by BRIAN KIRBY

The Pre-Autumn Field Experience is one of the most valuable college courses that a future educator needs during a professional education program. Pre-Autumn provides undergraduate education students the opportunity to observe and help inside a public school for a two week period during the beginning of a school year.

For many students, Pre-Autumn is their first exposure inside a classroom as a teacher. Therefore, it is important that Pre-Autumn is offered at the beginning of an undergraduate student's professional education so that they can experience being a teacher before committing themselves too deeply into that major.

The goals of a Pre-Autumn student are: build and establish relationships and connections within a district; understand how a teacher prepares for the beginning of a school year; help the classroom teacher set up and decorate a classroom; observe all classroom protocols and rules that a teacher establishes with students; interact with the students; and observe the various resources given to that teacher and school.

If you are thinking about becoming a cooperating teacher for a Pre-Autumn student, it may be helpful to recall your experiences when you were an undergraduate student. What questions did you have when you were first introduced to the schools? What did you want to know about how a school functions? What were some of your goals as you entered the schools? These thoughts will no doubt be in your Pre-Autumn student's mind as they approach you. Remember that this experience may be one of the most valuable experiences of their education.

When your Pre-Autumn student first approaches you, make them feel welcome in your classroom, office, and gym. A good PE teacher should be enthusiastic, friendly, warm, and helpful. It might be a good idea to tell them your educational background, and how long and where you have taught. Tell them about your physical education program, and how you have transformed it since you started working there. Ask your Pre-Autumn student questions about their college program and anything new about PE that might be useful for you. In general, get to know your Pre-Autumn student by sharing ideas, experiences, and stories. This will make them feel happy to be with you and in your school.

Usually, when your Pre-Autumn student first meets you school will not have started yet. Therefore it is important that you invite them into all school meetings that you attend. Introduce them to the principal and staff so that everyone knows that your visitor is welcome into the school. Attending school meetings is an important factor in your Pre-Autumn student's experience, because it shows them exactly what happens behind the scenes. Not only do they get to see what you are doing to prepare for the school year, but they also get to see what the administrators, classroom teachers, specialists, and other staff do to prepare.

During the meetings, there is no doubt that your Pre-Autumn student will be exposed to many new terms, programs, and events. Explain to your student what these programs mean and how they work. Invite them to special school events as well. Not only will it help them feel more welcome into the school, but it will also give them a chance to get to know other professionals in your building.

In the busy week before school begins, teachers rush to get their classrooms set up and decorated. Posters, bulletin boards, classroom arrangements, and furniture make the classrooms warm and inviting for students. This is why many teachers request Pre-Autumn students. The Pre-Autumn students are great for helping decorate and accomplish many classroom tasks. This alleviates some of the teacher's pressure in the crucial days before school starts. Not only does it give the student experience in setting up a classroom, but it also allows the teacher to save time for more important tasks, such as lesson planning and gathering curriculum materials.

As a physical educator it may be useful to give your Pre-Autumn student various tasks such as name labeling, filing, putting up new posters in the gym, re-organizing the equipment room, or any other classroom related tasks that you may think of. Remember that this is one of their educational goals for this experience.

On the day before school starts, explain that the first day will be very exciting and can sometimes be chaotic. Give them a schedule of all classes and a contact list, and review each with your student. Explain all emergency situation protocols for your school, and practice them with your student. This will help them help you in the event of an emergency. Finally, tell them you are looking forward to teaching with them during the next few weeks. It will make them feel more comfortable in preparing for the first day of interacting with students.

Since the beginning of a school year is one of the most important and chaotic times of the year, it is important that Pre-Autumn students observe the protocols and rules teachers establish during the first days of schools. This is one of the most crucial times of the year in a physical education classroom, because the PE teacher designates where students are stationed, shows them how to move safely in a PE environment, and establishes rules and other protocols.

As a recent Pre-Autumn student myself, I most wanted to see the protocols for starting and stopping movement activities, grouping students, and getting students into their own self-space. As I observed the PE teacher, I asked myself a variety of questions such as, "Does the teacher practice the start and stop protocols so that it becomes routine for the students? Did this protocol work, and is this something I could use in my own classroom someday?"

Not only will your Pre-Autumn student take note of your protocols and rules, but they will notice your attitude, technique, and overall rapport with students. Remember, your Pre-Autumn student is like a sponge. They will absorb almost everything you do during this two-week period. They will observe how you greet the students each day, what you say to the students, how you build relationships, and if you create a warm environment for students.

Another important thing that a Pre-Autumn student needs to learn is how a teacher disciplines misbehavior. Because teachers tend to have different disciplinary protocols, it is good for the student to not only see yours, but to see or ask other teachers in the building about their protocols. Allow them ample time each week to meet with other teachers in the building to gain more perspectives, philosophies, and techniques. Exposure to different classroom management styles will help your student begin thinking about what they like, dislike, and want to employ in their own classroom someday.

Finally, and most importantly, invite your Pre-Autumn student to help you teach. Remember, this may be the first time your student is exposed to a classroom or gym full of students. In a PE classroom for example, allow the student to demonstrate a skill or task for the students. Encourage them to roam around the class and help various students with skills. If you and the student feel comfortable, invite them to teach a lesson. There is no better way of learning than by doing. Your student will remember this experience, and be able to reflect on their lesson to find out what worked and what didn't work.

During the lesson, help explain and guide your Pre-Autumn student when needed. Remember that some of the things that you have done in your classroom for years may seem simple and routine for you, but may be very difficult for your Pre-Autumn student on their first attempt. This experience will help your student interact with pupils for the first time in their professional development. Therefore, try to make it a meaningful and enjoyable experience for them.

A major concern of cooperating teachers who are considering inviting a Pre-Autumn student into their classroom is: will the student share similar philosophies and teaching techniques? Consequently, cooperating teachers may fear that the student will criticize their values and way of teaching. In actuality, any new teaching perspective and/or technique will be valuable for the student.

Miscellaneous: Quality Lesson Plans for Secondary Physical Education - Make teaching easier and more effective with Quality Lesson Plans for Secondary Physical Education! This cookbook-style guide contains more than 150 ready-to-use lesson plans--enough for every day of the school year.

by BRIAN KIRBY

The vast majority of cooperating teachers and Pre-Autumn students work great together. In fact, many cooperating teachers who have had a Pre-Autumn student frequently request them again, because they were such a great help in preparing for the school year. In this regard, Pre-Autumn experience is a win-win situation both for the public schools and future educators. In addition, students are able to form meaningful professional relationships with future colleagues.

To give a personal anecdote, I still write to and meet with my cooperating teacher from Pre-Autumn. We share ideas and stories, and I have on occasion returned to the school to help teach lessons. The best part, of course, is that I get to go visit the children that I helped teach during Pre-Autumn. It is very fulfilling to see the children's excitement when they see me again. It reinforces my dream to become a quality physical educator. The most important thing to me, when I teach, is knowing I can make a difference in their lives.

Pre-Autumn experience was the first step in my professional education that confirmed I chose the right career path.

by ANDY McCORQUODALE

Pre-Autumn: One hyphenated phrase that may be meaningless to many, but an eye-opening experience for our future teachers.

For many of these future teachers, myself included, Pre-Autumn was the first look at our schools on a full-scale basis from a teacher's perspective. Many of us have had experience with practicum classes and volunteering as a tag-along with our future colleagues, but this was the first all-day, day-after-day experience we had seeing through the eyes of a professional educator.

For those who haven't the slightest idea what this Pre-Autumn thing is all about, and for those who would like further explanation, Pre-Autumn is a program that pairs students in the various teacher education programs with a K-12 teacher of the intended subject area. This arrangement lasts for approximately two weeks, and the student is expected to be in the classroom all day with the cooperating teacher, including the before-school and after-school meetings and engagements. The student is typically not expected to do any teaching, so he/she is there for observation purposes mainly.

Some Pre-Autumn experiences may include teaching a lesson or two, but that is up to the discretion of the cooperating teacher and the comfort level of the education student. My experience consisted of mostly observation, with some participation in class activities, but no solo teaching of any lessons. Pre-Autumn is intended to give education students a look at everything it takes to become a successful educator.

There is much more to it than most of us realize while growing up as students in a school system. We see our teachers providing instructions, lecturing, and handing out homework, but we don't truly realize all of the hard work that goes into making everything "gel together" fluidly. We have our favorite teachers, and our not-so-favorite teachers, and we credit the difference between these two categories to charisma and personality.

Yes, charisma and personality are part of it, but I would be willing to bet that our favorite teachers have spent a fair share of their own personal time coming up with creative ways to engage students and make learning enjoyable. That's what part of Pre-Autumn is, showing future teachers all of the details taken care of behind the scenes. For me, this experience has truly opened my eyes to the fact that whatever our students get out of school, and the enjoyment they find in learning, is a direct function of the amount of time and effort we put into making their learning experience as creative and engaging as possible. This last point is especially true for the field of physical education.

As physical educators, we don't receive the highest amount of respect from colleagues, parents, and community members. We, as a collective unit, have been working hard to change negative perceptions developed over many years. But the change is gradual, and there is still much work to be done, leaving us still behind the curve at this moment in terms of respect and support. These negative perceptions can be changed, but it will take hard work and creativity.

Budgets for physical education programs are typically miniscule, to say the least, and this means that we are in charge of making do with what we've got. This can mean coming up with inexpensive and innovative ways to create effective equipment. This can also mean using personal time to fund-raise, research and write proposals for grants, and other forms of garnering that all-powerful tool, money.

As physical educators we have more work ahead of us than many other fields of education, and my Pre-Autumn experience has made this point blatantly clear. I feel much more prepared due to this experience, as well as my teachings from Central Washington University, and I look forward to the challenge of finding creative and enjoyable ways to expand the field of physical education, and change the less-than-stellar attitudes that physical education has built through the years.

Now that we've discussed the fact that Pre-Autumn opens its participants' eyes to the hard work that is involved in being a successful, inspiring teacher, it's time to talk about my most enjoyable part of the Pre-Autumn experience - establishing positive relationships with students.

Many of the college participants in this program haven't previously had a long enough experience in a classroom to truly get to know the students. This all changes with Pre-Autumn, as two weeks are plenty of time in regards to establishing an educator-student relationship. Getting to know the students' names is a great start, but that is only the beginning. The greatest part for me was getting to know the interests and dislikes of the students, and finding areas that I could connect with them from experiences in my own life. From there, a teacher can use this information to make learning more personable for each student and, thus, more enjoyable.

This is especially true for physical educators, as our main goal is to set up our students for lifetime success in physical activity, and to give them the information necessary to live healthy, physically active lives for years to come. Our students will all have different interests, so using this information to engage our students, and make physical activity more enjoyable, is a definite plus. My Pre-Autumn experience has helped me to appreciate this fact, and it was a great start in developing this skill for my future career.

One area of my Pre-Autumn experience that seems to relate specifically to physical education is realizing the cooperation between all the physical educators in a given school setting. Previously, I hadn't fathomed the depth of the relationships between the various physical educators, and the amount of work it takes to get everyone "on the same page," and keep everyone on the same page for that matter.

An effective physical education program, K-12, is one that has classes that build upon one another. Teaching the same subject and skills over and over won't go very far in helping our students develop an appreciation for physical education. Thus, physical educators at all levels in a district need to be cooperating on a regular basis to develop an appropriate scope and sequence for an effective physical education program. My cooperating teacher for my Pre-Autumn experience had regular contact with the other physical educators through official meetings, as well as informal discussions throughout the school day. Not only is this a great way to help each class build on the previous one, it also creates the potential for the sharing of ideas and the resolving of issues in a given class or situation.

Pre-Autumn ended up being a wonderfully enriching experience for me. The lessons I learned, and the observations I made, will stay with me for the rest of my career. My eyes were truly opened to the fact that hard work is a staple for a successful teaching career, and that, if we give it our best shot, we can truly make a difference in our students' lives. Having this time during Pre-Autumn to observe our mentors on a consistent basis was something I will never forget. Anyone preparing for this experience should look upon this great opportunity with favor. Take it all in, because once you do, you’re view of your chosen future occupation will never be the same.

HONORS CAMP: TRULY AN HONORABLE EXPERIENCE BY SEAN HADALLER

Every year Ellensburg Middle school rewards a group of 8th grade honor students with a three day camp at Lake Wenatchee. The Central Washington University P.E. program students are in charge of the daily activities. We selected a topic that could be taught to groups of 4-15 students during 1 hour time frames. The CWU recreation-program students were in charge of the nightly activities, which all P.E. students also participated in.

My partner and I chose to teach the students how to make bird houses. We thought this would be a great activity, but we were not aware of how much work this was going to be. First, we had to design the bird house. This included deciding where to place nails to minimize the amount of materials needed, how to decorate it, and determining the dimensions for each wood piece. Next, we made a mock bird house using cardboard and presented it to our peers.

At first we tried using free wood pallets from a local store. Most of these pallets were in poor shape, and we soon realized that we needed something else. The local hardware store generously donated 20-6x1 cedar boards. We pre-cut the pieces because we didn't want to bring the cutting tools to camp, and we didn't want students operating heavy machinery. We were informed 23 students had signed up for our class, so we pre-cut 30 houses just in case others wanted to make them during their free time.

The first day of camp was full of singing camp songs, and team activities provided by the recreation majors. I never imagined that fifty 8th grade students would sing "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round, and Round." And I was right, they weren't singing it, they were SCREAMING it! Food can be a very powerful motivator, as the loudest cabin got to eat first. From that moment on, I realized that not only was this going to be a fun experience for the kids, but for the college students as well.

The second day started with the raising of the flag, and each cabin was given different daily responsibilities for this ceremony. We finally got our first group after breakfast, and needless to say, I was a little excited and nervous. Right from the start we discovered we had a problem. The nails were too small and would not hold the pieces together. I came up with a solution: let's just play games.

During one of my health education classes we made a booklet containing 20 different energizers, trust builders, or instant activities. While we played these games my partner traveled to Wenatchee to buy the right nails. The rest of us reassured the students that we would set aside some time later for them to build a house if they still wanted to. The students had a great time being active and socially engaged with many of their friends.

By the time the fourth group was with us, my partner had returned and we were able to teach two groups how to make their bird house. Students could now get creative and modify their house if they wanted because of the surplus of wood we had. No group was larger than 8 students, but we only had 4 hammers. This turned out to be perfect because the students needed help holding pieces as they hammered; they worked great as teams. Once they had their houses built, they were instructed to decorate them with various items from the forest.

Moss was usually glued to the side of the houses for plants, and pine needles were used to make great roofs. Occasionally we would have one student finish a little early, but there was usually another student a little behind schedule, and they were able to help each other out. Two of the students from the early groups that weren't able to make one, actually came back and finished a bird house after lunch one day. Except for the part of not having the correct nails, the bird house project was a complete success.

Of course there were other lessons that were being taught as well. They included orienteering, capture the flag, Frisbee golf, tie die t-shirts, candle making, map and compass, and many others. These were all well planned activities, but those were only the daytime ones. Every night the recreation program had campfire activities. These activities included things like singing and skits. The skits turned out to be the overall favorite at these campfires, because every cabin got to perform their own skits. The P.E. program students put on The Peanut Butter and Jam Skit.

It started with a football player asking for something that would make him stronger. One person suggested rubbing peanut butter on his arms; however, that made him start to go bald. Then someone else told him to rub jam on his hair. Finally, a person came along with a piece of bread and proceeded to rub both the peanut butter and jam off the football player and then ate it. There were a bunch of funny skits like this every night.

Another night time activity was "hide and seek". Cabins members stayed together as teams, and searched for various P.E. and recreation majors that were hidden all over the camp. Each person that was hiding was assigned a point value, and that determined how hard or easy they were to hide. After finding a person, the teams received a point sticker from the person hiding, and the team with the most points won.

There was also a dance one evening in the mess hall. The recreation majors organized an opening dance that excited the students, and got them ready to really groove. The P.E. majors prepared a step dance that was to be performed during the middle of the dance. It was a great experience because the students cheered and screamed. The entire night was filled with lots of dancing and conga lines; you could really feel the honor student's energy.

Throughout the weekend cabins were constantly doing pranks on other cabins. We, of course, kept a watchful eye on our cabins, so thankfully we were spared. I was glad to see this, because this weekend was about the kids, and not the instructors.

However, there was one prank that we could not get away from. For years the recreation program has had a special knack for getting the P.E. students, a knack that we were not aware of. After the dance the recreation majors teamed up with the honor students in a water balloon fight that we were ill prepared for. We did, however, sneak a few people out to the local store for supplies, and then the fight was on! That night many people did not get to sleep until after midnight for fear of being soaked in their sleep. The only bad point was picking up all the remaining balloon pieces off the floor the next day.

Camp broke that Sunday afternoon, and many students and majors did not want to leave. I had fun, and it really made me want to be a teacher even more. More importantly, the students had fun and made some memories that they will never forget.

Effectiveness Of Pre-Autumn Experience As A Prerequisite For Student Teaching by HENRY WILLIAMS

This study examined the effectiveness of Pre-Autumn Experience as a pre-requisite for student teaching. The course deals with the opening of school; undergraduate students helping teachers to set up the classroom before the arrival of their students. The undergraduate students have the opportunity to interact with the pupils, staff and other school district personnel.

To achieve the purpose of the study, I observed the pre-autumn experience undergraduate students, conference with the group, and kept a dairy of their reports. Teachers and principals were also asked for feedback about the program. After reviewing the information collected during my observation, I will conclude that the Pre-Autumn Experience is a worthy assignment for teacher education students.

Read the rest of this article by one of our faculty - Henry Williams.