Journal of the Effective Schools Project, Volume 6, 2000 Page: 46
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hensive about working with young
children, but that the lab experience
showed him he had "a talent for it".
Other students reflected on their ex-
periences working with a diverse
group of young children who were
struggling with academic learning.
Students wrote such things as "I
learned a lot about kids and how their
home life affects their learning."; "I
learned that one lesson must be
"tweaked" to accommodate the needs
of a diverse group of learners."; "Be-
cause we had the same group of kids
each week, we developed a relation-
ship with them, we learned how to
adapt our lessons to their learning
strengths."
In addition, the students reflected on
the importance of professional col-
laboration. Many discussed the ben-
efits of having a partner to help de-
sign the lessons. Many indicated the
importance of having someone to
"bounce ideas off of'. Examples from
their journals included : "I had a very
creative partner who helped me think
in different ways."; "We had a lot of
fun working on the lessons together."
Students also had suggestions for im-
proving the structure and schedule of
the lab experience. They mostly talked
about disciplinary issues. For ex-
ample, one student reported that the
lab rules were hard to enforce because
neither principal nor a faculty were
available to assist them. Others felt
that the "rowdy", non-compliant kids
should be excluded from the lab.
Many also felt that the time should be
shortened.
Concluding Remarks
The 5 O'Clock Club represents a col-
laborative effort between Tarleton
State University and the public
schools. The focus of the club is tohelp train effective teachers through
direct contact with children. It pro-
vides a link between theory and prac-
tice by allowing preservice teachers
the opportunity to practice the skills
they are learning in their professional
development classes. As demon-
strated by student's comments, the
Club experience facilitates an under-
standing of the connection between
what a teacher wants students to learn
and the student's learning or peda-
gogy. Teacher education students
seem to come away from the experi-
ence with the knowledge that effec-
tive teaching is more than just trans-
mitting knowledge, i.e., that telling is
not teaching. Rather, they begin to see
that effective instruction demands the
use of many strategies.
In addition, PDII students begin to
understand the nature of diversity.
Their journals and papers reflect a tol-
erance for students with different
learning styles, strengths and weak-
nesses. This sensitivity to and appre-
ciation of diverse learning styles and
needs is the focus of the PDII course
content as well as being reflected in
both the ExCET competencies and
Learner Centered Proficiencies that
are the basis of all teacher prepara-
tion programs in Texas.
Overall the partnership between Tar-
leton and Central Elementary demon-
strates an essential element of the Ef-
fective Schools Project's philosophy.
It is a reciprocal program which im-
proves the learning of children, in-
volves communication between uni-
versity and public school faculties,
and facilitates the knowledge of prac-
ticing and future teachers. Student
journals unanimously support the con-
tinuation of this collaborative. Even
those students, who have criticisms
and suggestions for improvement,
agree that the experience was a posi-
tive one for themselves and the par-
ticipating youngsters. ESPTeacher education
students seem to
come away from the
experience with the
knowledge that
effective teaching is
more than just
transmitting
knowledge, i.e.,
that telling is not
teaching. Rather,
they begin to see that
effective instruction
demands the use of
many strategies.46
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Tarleton State University. Effective Schools Project. Journal of the Effective Schools Project, Volume 6, 2000, periodical, 2000; Stephenville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth201683/m1/47/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Tarleton State University.