li learningh t roug leAVWN<7 When students thought of study abroad programs, the summer pre-student teaching program in Scotland was not one that immediately came to mind. The students who participated in it, however, thought otherwise and wanted to spread the word to others. "Not only did I learn a lot of information to help me become a better teacher, but I made lasting friendships with those I traveled with and those I met in Scotland," junior Caity Oliver said. "This program really is everything they say it is and more." For the past several summers, education majors had been given the opportunity to put their skills to use by completing their pre-student teaching requirements at primary and secondary schools in Scotland for four weeks. The opportunity to receive this credit in Scotland rather than spending a semester in a school in the U.S. was one that could not be missed. "I would tell others to definitely go," senior Sarah Adams said. "You get to work with Michael Wood [associate professor of education], as well as the kids at school. Working with kids is the coolest experience. It was more eye-opening than working with kids here. You learn a lot about yourself and your teaching style, too." Students were split into groups of three to aid teachers with the children's seatwork and other classroom activities. Students worked for 16 days at Carron Primary, Carronshore, Larbert Village, Ladeside Primary and Larbert High. "My students are my favorite memory," Oliver said. "They were my first actual class and will forever hold a special place in my heart. I will always remember the loving Scottish children and the way they absolutely adored us Americans. I still keep in contact with the students and the teacher I taught under. Although Scotland is now a memory, I will always have a connection to it in my heart because of my students." Though happy to be back and still excited to become teachers in the U.S., these education majors realized they had learned much more from the children in Scotland than how to run a classroom; they had learned how to impact and be impacted by people across the world. Kasey Coble International !)3
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