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Meet Quinn McCutchan, District Intern
Graduate
 District
Intern Specialist, Lydia Vaia, visited Belvedere Middle
School in East Los Angeles to interview Quinn McCutchan,
8th grade English teacher. Mrs. McCutchan candidly spoke
about her experience as a new teacher while earning her
teaching credential with the Los Angeles Unified School
District Intern Credential Program. Quinn graduated with
her preliminary credential in February 2008.
LV:
Have you had a previous career?
QM: No, this is my first career
out of college. I
just graduated from
Cal Berkeley.
LV: Did you study
English at Berkeley?
QM: No, I was political science
major. I had to
take the CSET Single Subject English. It is
a test
you definitely need to prepare for.
LV: Why
did you choose the District Intern
Program instead of a
university program?
QM: The opportunity was available
to teach with
no
prior teaching experience and it is
free!
The university programs require
you
to meet
several nights a week and on
weekends. As a
District Intern, in the
single subject
program, you only attend
class one night a
week.
LV: Would you recommend the program
to
others?
QM: Yes, I think it is especially great for
career
changers. I also think it is the
most
flexible
way to go and the instructors
are
good.
I have made great friends
in my
cohort.
LV: What are the greatest challenges as a new
teacher?
QM: Learning how to understand today’s
students, and making a connection with them. Many
students
are not
interested in school today. What was familiar to me as a
middle school student is
not
the
same for them. Also, I have learned that I cannot reach every
student as much as I would
like. Understanding the community has also
been a challenge for me since I am not from Los
Angeles. As a
new teacher, I have found that surveys work well. It is
important to respect
your students as people. They need to
know that their teacher cares about them.
LV: As
a teacher, how much time a day do you need to spend outside of
the classroom time
to
prepare?
QM: I spend about 2 hours a day on lesson
planning.
LV: Did you have adequate support at
your school?
QM: I had an excellent support
provider. She came to my room several times a week and
validated
that I was
doing a good job. And the advisors in the District
Intern Program were helpful. One
advisor said I could
call her anytime even at 2:00 in the morning.
LV:
Was the District Intern Program instruction
useful?
QM: Yes, our cohort would ask the instructors
to give us strategies that we could take back to the
classroom. The
focus was practical and helped to make teaching, lesson
planning and managing
a classroom easier.
LV: What are the advantages
of working for a large urban school district?
QM: I
think there is more freedom. Also, another
advantage is there are more opportunities and
a
variety of schools
and locations.
LV: What are the disadvantages of
working for a large urban school district?
QM: Some of
the curriculum programs may be too rigid, and should be more
reality based to meet
the
needs of the
students.
Also, in an
urban school district, you may encounter more behavior
management challenges.
Informational Meetings
Available
To
learn more about the Program, monthly Informational Meetings
are offered in the Board Room, LAUSD Headquarters, 333 S.
Beaudry Ave, Los Angeles, 90017. The meetings
start at 4:00 p.m. and last about an hour. No
registration is required.
Meeting
Schedule:
February
25
March
24
April
28
To
Apply: Contact
the District
Intern Office:
www.teachinla.com Phone:
213-241-5581
Email (General Ed):
lydia.vaia@lausd.net
Email (Special Ed): lele,mach@lausd.net
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