Filed under “Another-Opportunity-to-Get-Back-to-Teaching,” I am now officially an “adjunct instructor” for Colorado State University.

As I have mentioned before, undergraduate students in CSU’s School of Education take a “capstone” course in the semester before they student teach. The course is structured so that the college students meet two days a week on the campus of one of five area high schools. Our school happens to be one of the five – a “Professional Development School” or “PDS.”

The idea behind the course is that the college folk meet during our school day and the pre-service teachers spend 90 minutes in an actual classroom with one of our teachers and then 90 minutes together debriefing and pulling together a practical framework for all the theory they’ve been taught. As the class is structured, it is co-taught by a University professor and a school-based person — the ideal marriage of theory and practice, right?

So as you may have guessed by now, starting in January, I am going to play the role of the school-based half of this equation. Of course, I have to waive receiving payment for doing this because the class meets during my regular work day, but I’m not really in it for the money as much as the experience. I have had some great mentors in my career and I have continued to make it an important part of my career to “give back” to those entering the profession.

Fortunately, I have a very enlightened principal who is supportive of my personal goals (after all, this will be six hours each week that I’m in the building, but not “in my office”) and who has the foresight to see this as a perfect opportunity to “grow our own.” After all, I’ll get to know these pre-teachers before they student teach and, for some who end up here with us, while they student teach. Talk about an extended job interview.

And once again, there’s the street cred thing. I’ll be teaching again. And I’ll be practicing what I preach.