TULSA, Okla. — Changing career paths during a pandemic isn't easy.
Especially for those entering the classroom as a teacher for the first time.
2 Works For You spoke with one soon to be Tulsa Public School Teacher who's taking a leap into the field with no prior experience.
She's doing it all with some online training she considers pivotal to her success this year.
Her name is Terralynnd Jackson, a former News Producer with 2 Works For You.
She decided to go through the Tulsa Teacher Cores Intensive Boot Camp Training to learn all she can before starting the year.
She tells us she's learned everything from childhood brain development, to maintaining a virtual classroom.
“Basically it’s like an all intensive teacher boot camp, an immersive classroom experience of all you need to know to be a teacher, all you need to know to be successful on your first day of school without that college practice,” Jackson said.
Terralynnd Jackson decided to become a third grade teacher this summer.
And, she said switching career field was intimidating, but she knew the Tulsa Teacher Core would prepare her for the job based on advice from other Tulsa Teachers.
“I think the training has really done that and more, my expectations were exceeded, I learned more than I expected to learn,” Jackson said.
Right now, as students struggle with virtual schooling, Jackson said the training prepared her for so much, including how to handle students who act out due to what's going on at home.
“They have taught us that you don’t stop instruction as much as possible, you don’t give attention to negative behavior, if a student is struggling and having a hard time you find time to pull them to the side," Jackson said. "Hey what’s going on, do you need time to reset? You need a second? What can we do to get you back on track.”
Jackson said she feels prepared, even though she knows it's a long, difficult year ahead.
“While we know kids come to school with hard things, our job is to teach them to preserver through those things. I recognize you’re having a really hard time right now, But we have to figure out what can we do to get you back on track to finish our math today.”
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