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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1974)
0 I j ivppvi w John Eisenach and friends at Belmont Elementary School. What used to happen when a senior in Teachers College finally got into tne classroom as a student teacher? Too often he found he didn't really want to be a teacher it just wasn't for him. To change to some other field of study at that late date was difficult, if not impossible, for many unhappy student teachers added. A participant in Pre-step, junior John Eisenach, said his two half-days spent each week with primary students at Belmont School have been well worth his while. "It's really good being with the kids. I hadn't been with them since I was a kid myself," he said. Programs were needed thAt'Xta(k--rim UN Lfart terpantHn ' Prepr"' undergraduate urvL students into tne aat&mimowlMraia newtrw" aDte-tcr-piace" sooner to find out if teaching was realty the career they wanted. Ten years ago such programs didn't exist. Now they do. One such program at UNL, Pre-Student Teaching Experience Program (Pre-step), enables elementary education majors who are sophomores or juniors to get into an elementary school and meet the little monsters. Dr. James May, director of Pre-step and associate professor of elementary education, explains that participants get "pre-orientation and experience to student teaching. It's amazing how well it works." The experience students get makes their later education courses more meaningful, he five times that many students without any difficulty. One hour of credit is given for participation in the program. No preparation or tests are involved, and students can take the course for a grade or passfail. May said the success of the program is illustrated by some who finish one term of Pre-step then want to go back to visit the school for the fun of it. Other programs of the same type exist in secondary education and in educational psychology. Eisenach, nearly suffocating from kids at Belmont climbing over him, said, "Some of these kids really need help. But it is fun." Photos and Story by David Rees J 1 1 lis . t .... ? ' ft, J f S i J 1 1 ' L thursday, february 21, 1974 daily nebraskan if - . - , - i I page 7