What does it take to become a great teacher? Is it knowing the absolute most about your classroom topic? How about knowing the most about teaching skills? The best at technology? Having a perfect GPA through high school and college?
It’s true that for some, the way to become a great teacher isn’t any of these things, rather, to become a great teacher, the thing you have to know is how to create a connection with your students. To be a great teacher, you have to be a great person, and to many people at Liberty, student teacher Makenna Tilley showed skills of a great teacher during her time here while teaching Mrs. Gehrke’s drama classes, and eventually extending her stay by becoming a long-term substitute for choir director Mr. Datz until May 8.
When she first heard she was going to have a student teacher, Mrs. Gehrke was a bit nervous to see how a new teacher would fit into the drama club program.
“I hadn’t had one in the time that I’ve taught theater here at Liberty (since 2018),” Gehrke said. “We work so hard to have a positive, family atmosphere in the classroom and in our drama club, so there was obviously some apprehension.”
But soon, it seemed that having a student teacher instead greatly improved the space, rather than change it in a negative way.
“I didn’t need to worry at all,” Gehrke exclaimed. “Ms. Tilley was wildly supportive, super prepared, and a breath of fresh air for our class and program. She brought kindness and expertise to her position, and it made the classroom atmosphere even better.”
Kindness and expertise. Something Ms. Tilley felt was one of the most important parts of her classroom.
“For me, it’s never really been about material, but about the students and the relationships you build,” Tilley said. “I could have gone into directing, or studying theater, but that’s really not what I wanted. What I wanted was to teach, and I think that now, going into teaching something that is not theater, I feel that even more – that it doesn’t matter what I’m teaching, as long as I’m able to continue building relationships with students. Everyone brings in different life experiences and different things they are passionate about, and things that they care about, and I think that I learn something new from my students everyday.”
Louis Stoyanov (12) was also very fond of having a student teacher for theater classes, as a student passionate about the arts and theater world.
“Having a student teacher was really fun for the semester,” Stoyanov said. “It was nice to have a new instructor over the same materials as it allowed for an alternative perspective for theater. It gave the classes a new feel without a major change, it also helped that Ms. Tilley blended really well within our theater culture so it wasn’t a major shift.”
Having an alternate voice in the classroom changed the dynamic of the conversations, but added more to them and allowed for a lot more depth into certain aspects of the theater. For Stoyanov, having Tilley as a teacher added new ideas to classroom conversations that wouldn’t have occurred if she had taught at a different school– a truly unique classroom experience.
When it comes to teaching, it isn’t exactly a simple path to follow. First, you have to be inspired to teach. Something about the job has to appeal to you.
“I think, deep down, I’ve always wanted to teach. When I was little, I would play school and be my sister’s teacher. I had my first opportunity to direct a play as a senior in high school, and absolutely fell in love with it, I kind of knew right away that’s what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. My mom was also a teacher, and just being around her and seeing how she build relationships with students really inspired me to want to be a teacher, too,” Tilley said.
After you are inspired, it’s not a simple educational path to pursue either, but for the Missouri Baptist University student, she made it through with flying colors, getting through her first year of general education classes. Then came her second year with more pieces such as adding the theatrical elements and learning about costuming, stage management, and acting.
“I remember having to learn to write huge lesson plans, but it was a good way to see that everyone there really wanted to be a teacher, and it wouldn’t just be easy,” Tilley said.
After that, it was lots of field experience at different schools, portfolio making, and interview practice. But in the end, Tilley made it through and made it to Liberty for her final semester in college.
“Overall, it’s a difficult process, you know, anything you do in college, there’s always some struggles, but as long as its something you’re really passionate about, if its something you want to achieve, you can.”
“I graduated from MOBAP on May 5, and now I’m a officially a real teacher,” Tilley announced, after discovering she would be an American Literature and Speech teacher next school year at Fort Zumwalt South.
“I want to do a bit of travelling before the fall semester,” she added. “I feel like being here at Liberty has really helped me prepare for what is to come, although I definitely will miss everyone here and the environment with the students. But I also think change is good.”
As for Liberty staff and students, Ms. Tilley left a big impact on the drama program and its classes.
“Some of my favorite memories of mine of Tilley were just the ones where she was sharing her perspective on theater with us as a class. Her input being fully-realized and different compared to Gehrke helped add complexity and nuance in class conversations,” Louis Stoyanov noted.
“It very quickly felt like she had always been here. I think she made students feel seen and heard, and she joined in the joy of the space.” Mrs. Gehrke said. “We were so lucky to have Ms. Tilley join our theater family this semester. I know we will all be cheering her on and supporting her in her next steps, and I know she has absolutely made a lasting mark on our program in the best way possible.”
