JACKSON TWP — Each time Torrie Smith walks into Room 203 at Seneca Valley Middle School, students greet her with cheers and applause.

Smith, a sophomore at Penn State University, spent five days in January as a pre-student teacher in Leslie Russell's seventh grade English classes.

Though she was only there a week, Smith, 19, became a candidate for class favorite.

Smith quickly learned students' names, a powerful tool for classroom management and rapport with students, Russell said.

Students responded positively to Smith, which made the entire experience encouraging on all sides, Russell added.

"Her whole attitude — her curiosity about what went on in the classroom, how things happened and why they happened — that's what tells me she's going to be a good teacher."

Pre-student teaching is one element of an educational psychology class in which Smith is enrolled this semester, she said.

The course requires 30 hours of classroom observation and participation to prepare students for an official student teaching placement during their senior year.

"I was actually terrified at the thought of student teaching, of being in front of students," Smith said.

The feeling is not uncommon for education majors, said Herbert Hunt, assistant to the dean of the college of education at Slippery Rock University.

"Student teaching is the capstone event in teacher preparation," he said. "The purpose is really twofold. No. 1 is to find out if the teacher candidate can teach, and No. 2, if they really want to do this for the rest of their life."

Smith, a 2006 Seneca Valley graduate, contemplated becoming a teacher first, but turned her attention to fashion during her senior year of high school.

"I was in fashion to become a journalist who wanted to send the message across to young girls that individuality and creativity are more important than impressing others," Smith said.

But during her first semester of college at Kent State University in Ohio, Smith realized she was in the field for a completely different reason than her peers, who only wanted to make names for themselves.

"I decided if I wanted to influence younger kids, I should go with my other option, which was teaching," Smith said.

And her alma mater, Seneca Valley, was the perfect setting for pre-student teaching.

Penn State students can fulfill the requirement anywhere, with university approval, Smith said.

SRU students both pre-student teach and student teach to gain field experience before taking on a class of their own, Hunt said.

"It gives them the opportunity to go out and see many of the things they are taught in the classroom," he said.

Student teaching is done the semester prior to graduation, he said.

Secondary education majors spend about one day a week during the 16-week semester while elementary and special education majors student teach daily for the last three weeks of the semester.

This semester, about 250 Slippery Rock students are student teachers, and about 165 participated in the fall, Hunt said.

In a year, SRU will deal with close to 700 cooperating teachers in 80 school districts across the state, he said.

Students also have opportunities to shadow teachers in Wake County, N.C., and Clark County, Nev., which have school year-round, as well as abroad at English-speaking schools in Ireland and Mexico, he said.

Students are placed in a district of their choice about 80 to 85 percent of the time, he said.

However, students are not permitted to student teach in the district they graduated from, where they have a close family member employed or on the school board, or if they have children enrolled, he said."We want them to go out and get additional experiences; it needs to be their experience," Hunt said.When Smith was preparing to pre-student teach, she contacted Seneca Valley and Russell agreed to advise her.Russell said she does not often take on student teachers, partly because it's a big responsibility, but mostly because she takes the job very seriously."If you're going to have a student teacher, you have to be a true mentor," Russell said.Smith did not create lesson plans herself, though she will when she student teaches her senior year.Instead, she assisted Russell in doing tasks such as administering quizzes and monitoring activities."It was great because I modeled (the lesson) first period, and she did the others," Russell said. "I would model what was going to happen, then she would take over."Russell has five classes each day, in addition to two planning periods.During planning in the middle school concept, teachers spend time talking as a team, identifying issues students might have and brainstorming solutions from all angles, so Smith gained insight into more than just what happens in the classroom, Russell said.Russell also welcomed input from Smith on activities as well as teaching methods and responsibilities."Having young people who aspire to a teaching career in my classroom is both energizing and validating," Russell said. "Seeing my classes and students through the eyes of someone fresh in this field is constructive and affirming for a veteran teacher. I enjoyed and appreciated Torrie's comments and observations."Smith said the experience "100 percent" helped her prepare to move on with her major."I think I am more knowledgeable in areas of teaching — not that I could teach my own class right now," Smith joked."It definitely gives me a feel for what to expect."