By Crystal Hildebrandt Working with children is an amazing career that many high school students are considering. Teaching is a wonderful career that can expand horizons and fulfill specific expectations. A class offered by Wilson that offers amazing experience for this field is Virtual S.I.A. Virtual S.I.A. is only offered to seniors, but it is completely worth it. In this class, two periods of the day are spent at another school according to the student’s agenda. For example, if one wanted to teach kindergarten later in life, they would be allowed to be placed in such classroom. On the other hand, if one wanted to teach high school or middle school, there is an option for that as well. What do I mean by being placed in a classroom? Well, exactly what it sounds like. The student has to apply to be enrolled in this class, but once they are, they get to choose a teacher that they will be with every day: almost like an assistant teacher. Although this is offered by the school, the student is required to provide their own transportation, whether it be driving themselves or a parent helping out. Skipping class isn’t an option because every day the student is required to fill out a calendar with their arrival times, departure times, and initials of both the student and the placement teacher. In addition to this, there are weekly journal entries that are to be filled out about the events that took place in the classroom for that week. As one could guess, Virtual S.I.A. is, in fact, a virtual course. The student is still required to complete quarterly projects, but they all are associated with your classroom’s needs. One of the biggest projects is creating a bulletin board that fits into the classroom. Many create seasonal, interactive, and/or educational boards. Anything that fits into the classroom is a relevant contender for this project. Another project is the Instructional Game Project. Students are required to create an instructional game that can be used in the classroom that fits the content currently being studied. Working with Mrs. McTish, the coordinator and teacher of this class, is always an option to brainstorm ideas. Mrs. McTish is a wonderful teacher for this class. She is very bright, welcoming, and helpful. It’s very apparent that she loves her job. Any questions one may have, she is always answering emails and giving her best advice possible. In addition to the enlightening experiences that come from this course, it provides an amazing addition to a resume. Colleges love to see that the applicant is committed to a path and have actually ventured into the field. Due to this, getting accepted into a college of education is made significantly smoother. This experience also provides amazing content to write personal essays about for college applications. This class is perfect for anyone even considering the field because if after taking the class they don’t like it, then they have just prevented themselves from wasting thousands of dollars on a degree that will inevitably be useless. If you do enjoy the class, you have confirmation that education is the career path for you. Overall, Virtual S.I.A. is an amazing course that doesn’t get enough credit. Not many students know about it or have taken it because of its correlation with Family Consumer Science (FCS) students. However, taking prior FCS courses is not required as a prerequisite for Virtual S.I.A. Anyone can take it as long as you apply for it through Mrs. McTish. Everyone who is considering the possibility of becoming a teacher, or even just working with children, should consider taking this class. Grading is fairly easy, but you get exposure to many fields regarding working with children.
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