Although a relatively new program for prospective teachers
at Western Carolina University, SUTEP is providing great benefits
for many. One such example is first year English teacher,
Ms. Inga Sutton. Ms. Sutton teaches at Smoky Mountain
High School and feels that her participation as a year-long
intern with the SUTEP program has given her knowledge, experience,
and confidence to make her first year of teaching a success.
During a recent interview, Ms. Sutton shared her thoughts
about her SUTEP experience.
Why did you choose to become an intern with the SUTEP
program instead of the traditional student teaching format?
I wanted more experience to prepare for entering
the field of teaching. I wanted a greater learning
opportunity. I had also heard that this experience
would provide me with greater chances of getting a teaching
job in the future.
In what ways did SUTEP prepare you for your first year
of teaching? What skills did you learn that you use
now in your own classroom?
SUTEP provided me with opportunities to observe and
help during the first semester of my internship.
It was a great help ñ ìlearning the ropes,î meeting administrators,
faculty members and students. During the second
semester I applied what I witnessed the first semester.
I had plenty of time to plan and ask questions.
I learned how to literally plan daily classes and unit
plans and how to fill the 90 minutes of class time.
I learned how to set high expectations and to keep those
expectations for the students and myself. I also
learned that teaching is a hard and constant job.
What was the most valuable thing that you learned during
your SUTEP experience?
My experience taught me many valuable things.
It was so valuable for me to experience teaching from
the first day of school until graduation. I experienced
all of the things that a true faculty member would.
In fact, the faculty treated me as one of their own, and
my supervising teacher and I are great friends to this
day.
This experience gave me a complete picture of how
literature, grammar, writing, and student growth all weave
together to improve student achievement throughout the
year. My supervising teacher, Ms. Tinnie Salzano,
taught me all of these things. In her Honors classes
that I taught with her, I learned how to challenge the
students. I used these same types of challenges
with the lower level kids that I have as a first year
teacher. I still have high expectations for these
kids, but they are just simply different expectations.
What was your greatest challenge as a SUTEP intern?
I had to balance my classes (15 hours), several Senior
seminars, and my internship. It took a lot of hard
work and serious study time. I was very dedicated.
Dedication is a must to be a SUTEP intern.
Is there anything else that you would like to share
with the readers?
I wanted to become a teacher because I had a love
for learning and for school. I wanted to share my
love for literature, and yes, grammar, with kids.
The SUTEP experience helped me to be better prepared for
the education field. I truly believe in this program.
If I had not been a part of SUTEP, I would not have been
so very well prepared for my first job. Therefore,
I highly recommend that all education majors take advantage
of this opportunity.
