[ti:College Students Fill Need for Substitute Teachers] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:01.88]Samantha Wood is studying to be a teacher [00:05.00]at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota. [00:10.40]This year, the third-year student and other teacher candidates [00:14.36]learn by working as substitute teachers themselves. [00:19.04]"I'm learning by experience, which is really awesome for me," [00:22.88]she told the Aberdeen American News. [00:26.52]Wood said she was nervous about her first time being placed in the classroom. [00:32.20]But she could not wait to see what the teacher had planned for the day. [00:37.28]Wood added it was easy for her to keep the class activities moving [00:41.76]using her imagination. [00:44.84]After two weeks in different classrooms, [00:47.64]Wood has nearly met her required hours of field experience in teaching. [00:53.28]However, she planned to continue working as a substitute teacher. [00:58.76]Andria Moon is a dean at the university's School of Education. [01:04.44]She said teacher candidates from the university [01:07.48]have worked as substitute teachers in the past. [01:10.96]Yet they did not get credit for field experience in the classrooms. [01:15.96]This year, as older substitute teachers do not want to fill in [01:20.00]during the COVID-19 health crisis, the university received approval [01:24.84]to give teacher candidates credit for field experience. [01:29.24]"We're calling it an alternative field experience," Moon said. [01:34.12]She added that public schools do so much for the community. [01:37.76]And the university is pleased to have a chance to help as partner. [01:42.68]More than a third of Northern's teacher candidates have joined the program. [01:48.20]Wood said her experience in the classroom [01:50.56]got other students interested in the program. [01:54.16]"After I shared my experience, they were asking me questions [01:57.80]and more willing to try," she said. [02:00.92]Becky Guffin, head of the Aberdeen's public schools, [02:04.68]agreed the need for substitute teachers is high this year. [02:09.20]She said because of COVID-19, [02:11.44]teachers could be out of work for more than one day. [02:15.64]The South Dakota Department of Health suggests a two-week quarantine [02:20.40]for someone who comes in contact with an infected person. [02:24.88]It also takes several days to get results of a COVID-19 test. [02:30.68]Guffin said the school system has been able [02:33.20]to fill the need for substitute teachers so far, [02:36.56]but sometimes it takes more than one substitute. [02:39.80]In some cases, one substitute comes in the morning [02:44.28]and another works in the afternoon. [02:47.68]Sometimes, Guffin said, teachers used their open planning period [02:52.16]to cover another classroom. [02:55.08]During planning periods, she said, [02:57.52]teachers do not usually have students in their classroom [03:01.04]because they are planning future classes or finishing other work. [03:06.08]Guffin said the Aberdeen public school system [03:09.60]is now seeing some COVID-19 cases. [03:13.92]Since the high school has the largest group of students, [03:17.20]she expected that there will be more cases there. [03:21.36]And teachers are ready to meet the needs of students who miss 10 [03:25.56]to 14 days of school and have tests and work to make up. [03:31.00]Guffin said the goal is to keep the buildings open [03:34.04]and filled with students and teachers. [03:36.72]"We're holding our own," she said. [03:38.84]"It's a very different year." [03:41.96]I'm Gregory Stachel. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM