Social studies teacher becomes student for a day
December 16, 2015
A long, grueling process of learning must be completed over a number of years in order to become a teacher. Most teachers work incredibly hard to get to their position, but in social studies teacher Molly Siebert’s classroom, senior Alexa Thurmes only needed to fill out an application to become a teacher for a day.
On Dec. 16 Siebert and Thurmes switched roles, with Siebert taking the place of a student and Thurmes that of a teacher. Thurmes got the opportunity to teach sociology and world history, while Siebert took Thurmes’ classes. Thurmes had to stand in front of students and teach curriculum just as Siebert would do a different day, while Siebert took classes like physics and government.
“The weirdest thing is having [the students] call me Miss Thurmes,” Thurmes said. “It’s more difficult when I know people.”
The easiest aspect was for Thurmes to get the students’ attention, while the hardest was feeling like the authority in a room. Whatever the hardships were, Thurmes did not regret her decision of signing up for this project.
“I think it was an interesting experiment,” Thurmes said.
Sam DiStefano • Jan 13, 2016 at 8:04 pm
I liked the headline a lot, it grabs the readers attention. I just wish the article was longer because of the interesting topic.
Matt Johnson • Jan 8, 2016 at 2:50 pm
I think this article is cool because it makes you think on both sides as from the teachers point of view and the students. Good picture and enjoyed how it didn’t give way to much information, was just the write length.
Daniel Onufer • Jan 7, 2016 at 7:00 pm
Kind of a short read, but a pretty good story. I would suggest getting more interviews to possibly expand on this article.
Tessa Rosa • Jan 7, 2016 at 9:02 am
This was a great story! I loved the headline. I really like the lead too, it was descriptive and grasped my attention! Good news brief Katie.
Samantha Flipp • Jan 7, 2016 at 5:19 am
Headline is great. It really drew me in to read more. It would have been nice to include some quotes about mrs siebert’s perspective since she was mentioned it the headline. Nice work overall!
Zach Toohey • Jan 7, 2016 at 12:01 am
This is a very original article and i couldn’t wait to read it! Great job and showing the point of views and well thought out process of the article. It was short but sweet and you did a very good job getting the point across for such a short news story.
Allie Langness • Jan 6, 2016 at 11:02 pm
Great article, Katie! This news brief really did a great job at getting the point across that you were trying to make. I think it is awesome that Alexa and Mrs. Siebert had the opportunity to do this on a normal day in the classroom. It was a great opportunity for both of them to experience. Great article!
Rose Stoebner • Jan 6, 2016 at 11:00 pm
The introduction was great, it got my attention and made me want to read the rest of the article. It was interesting and to the point. The only thing I would add i maybe a quote from one of the students and how they felt about it. Other than that I thought i was great article.
Caroline Allessi • Jan 6, 2016 at 10:30 pm
Your title was very attention grabbing and really showed the focus of the article. However, I wish the article itself had more content to it. What I did read was very interesting, I just wanted to keep reading. To lengthen it, maybe you could have also focused on Siebert’s perspective as well as the student’s. Also, another piece of advice, try to find longer more informative quotes. It was a good article, I just wish that it had been longer so I could read more
Sam Begin • Jan 6, 2016 at 8:53 pm
As a news brief this article is great. You effectively draw people in with the headline and lead and efficiently sum up the story in just a couple short paragraphs. The only thing I would change is the picture, it looks a little staged.
Kaitlyn Wylie • Jan 6, 2016 at 7:50 pm
As everyone was saying the headline is a very strong attention grabber in this article! The article itself was very interesting, and had a lot of fun little things to read, and a lot of information. Well done!
Alex Schwarz • Jan 6, 2016 at 7:46 pm
The headline was perfect I saw it on the front page and that is the first article I wanted to read. It was really interesting to know that students only needed to fill out paper work to switch roles for the day. I just wish it would have been longer.
Andrew Weigel • Jan 6, 2016 at 7:01 pm
Your headline really drew me in. I never even would have thought of something like this happening. How interesting would it be to teach classes for a day? Or even to be taught by a student for a day?* Terrific article, though I wish that you had included the teachers perspective as well.
*actually, I have been taught by a student, Allie Langess
Cole Lebourgeois • Jan 6, 2016 at 5:53 pm
This was a good story but I would have like it to be a bit longer. At the end it felt like there could have been much more to discuss and talk about. A little bit more detail would have been nice because all I learned was that she became a student for the day. I didn’t know how she felt or how others felt during this .
Sydney Slusher • Jan 6, 2016 at 4:21 pm
I loved the headline it made me want to read the article right away! It was very interesting to learn about this experiment, and how Alexa got to have this opportunity! It was a short article but I think it worked well for this story!
Hannah Drake • Jan 6, 2016 at 2:24 pm
This is a very interesting experiment. Quotes from the teacher should have been used more. You explained the whole process of how she became a teacher for a day. Although the article was short it caught my attention and was a fun read.
Nick Carlson • Jan 5, 2016 at 9:24 pm
What an interesting story! Your headline grabbed me right away because it resembled the peculiar nature of this story. I certainly would want to try this experiment also. You used detailed facts and your language was very informative. You included the whole process of how Thurmes became the teacher and her experience too. Something I would suggest is to broaden the focus so that we get a view of the story from Ms. Siebert and the students that were included in the experience as well which would add more complexity and information to the story. In the end however I was left wanting more!
Sam Gater • Jan 5, 2016 at 9:24 pm
I like the idea of the story and it is interesting to students because everyone complains how teachers don’t know or remember what else we have going on in our lives and don’t recognize how hard it can be. This could have been a lot more detailed, as in what Thurmes thought of different classes, what classes she took on, what the student experienced teaching her peers, and so on. The quotes are significant but there could have been a lot more included in the article to make it more interesting to readers.
Brianna Halverson • Jan 5, 2016 at 7:28 pm
This was very interesting to read. My only ‘thing’ with this article is that it’s so short! I wanted to read more! As Joslyn said, it was the headline that drew me in. I am curious as to know how this experiment was brought up and how both teacher and student prepped for that particular day. What a nice short and sweet article though! (One other thing: good use of the word ‘grueling.’)
Joslyn Reiche • Jan 5, 2016 at 6:37 pm
I loved the headline! I wanted to read it as soon as I read it! I was surprised to find that it was more about what Thurmes went through! But even learning more about that was awesome! I want to keep reading and was sad when I saw it was short!