When senior Laura Lovett flr5t came to Harding at 18, she already had a year of college at Ohio Valley University under her belt. An opportunity to run track and a strong Education program led Lovett to transfer to Hardingafter her fll'st year. An elemental), education major , Lovett was excited about joining th e educat ion p t'ogram at Harding because of the many opportunities that were not available to h er before. "At OVU there's only one education teacher for 80 kids," Lovett said. "You don't develop that one on one bond," Because many of her classes at Harding took a hands-on approach . she was able to go out and observe p rofessionals in various teaching f1.elds. She soon discovered a passion for working in sp ecial education. " In Dr. Douglass ' class we had to go to the Sunshine School and observe for 20 or 30 hours," Lovett said. " I loved every second of it. The kids have such big hearts; I just think you ca n leam so much from them." Education professor, Dr . Penny McClawn had Lovett in her Prin cipals of Leaming and Teaching class and saw a pass ion for teaching in Lovett that continued to develop during her time at Harding. "She was excited to be a teacher while in my class, and as I have kept in touch with her, 1have seen that excitement continue to grow," McClawn said. Othel' assignments in education classes we l'e designed to equip future teachers with material and resources for their own classroom one day. Projects included making a curriculum design and a liter acy portfolio, among other things. all ofwhich proved useful for education majors in their future careers. " I think all of the big pl'ojects that are due al'e going to be fun; definitely stressful, but fun," Lovell said . "You' re supposed to invest 200 hours in it, so I will d efinite ly be using it." A big part of what made the education program effective was the per sonal relationships that the teachel's formed with the students . Lovett was touched when two of h e r education professors, Dr. McClawn and Mr. H enderson, made the effort to talk with her while she was going through a difficult time. " Dr. McClawn and Mr. Hend e l'son came out of the Education Center all the way to the third floor of the Bible building [where I was in class] to walk me to my next class to talk to me and comfort me," Lovett said. "Who does that? We just have th e best people in our department. " For Lovett, the professors in the Education Department made all the difference in her own educational experience and helped instill in her a desire to impact her own students someday in the same way. Through this small act of concern for a student, they showed that teachers could have a huge impact on students, sometimes without even realizing it. "At the time , I didn't think what we did was anything special," McGlawn said. "It always amazes me how Cod takes our ordinary actions and uses them to [lift up] othel's in ways we may not know then, and sometimes never may know." Emily Houptli Blowing bubbles, junior Molly McCoy plays with the children during "baby day" on Sept. 23. The children were various ages, so students were able to see a wide range of developmental behaviors. Noah Darnell Noting gross motor development, sophomore LeShae Belt interacts with on.e of the children involved in "baby day" in her Normal Language Development class. Students observed the childrens' speech and language, gross motor development and fine motor development. Noah Darnell college of educ ation 183
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc5NA==