What Students Really Say About Farmington


Tell me a bit about the Early Childhood Education program at UMF.
I’m the Early Childhood Ed. - K-3 option. You can major in Early Childhood Ed. or you can take a kindergarten through grade three option. I wanted to teach in public schools, so I chose that.

Does the Early Childhood Education major here offer much in way of hands-on learning experiences?
Yeah, it does. I’ve already done three practicums. Two of them were in a preschool and one was in a second grade classroom. And I’ll do a fourth practicum in the UMF Nursery School on campus.

What is a practicum?
It’s when you get to go into the classroom, do different kinds of learning activities with the kids and be the teacher. In the second grade I go to plan activities and do lesson plans. That was really fun.

Tell me about some of the classes you've taken here at Farmington.
Well, I’ve taken Creative Arts and Technology for the Young Child, and right now I’m taking a class, Children, Families and Communities, which is really interesting. We’re studying how to interact with childrens’ families, which is an important part of Early Childhood Ed., knowing how to deal with the kids’ parents. I’m also taking Theories of Learning and Curriculum Development right now, where we learn different theories of education.

Have you had a favorite class?
I just took Addressing Developmental Differences of Young Children. That was my favorite and I think it will be the most helpful for me because it was all about managing the childrens’ behaviors, like kids who have ADHD. We learned many different techniques to use. I really enjoyed it a lot.

That sounds interesting and useful. Do you have a favorite professor?
Yeah. Ray Glass [Professor of Special Education] was the professor for Addressing Developmental Differences of Young Children and I really liked him and thought he did a good job with the class. I also like Cathy Wimett [Associate Professor Literacy Education]. She’s very nice and a very good professor.

Did you start at Farmington as an Early Childhood Education major?
Yeah. Around my senior year in high school I didn’t know what I wanted to major in, but we had an internship for seniors where we could go into different school classrooms and observe. Anyway, I did my internship in a second and third grade classroom. I really enjoyed the second grade class and I spent every afternoon there, all year. The teacher really helped me out. Then I heard about Farmington and that it was a good school for teaching. I originally wanted to go for Elementary Education but when I talked to my guidance counselor he told me about Farmington’s Early Childhood Ed. K-3 option and it sounded perfect because I really don’t want to teach above the third grade level.

What do you feel is a strength of UMF’s Early Childhood Ed. program?
I think they have a strong Education program here, overall. We were developing classroom lesson plans and units my freshman year. I have friends who are in Education program at [another university] and they never do anything we are doing. Here at Farmington they actually get you into school classrooms — early on. And I know other schools don’t do that. It’s good here because if you find out early on that you just don’t like it, you can change your mind and major. Also, the professors here are great and the classes are such a good size that if you ever need help, the professors are always there for you and they always seem to make time to help you out.

Have you ever thought you’d change your mind and major?
No, I like it a lot. I’ve had second thoughts sometimes but I really do want to be a teacher but sometimes I think of other options. Now I’m in my senior year and teaching seems much more of a reality. Next fall I do student teaching and after that I’ll be teaching. I’d like to do my student teaching near where I’m originally from.

When did you first come to campus?
It was sometime in my senior year of high school. My parents made me come but I didn’t want to [laughs]. But I came here and I fell in love with the place. I had never heard of Farmington before but after I came and had a campus tour I was excited to be a part of it. I love the people here and everyone is really nice. The people are really great.

What about the Farmington area community?
People here are really involved with the school. I like how the campus Fitness and Rec. Center is open for everybody and not just UMF students.

Anything about UMF that surprised you?
It sounds cliché, but I didn’t think I would like it as much as I do.

UMF is also well known as a Liberal Arts school. Why is Liberal Arts important to an Education major?
It helps a lot of people to find out what they really want to do.

Are you involved in any campus organizations?
No but I volunteer over at the Mallet School [an elementary school in Farmington, kindergarten through third grade, a two-minute walk from campus]. I help out in the kindergarten class.