Student Conversations with Colin Jones

CEHS Author

01/15/2025 Added

3 Plays

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Colin Jones talks with Nick Pace about becoming a science educator at CEHS and his aspirations for the future. College of Education and Human Sciences (CEHS); University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) CONTENT CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction 00:13 - Student Teaching In Kearney 00:49 - What Excites You About Student Teaching 01:41 - Challenges In The Classroom 03:05 - What Inspired You To Choose Education As Your Major 04:30 - Do You Have Any Former Teachers At Kearney 05:11 - What Have You Enjoyed About The CEHS Teacher Education Program 06:02 - What Does A Successful Day Look Like To You 07:53 - What Advice Do You Have For Students Trying To Choose A Major 09:45 - Conclusion

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[00:00:01.167]Hello, folks.
[00:00:02.035]Interim Dean Nick Pace here.
[00:00:03.470]And I have the pleasure of visiting
[00:00:05.155]with Colin Jones,
[00:00:06.239]future science educator.
[00:00:09.242]Oh, we need science educators.
[00:00:10.944]Yeah, there's
[00:00:11.695]there's a real shortage out there.
[00:00:13.013]Yeah. So Kearney's home.
[00:00:14.664]Yep.
[00:00:15.148]And you're just preparing to return
[00:00:17.067]to Kearney for student teaching?
[00:00:18.485]Yes I will.
[00:00:19.252]Okay So
[00:00:19.752]student teaching starts
[00:00:20.954]in Kearney on January 7th for students.
[00:00:24.416]January 6th we have a work day.
[00:00:25.892]But I'm really excited
[00:00:26.993]to get back to my hometown.
[00:00:29.095]And really
[00:00:30.030]just learn a lot during student teaching,
[00:00:32.365]I mean,
[00:00:33.500]just we, we spend three and a half years
[00:00:36.169]thinking about teaching
[00:00:37.737]and preparing to student teach,
[00:00:39.389]but it's it's really making it real that,
[00:00:42.175]you know, in less than a month,
[00:00:44.044]you know, or
[00:00:44.511]just about a month at this point.
[00:00:46.079]Okay.
[00:00:46.579]You know, we'll be getting in the classroom,
[00:00:48.331]and getting that experience.
[00:00:49.382]What's the number one thing
[00:00:50.550]you're excited about
[00:00:51.835]stepping into that space?
[00:00:56.339]I think the
[00:00:58.525]I love seeing just the student progress.
[00:01:00.860]I work for the athletic department.
[00:01:02.462]Okay.
[00:01:02.912]And actually work with our football players
[00:01:05.365]as an academic assistant,
[00:01:06.483]so I'll help them.
[00:01:07.917]Like,
[00:01:08.635]I'll tutor them in chemistry or biology.
[00:01:10.970]And one of my favorite things
[00:01:12.138]to see them throughout the semester.
[00:01:14.374]Get more confident in their chemistry
[00:01:16.526]or biology and get
[00:01:17.360]get the skills over time.
[00:01:18.878]It's not just like
[00:01:19.763]Right.
[00:01:20.630]oh, we did good on one test,
[00:01:22.248]but you can just see over the semester
[00:01:24.050]they don't feel
[00:01:25.435]like such an alien in a chemistry room.
[00:01:27.921]You know, they feel like
[00:01:28.738]they can understand it.
[00:01:29.873]You're talking self-efficacy.
[00:01:31.374]Yeah, exactly.
[00:01:32.272]Building up your confidence
[00:01:33.543]in your ability to handle it.
[00:01:35.011]Yeah.
[00:01:35.712]Yeah.
[00:01:36.079]So I think that's
[00:01:37.647]one of the most rewarding parts
[00:01:38.882]of any class for me,
[00:01:40.767]is that I see myself going from, like,
[00:01:44.571]you know, such
[00:01:45.171]such a beginner in August, right?
[00:01:48.274]Like, I'm in inorganic chemistry right now.
[00:01:49.926]Okay.
[00:01:50.426]And yeah, starting in August, I'm like,
[00:01:52.679]what is this class? Right.
[00:01:54.781]It seems like I'm flooded with,
[00:01:57.050]you know, new information.
[00:01:58.201]I'm not familiar with.
[00:01:59.119]But now I'm in December.
[00:02:00.804]I feel like I'm a lot more fluent,
[00:02:03.123]you know, in inorganic chemistry
[00:02:04.557]that I could contribute
[00:02:05.492]something like,
[00:02:06.292]Okay.
[00:02:06.593]you know, to the class
[00:02:08.011]classmates, you know,
[00:02:09.095]so I really built something.
[00:02:10.580]So I think that's really good
[00:02:11.915]for people to hear because.
[00:02:14.784]Right, it
[00:02:15.752]I mean, it
[00:02:16.436]sounds like
[00:02:17.754]that initial time in organic chemistry,
[00:02:20.240]you were like on your heels
[00:02:21.541]thinking, wooo, this is a lot.
[00:02:24.210]I don't know if this is for me.
[00:02:25.495]Is that I mean, you were,
[00:02:27.380]You know, a little.
[00:02:29.299]like, I know that I
[00:02:30.233]can do it,
[00:02:31.401]but those first few weeks,
[00:02:32.635]you're wondering, like.
[00:02:34.437]Like what did I get into here..
[00:02:35.638]Right.
[00:02:35.972]You know.
[00:02:36.406]Okay.
[00:02:37.824]Yeah, but I love the.
[00:02:40.043]I love the honesty,
[00:02:41.194]right. Yeah.
[00:02:41.644]I mean, there's a learning curve
[00:02:43.079]for everything.
[00:02:43.663]Everything, right.
[00:02:44.464]And so I think it's good for teachers
[00:02:47.183]to acknowledge that the
[00:02:48.701]Right. you know,
[00:02:49.238]when your students
[00:02:49.885]come in on the first day,
[00:02:51.454]they might not feel super welcome,
[00:02:54.440]whether it be socially
[00:02:55.892]or just academically,
[00:02:57.694]with whatever content you're teaching.
[00:03:00.029]You know, they might feel like,
[00:03:01.531]especially if I'm I'm
[00:03:02.932]someone who wants to teach chemistry.
[00:03:04.434]Okay.
[00:03:05.301]So given your love of science
[00:03:09.055]and discovery and all of those things,
[00:03:12.325]what's
[00:03:12.926]what's the hook
[00:03:14.010]that keeps you in education
[00:03:17.063]I enjoyed taking the biology
[00:03:18.982]and nutrition classes,
[00:03:20.667]but there was something.
[00:03:22.669]I guess it just felt removed from.
[00:03:25.438]I didn't feel very fulfilled in it.
[00:03:27.574]You know, like, yeah,
[00:03:29.042]I got good grades in it, and I.
[00:03:30.960]So I enjoyed the content,
[00:03:32.545]but it felt rather empty in a way.
[00:03:35.565]Okay.
[00:03:36.182]So that was what,
[00:03:37.951]you know, helped me realize
[00:03:39.102]that I liked science,
[00:03:40.320]but I really liked working with people
[00:03:42.622]and like teaching people about science.
[00:03:45.108]Right. So bring those two together.
[00:03:46.159]That was what brought those two together.
[00:03:48.378]I really am
[00:03:49.412]glad to hear you say that,
[00:03:50.730]because I always worry about people who,
[00:03:53.516]whether it's in their career
[00:03:55.201]or whether they're in something
[00:03:56.185]that they're studying,
[00:03:57.654]they'll say, well, I'm in this far.
[00:04:00.089]I just got to keep going.
[00:04:01.708]But it's not speaking to me
[00:04:03.543]or, you know, it's not pulling me in.
[00:04:05.862]I think that's so important.
[00:04:07.513]I really thought about,
[00:04:08.965]you know, when I was thinking
[00:04:09.699]about changing majors,
[00:04:10.516]I really thought about, like,
[00:04:11.484]who are the people I look up to?
[00:04:13.519]You know,
[00:04:14.304]because I'm like trying
[00:04:15.104]to figure out what direction to go.
[00:04:16.389]Like who do I look up to?
[00:04:17.357]And I realized
[00:04:18.024]it was my high school band teachers,
[00:04:20.693]my high school science teachers,
[00:04:22.395]my middle school science teachers.
[00:04:24.013]Right.
[00:04:24.764]Teacher, teacher, teacher.
[00:04:25.732]I was like,
[00:04:26.199]Yeah.
[00:04:26.516]oh, like,
[00:04:27.500]that is what I want to do.
[00:04:29.018]Right.
[00:04:29.602]I love it.
[00:04:30.536]Is someone still at Kearney?
[00:04:33.206]Yeah, so
[00:04:34.023]Nice.
[00:04:35.908]Alison Klein was,
[00:04:37.977]she taught me chemistry,
[00:04:39.896]AP chemistry and physics at Kearney High.
[00:04:42.248]Okay, how fun is that going to be
[00:04:44.317]Oh, yeah.
[00:04:44.817]You know, she’s the department chair walking in a few weeks?
[00:04:47.520]Okay.
[00:04:48.321]for science at Kearney High.
[00:04:49.822]So obviously, now I’m going to student teach there
[00:04:52.458]I’ve been in communication
[00:04:53.192]with her, you know,
[00:04:54.060]just getting things set up.
[00:04:55.078]But, it will be.
[00:04:57.180]And I'm not student teaching under her,
[00:04:58.948]you know,
[00:04:59.732]but it'll still be nice
[00:05:00.984]to have her in the building
[00:05:02.118]and talk to her about, like,
[00:05:03.419]what drives her to keep teaching.
[00:05:05.321]Okay.
[00:05:05.705]And you know, how
[00:05:08.257]just kind of the teacher side of it now, so.
[00:05:10.426]What's been the best thing
[00:05:11.761]about your teacher ed program here?
[00:05:16.316]I'd say
[00:05:17.784]I really enjoyed
[00:05:19.285]having, like, similar classmates.
[00:05:21.804]I guess
[00:05:23.106]you like when you're taking, like,
[00:05:24.941]bilingual,
[00:05:25.558]multicultural
[00:05:26.726]and then up into your methods.
[00:05:27.994]You're with a similar cohort of students,
[00:05:31.047]you know, for a few years here,
[00:05:32.915]specifically the last two years.
[00:05:34.367]Right.
[00:05:34.684]So it's
[00:05:35.284]it's really nice
[00:05:36.235]to have those relationships
[00:05:37.837]with my classmates
[00:05:39.272]that, you know, we've done
[00:05:41.307]practicum at the same time.
[00:05:42.392]So we can talk about our practicum,
[00:05:43.743]we're going to student teach
[00:05:44.627]at the same time,
[00:05:45.745]you know, going through methods together.
[00:05:47.847]I feel like there's a lot
[00:05:48.965]of opportunity for kind of,
[00:05:51.984]I don’t want to say just peer review.
[00:05:53.252]That sounds a little dry.
[00:05:54.354]But like, I get to hear
[00:05:55.922]about their experiences
[00:05:56.939]in contrast of mine.
[00:05:58.107]I think there's a lot of value in that
[00:05:59.675]because we're in a very similar position here.
[00:06:01.694]Right.
[00:06:02.362]What's a really successful day
[00:06:04.480]going to feel like
[00:06:05.565]or when you're going home
[00:06:06.799]at the end of the day
[00:06:08.000]and you feel like,
[00:06:08.835]you know, you did something
[00:06:10.720]that's close to those teachers
[00:06:12.255]that were so influential on you.
[00:06:14.841]What do you want to say to yourself?
[00:06:16.459]That okay, yeah, I did pretty well.
[00:06:18.945]I want to see the students,
[00:06:22.181]getting
[00:06:23.015]not just, like, excited that
[00:06:24.500]we did something interesting,
[00:06:25.935]but feeling like they belong,
[00:06:27.770]like, in in the science classroom, right?
[00:06:29.856]Yeah.
[00:06:30.289]And I’ll be student teaching IPS.
[00:06:33.576]Intro to Physical Science.
[00:06:34.994]Okay.
[00:06:35.361]So it's somewhere between,
[00:06:36.279]you know, physics and chemistry.
[00:06:37.547]It's a freshman class.
[00:06:38.981]So you're not
[00:06:39.732]super micro, but staying pretty macro and
[00:06:43.936]but still students are going to be scared though,
[00:06:45.438]when they come in.
[00:06:46.022]Right.
[00:06:46.355]depending on background.
[00:06:47.323]Right.
[00:06:47.657]So I think a success would be
[00:06:49.959]seeing engagement
[00:06:50.927]across the class and students who believe
[00:06:53.746]maybe they won't just state like,
[00:06:55.131]I believe that I belong here,
[00:06:57.066]but you can see by their effort
[00:06:59.235]and by their attention
[00:07:00.336]and their communication
[00:07:01.421]with other students,
[00:07:02.522]Right.
[00:07:02.839]that they are interested
[00:07:04.307]in at least learning something.
[00:07:06.025]Right.
[00:07:06.943]I love, I love hearing that perspective
[00:07:10.480]from someone who has
[00:07:14.050]expertise and passion
[00:07:15.501]for like hard science.
[00:07:17.570]Right.
[00:07:18.070]I mean, because we talk about it a lot in.
[00:07:20.394]I was a social studies
[00:07:21.491]teacher for example.
[00:07:22.425]So sometimes you talk a little bit
[00:07:24.193]more about belonging
[00:07:25.094]or what's it like to be in the space
[00:07:27.396]in things that aren't,
[00:07:29.482]you know, math or science.
[00:07:31.367]Sometimes we see that as a little more,
[00:07:33.908]Cut and dry.
[00:07:34.479]You know, rigid or content based or whatever.
[00:07:36.752]But at the end of the day,
[00:07:37.907]if folks are going to be successful,
[00:07:39.942]you got to create space for them
[00:07:41.194]and you got to have them comfortable
[00:07:42.979]in the environment.
[00:07:45.198]This is for me,
[00:07:46.599]and I can be
[00:07:47.233]successful at it,
[00:07:48.367]and you're going to help me
[00:07:49.519]make that happen.
[00:07:51.437]Nice.
[00:07:53.089]Last question.
[00:07:55.608]Advice to people who are trying
[00:07:57.894]to figure out their major
[00:07:59.595]and listening to that voice
[00:08:02.899]that it sounds like you had what, what
[00:08:05.651]how do you sort through that?
[00:08:07.086]You know, I'd say when I was,
[00:08:08.504]I mean I came here as Nutrition Health Science.
[00:08:10.806]And that was the result of,
[00:08:13.176]I guess,
[00:08:13.876]thinking about what
[00:08:14.594]people wanted me to do,
[00:08:16.162]you know, to say, like,
[00:08:17.346]I know that you're.
[00:08:18.731]Like, Colin I know you're good at science,
[00:08:20.466]and I know you like to exercise.
[00:08:22.101]It's like, it's perfect for you.
[00:08:23.202]You know, it's viewed as, like, rigorous
[00:08:26.122]and so.
[00:08:26.772]And I was even, like,
[00:08:28.641]discouraged from doing education
[00:08:30.109]because it was seen as like lower.
[00:08:32.144]Less than.
[00:08:33.145]Less than, not as rigorous, you know, not as,
[00:08:36.883]I don't want to say important,
[00:08:38.000]but people thought that I was
[00:08:40.069]destined for more.
[00:08:41.170]Yeah.
[00:08:41.487]You know,
[00:08:42.104]which
[00:08:42.939]so that deterred me, you know,
[00:08:44.173]for a semester or two.
[00:08:45.741]But then as soon as I, you know, I,
[00:08:49.128]I didn't feel fulfilled in that major, right.
[00:08:51.197]So I just thought about,
[00:08:53.916]you know, who do I want to be like, right.
[00:08:55.902]Some people told me what I should be like,
[00:08:57.370]and I didn't find
[00:08:58.721]a lot of agreement there.
[00:08:59.689]So I thought, okay, who do I want to be like?
[00:09:01.707]And I mentioned earlier, it was my.
[00:09:03.643]I came out with.
[00:09:04.577]It was my teachers
[00:09:05.811]that I thought were very impactful to me
[00:09:07.280]that I wanted to be like.
[00:09:08.231]Yeah.
[00:09:08.981]So, and science was clearly my thing.
[00:09:11.651]That was non-negotiable, right.
[00:09:13.269]You know,
[00:09:14.203]but I really wanted to teach
[00:09:15.638]and have that.
[00:09:16.956]Well, a couple things.
[00:09:18.608]Thanks for letting us
[00:09:19.842]be a part of your path
[00:09:22.128]and for choosing us.
[00:09:23.980]Second,
[00:09:25.147]thanks for listening to that voice.
[00:09:28.534]And, and that fit.
[00:09:29.919]And third, you know, I'm biased,
[00:09:32.805]but there's nothing about it
[00:09:34.206]that's less than
[00:09:35.358]Exactly.
[00:09:35.992]In fact, I can make a pretty good case
[00:09:37.760]that it's more than.
[00:09:39.095]You know.
[00:09:39.645]You're not choosing a job.
[00:09:40.930]You're choosing a life.
[00:09:42.048]Yeah.
[00:09:42.531]And you can't get that impact
[00:09:44.350]just anywhere.
[00:09:45.284]Love it.
[00:09:46.552]Love it.
[00:09:47.486]Thanks for spending some time with me.
[00:09:48.904]I hope you, I hope you like ice cream.
[00:09:50.373]Oh, I love ice cream.
[00:09:51.173]You got to get it in
[00:09:51.991]before you head for
[00:09:53.609]student teaching in Kearney.
[00:09:54.694]I’ve got a few more weeks.
[00:09:56.062]All right, get over there.
[00:09:57.029]I appreciate that.
[00:09:58.180]I’d love to check in and see how
[00:09:59.465]it's going this spring. Yeah.
[00:10:00.299]Hit me up and let me know Absolutely.
[00:10:01.601]what you're learning and,
[00:10:02.969]and your top five experiences.
[00:10:04.920]Yep.
[00:10:05.288]Awesome.
[00:10:05.821]Well thank you.
[00:10:06.422]Thanks.

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Student Conversations with Colin Jones

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