Alumna Says Otterbein Prepared Her for Teaching
Alexandra Tubaugh
Department: Education
Class: 2010
Otterbein University understands how hard it is to find a job in the struggling United States economy. That is why the institution places such high value on practical, hands-on experience, which supplements course knowledge and encourages its students to seek paraprofessional opportunities.
Otterbein’s Department of Education allows students to engage in these experiences beginning with their first education course. Alexandra said her experiences as an education major at Otterbein truly prepared her for her job as a Title 1 Reading teacher.
"Education professors Carrie Schekelhoff, assistant professor, and Arleen Stuck, part-time faculty, gave me the tools I needed to be a great reading teacher," she said. "I needed to know how to use student data to teach, and I feel that my reading teachers taught me a lot in that aspect."
Alexandra also said that her student teaching experience, with a suburban school kindergarten teacher, was one of the most beneficial.
"I feel like student teaching is really where you learn how to teach, what to teach, and how to be flexible," she said. "I am so thankful that I had an amazing teacher to guide me through it. She incorporated many movement and hands-on activities that I now use in my own classroom."
Alexandra said she has faced challenges in her job, such as having difficult conversations with parents about their children. However, the hands-on experience she gained at Otterbein prepared her for those situations, giving her more time to focus on doing what she loves.
"The thing I love most about being a teacher is being with the children and watching them progress," she said. "I think that is what life is all about, finding something you love to do."