Fowler children learn creatively from NWOSU student teachers

May 15—With a "quack quack" here and a "quack quack" there, 60 children on Thursday learned the ways of the iconic farmer Old McDonald for a class of student teachers' final college course project.

Three classes of pre-K students from Enid Public Schools' Fowler Early Childhood Center were led through several creative activities by students at Northwestern Oklahoma State University's Enid campus next door.

Each group of 20 or so children would rotate between three 20-minute activity stations, each centered on "life on the farm" and led by groups of the 13 Northwestern students from Alva, Woodward and Enid's campuses.

Thursday's annual program was the culmination of three days the future teachers had spent planning the various activities as the final project of their semester-long course, "Creative Activities for Elementary Teachers."

"It's been a blast," Northwestern student Barrett Waters said, between groups of children coming to do barrel-racing. In this case, the kids wouldn't run on actual horses, but on stick horses around picnic tables outside the campus building.

Waters and classmate Ally Hufford would show how to run around tables, then lead the rest of the children in cheers of "Go, so-and-so, go!" as each Fowler youngster got a chance.

"Let's just say I'm sore after this week," Waters said after telling another group of kids they were way faster than her.

At an inside station, children would get to make paper ducks, folding and then gluing colored pieces of paper in stages until they made their very own Fowler waterfowl.

In the Northwestern library, a third, final group of kids would hear a story about Old McDonald's life with his farm animals. Before starting to read, the station's teaching student said the children needed to find their "listening ears," which she said might be in their pockets.

"But I don't have any pockets!" a child shouted back, to which several of the student teachers quietly looked at each other and chuckled.

At the end of the two-hour program in the building's general area, student Maria Jimenez led a sing-along of "Old McDonald Had a Farm," the animals of which several other children held signs.

Martie Young, Northwestern's director of student teaching, said her "Creative Activities" students study the standards for early childhood and elementary students, then integrate art, music, physical education to teach standard learning lessons like counting and physical coordination.

"It's an active job — it's not something that can be done easily or behind a desk," Young said.

College students in Young's course were working with early childhood students when the pre-K program was still in the building — before the standalone Fowler opened in October 2019 on the Northwestern campus on North 10th.

Young said many of Northwestern's teaching graduates stay in the college's area to work in public schools. Each half of her class plans to teach either elementary or pre-K education once they graduate with their teaching degrees and certifications, she said.

"Who would've thought you'd take 60 4-year-olds and they'd be so good? ... Look at what teachers ..." Young said, before pausing to chuckle at the children singing of McDonald's dog going "woof woof" here and there.

Some kids had by the end of the day appeared to have lost the will to keep going, instead running around on all fours or spinning on the carpet.

She continued, "... Look what teachers go through every day just to keep them excited about learning. And we have all of us, and we're taking the place of three teachers."

Young quote

College students regularly visit the Fowler classes, where teachers put them to work to get hands-on, everyday classroom experience.

Fowler teachers took Thursday afternoon to work on grading or cleaning their classrooms.

Shawna Tanner said she took the job at Fowler in 2019 because of EPS' beneficial partnership with the college.

"For especially our kids who have family who've never been to college, it makes it less scary when they go over there," Tanner said. "It's a special thing to go (to a college campus)."

Ewald is copy editor and city/education reporter for the Enid News & Eagle.

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