News Home

Spotlight on Student Teachers During National Education Week

Christina Mills knew she wanted to be a teacher when she was in junior high school.  So did her husband Max. As local school districts celebrate National Education Week, Christina and Max prepare to enter the job market armed with degrees in secondary education, and filled with the same spirit that guided them into the field of education back in junior high. 

Christina Condict Mills is a native of Saratoga, Wyoming.  Her husband Max is from Newcastle, Wyoming.  Max and Christina Mills met the summer after high school at a basketball tournament in Ohio.  Max played basketball for the Wyoming boys team and Christina for the Wyoming girls and they traveled to tournaments throughout the country.  Even with that in common, their meeting was purely by chance.  Max’s grandfather, who was attending the tournament in Ohio, recognized Christina’s last name as one of an old friend of his.  He introduced himself to Christina and in turn introduced his grandson to her, and the pair has been together since.   

Max looked at various colleges but decided to come to Dakota State with a couple of friends to play football.  Before applying for admission, one of the areas Max investigated was the computer oriented mission of DSU.  “I knew computers were going to be a big thing in the future,” said Max, “so that helped persuaded me to come to DSU.”  Christina also looked at colleges near her home in Wyoming and actually attended school in Colorado for a semester, but decided to follow Max to DSU after he proposed marriage.  They both admit that besides each other, the opportunity to be certified in computers along with their education degree was a major selling point for the university.

As seniors in the Teacher Education program, Christina and Max are required to student teach.  Student teaching is an experience designed to give students the opportunity to apply the skills and knowledge they have accumulated in the college classroom in a real world scenario.  Christina was placed at Madison Central High School with Doc Miller, teaching Literature to juniors and seniors.  Max is also at Madison Central High School with Maxine Unterbrunner, teaching sophomore General Biology and senior level Advanced Biology.  To make the experience the most meaningful, student teachers are expected to take full responsibility of their cooperating teacher’s classroom.  Both Christina and Max commented on the sense of responsibility that their cooperating teachers are nurturing. Christina says, “I get the feeling that his [Miller’s] philosophy for my student teaching is ‘the students are yours but they’re still mine’. In other words they’re mine to teach but I’d better be teaching them something.”

For his part, Doc Miller is pleased with the work Christina is doing in his classroom.  Miller has supervised many student teachers over the years, but he says he has had “few as good” as Christina.  “She has an excellent work ethic, is intelligent, has a good personality, and the list goes on,” he commented. After 30 years in education, Doc continues to invite student teachers into his classroom because, he says, “We have a responsibility as professionals to help those who wish to be in education, just like interns and residencies in other areas.  We need to give something back [to the profession].” 

This year’s theme for National Education Week is Great Public Schools for Every Child—America’s Promise.  One way to ensure great public schools for every child is to place great teachers in education careers. DSU is monitoring the quality of the teachers that it produces with what is referred to as a content exam. The content exam is taken by seniors in the Teacher Education program and is required by most states. It covers the specific areas that the potential teacher will be teaching in the classroom.  For Christina that meant English and Literature and for Max it was Biology.   “A lot of the questions on the content exam were things that we had just covered in the classroom or were just going to cover. I had to know the areas good enough to teach them to the kids, so it was helpful that I took the test at about the same time,” said Max.  Christina added, “The content test was nice because when I got done I realized how much I had learned from my English teachers at DSU.  It made me feel reassured.”

Technology is infused across the curriculum at Dakota State and both Christina and Max feel comfortable using it in their classrooms at Madison High School. Max took advantage of what technology was available in Mrs. Unterbrunner’s room, and added a few twists on his own.  For example, he puts his chapter presentations on a power point that displays on a television screen in the classroom.  “I spent 45 minutes last night and  put an entire chapter into a power point, added some pictures from the internet and some web links, and I was done.”  Many of today’s textbooks have websites that relate directly to the content in the book, along with interactive activities for students as well as tests and quizzes for the teacher. 

Many people have the impression that teachers just show up in the classroom and “magically have the tests and all the materials ready,” said Christina. “Mr. Miller wanted me to learn what it is like to really be a teacher so my semester was learning how to create tests, to create quizzes, to create material to go with the lessons.”  She used internet resources to find additional material and help her with lesson plans.  She also had to learn to write a test that lasted the entire classroom period of 70 minutes.  “You don’t want to have them get the test done in 15 minutes and then have to sit for another hour,” she added.

One of the most challenging aspects of being a teacher, according to both Christina and Max, is dealing with the students who don’t seem to care or don’t want to learn.  “It’s all about identifying the needs of the students and trying to find a way to relate to them,” reflected Christina.  “These are my students.  I’m here for the entire semester and I have to teach them something. I like literature. Getting the students as excited about it as I am is my most difficult task and I know some just don’t care.”  Max agrees, “Students are given all sorts of opportunities to do their best and get extra points but some just won’t do it.  I’m here till all hours of the night and they won’t come in and ask for help.”  Even with that frustration, Max and Christina remain committed to the teaching profession. “I wanted to be a teacher since junior high,” said Christina.  “There is social and cultural value to what we are teaching and we just need to identify the needs of the kids and find ways to get our information across to them.”

Student teaching under veterans such as Doc Miller and Maxine Unterbrunner has had advantages for the Mills.  Both agree that it is the little things that make the most difference in the classroom, and the veteran teachers have been very willing to share their secrets with their student teachers. “The best thing about working with our cooperating teachers is learning those things that keep kids focused,” said Max.  Christina concurs, “I didn’t think about how my emotions could affect the class until I worked with Mr. Miller.  I needed to learn to keep myself in control because the kids will sense if I am being emotional and take advantage of it.  Mr. Miller has been in the classroom for many years and I wanted to use this time to learn as much from him as I could.” 

Balancing the load of a busy student teaching schedule with a family life is something Christina and Max work hard to achieve.  “It’s a lot of not seeing each other during the week,” said Max, “with both of us going in different directions.  Usually Friday evenings we pretty much lock the door, put a movie in and hang out together.”  Christina agrees, “It can be hard but we set one day aside to be together. We try to make time. It’s just a matter of finding the time.”

The Mills have been married for 2 ½ years and expect their first child in March.  They will both graduate from Dakota State in December.  As for future plans, Christina has been accepted at graduate school in Greeley, CO which she would start in the fall of 2004, giving her time to adjust to a new baby.  Her goal right now is to teach on a collegiate level.  While he supports her plans, Doc Miller is hoping that Christina will reconsider and go into teaching at a high school.  “We need good high school teachers, and she is going to be one of the best,” he said.  As for Christina, she says Doc is “wearing her down”.    Max hopes to find a teaching and coaching job in or near Greeley and has put out feelers in the area.  “We had to grow up fast going to college so far from home and being married. Then we took on the responsibilities of student teaching.  Now we’re ready for the next step,” said Max.  “We’re excited.” 

Fall Commencement at DSU is Sunday, December 14 at 3pm at the Fieldhouse.