Morehead State University - Raconteur Yearbook (Morehead, KY)

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MSU graduate, Kelli Abner Barhorst, finished the Kentucky Beginning Teacher Internship Program last year. It helps you be a better teacher because it makes you more aware of the guidelines, especially if you are observed, she said. PHOTO BY: Kevin L. Goldy ttI cantt ima ine being a first time teacher and not having someone to as questions to or someone there to help with my problems? said Barhorst. The observation committee is there not only to pass or fail the intern. They offer advice and suggestions to the problems the intern has throughout the year. Many interns have developed a lasting, ersonal relationship with their resource teachers, as we 1 as the other committee members. ttIt really helps? Barhorst said, uin that they have been through every situation and they know what works? Although Barhorst suggests that the program is going a little overboard by being very strict on awarding certifi- cates, she said that it is a good program and is glad she participated in it. ttMy success, if I am successful, should be credited to the people in the department, said Barhorst. She added, ttYou are not only a teacher but you are a coun- selor, a nurse, at mommg and sometimes a daddy. The books cant help you deal wit that, but having someone to talk to canf Teacher Inter 9

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hands f0? beginning LbQChofs BY: Cindy Cinter and Tresa Roberts The Kentucky Beginning Teacher Internship Program is set up to evaluate teachers during their first year in a class room situation. The main goal of the program is to increase the likelihood that new teachers will experience success during their hrst year of teaching. iiThis programf, said Dr. George E. Troutt, coordinator of Regional Staff Development, is not to get rid of a teacher, but to assist him or her in any way to enhance their teaching techniques? The program also provides certification for the teacher through the evaluations of the observation team. The observation team is made up of a committee ofthree geople, the school principal, a resource teacher ta teacher om the schooD, and a university administrator or faculty member from the education department. Each team mem- ber does three observations throughout the school year. From these observations the committee decides either to recommend certification, set up a probationary period tfor those who score below averagel, or fail the teacher com- pletely. If failure occurs you cannot become a teacher in Kentucky. But, on the other hand, passing does not mean that the teacher is insured a job, because, like any field, 0 1n the future thiadtild, who is in Baxlwrsts First gracle Class tat Morehead I Grade School, will benefit from having more teachers who have taught under the guidance of professionals. The observation committee advises the teache ers in teaching techniques and how t0 deal with all classroom groblems that there has to be a job available. The system, which the Kentucky program adopted, origi- nated in F lorida. The F lorida Performance Measurement System is a research-based s stem of observation and evalu- ation designed to identify e ective and ineffective teaching behaviors. The observation team itself goes through extensive three- day training periods. They take tests which are sent to Florida and graded. Their scoring must be consistent. It is possible for these committee members to fail. Currently there are a proximately 1,300 interns en- rolled in this state funde program this semester and it is anticipated there will be 2,000 by the end of the year. Dr. Toutt and Mary Rudy, Program Manager of the Kentucky Beginnin Teacher Internship, work closely with the state, training t e teachers, scheduling them, and keeping close, updated records on every intern that is sent out. Kelli Abner Barhorst, a graduate of MSU, finished the internship pro ram last year. She said the program gave her guidelines to ollow that make her aware of the questions she asks, the rules she makes, and the types of discipline she uses. iiIt tthe programl helps you be a better teacher be- cause it makes you more aware of the guidelines, especially when you are observed, said Barhorst. g ,

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. muvw't'kl .. wau-A- .M-A un-V' 0M. w Students set up their own tents on the trip and learned various survival tactics Billy V. Hall 11, a senior from May King, is camouflaged for oper- ations. PHOTO BY? Jej? Colquhaun Juniors and seniors returned from their trip to Blackhawk helicopters from Fort Rucker, Ala- bama. MSU students were able to take rides in the hehcopters while they were on campus. PHOTO BY; Kevin Cockrell