teaching. Now it’s time to get out there and apply everything that I was taught.”

Thomas Mayfield, a senior and social science education major, thinks the experience will help him to perfect his craft as an educator.

“I believe that being in charge of a classroom will help better my skills as a teacher,” said Mayfield.

LaShundia Carson, who is the interim director of Student Teaching and Field Experience in the Department of Education and Psychology, is confident in the student teachers’ ability to represent Alcorn in their field. She gave Alcorn’s faculty credit for instilling knowledge in the students that will help them along the way.

“The faculty here at Alcorn has equipped the pre-service teachers with the mandatory educational tools that are important for their entry into the profession,” said Carson. “The pre-service teachers will leave the seminar with practical and inspired ideas that will lead them throughout their internship and future teaching careers.”