Teacher Residency at the halfway point

A resident-turned-mentor and her resident reflect on the year so far before the Christmas break

Kirstin Segars (formerly Kirstin Bull) did not always have teaching in mind before becoming an elementary education major at Clemson. She considered going into the health care field as a nurse throughout high school, but when she realized her response to the sight of blood was less “spring into action” and more “pass out,” she knew it was time to course correct.

The mother of children Segars frequently babysat for in high school noticed how much she enjoyed taking her children to libraries and planning activities, so she encouraged Segars to explore teaching via a teacher cadet class in high school. Once Segars experienced her first first-grade classroom, she was hooked.

Segars also didn’t expect to combine teaching and mentoring so soon after finishing her teaching degree and graduating from Clemson’s teacher residency program. Segars is one of the first teacher residency alumni to become a mentor in the program. Her resident, Ellison Pruitt, has been with Segars in her first-grade classroom at Spearman Elementary since the beginning of the 2024-25 school year. Pruitt is learning from Segars and Segars’ previous mentor, Lisa Cunningham, who also teaches at Spearman.

We caught up with Segars and Pruitt before one of their many “role-playing” lessons on sentence diagramming. Segars and Pruitt went through a costume change and donned scrubs before having their students “scrub in” to diagram sentences on several patients throughout the room.

Students learn the difference between a declarative statement and an exclamation. Pruitt experiences the power of hands-on learning activities. Segars pretends to be a nurse in a blood-free environment. Everybody wins.

Kirstin, you graduated from the teacher residency program and are now a mentor. What is it like to see both sides?

Kirstin Segars: When I went through residency, I did it for the experience and to have a foundation to start from. I came into my residency to learn and absorb as much as I could. The program prepared me to know what I was doing from day one and then be successful from there. Going through residency, it was never in my brain to think about being a mentor. In my first few years of teaching, I think I started to grow into the mentor role with practicum students or some teacher cadets, but I didn’t think I would jump from there right to a resident in my fifth year of teaching.

I asked [Spearman Elementary Principal Jason Lesley] if he was sure I was old enough for it (laughs), and he said he would not have asked me if I wasn’t ready for it. That made me feel that I was prepared in my teaching, knew what I was doing and that I could step into the mentor role. I had a little bit of imposter syndrome, but I think as we got started with this year, we clicked. I realized it was up to me to show her what I do every day and then incorporate her into it.

Now we’re a team. I will tell myself that I need to do something in class, and then I look over and Ellison has done it. We just have clicked in this way that has really made me feel like it’s not so much a mentorship as it is a partnership.

Ellison Pruitt: Oh yes. Absolutely. From the first day on our first professional development day, we came in wearing the same color and pattern dress, and we’ve matched three times since then. The brains are connected somehow. We finish each other’s sentences, and considering it’s only November, it happened really fast.

Ellison, is the experience what you thought it would be?

EP: We get a lot of great experience in our undergraduate classes with different practicums, but getting to be here with Kirstin from the very beginning, seeing professional development, seeing the beginning of the year and really just being able to be a part of the classroom has been a big game changer for me.

I’ve always struggled with how to put concepts into words that children can understand. Kirstin does a great job with that. I just recently finished my class takeover, and I used a lot of things that she would say or things that she would do throughout my takeover so that I could make sure the students truly understood the concepts. Now, those things that I’ve seen her do are second nature to me.

KS: I’ve learned a lot from Ellison day in and day out. The way she carries herself in front of the kids–she builds such great relationships with the students that it’s encouraged me to sit with them at lunch or play with them at recess. I’ve seen her make our class a little family. We both teach in these slightly different ways, and I’ve picked up on the little things she does with phonemic awareness. She does great with those lessons and has built in some motions in repeating times, and I’ve carried that over to my teaching as well.

Kristen, how did you prepare to be a mentor?

KS: I am definitely seeing it with a different set of eyes, and I have so much new appreciation for what my mentor did for me five years ago. It’s a big workload to share, so I think from the first day, I really wanted to make sure that Ellison felt like she was a part of this classroom. She is the teacher alongside me. After years of my mentor pouring into me, it is a great experience to pour into others, and I see now how the program builds people up even past residency. I still talk to my mentor every day, and now she’s like a “grandma” to Ellison.

My former mentor has really cheered me on in this role of stepping in as a mentor. She has really helped me fight that imposter syndrome that I had. She’s encouraged me in ways I think she doesn’t even know yet. She has helped me feel confident that what I’m doing every day benefits Ellison, whether I know it or not.

Ellison, what concrete things have you learned this year that you know you’ll take into your first year as a teacher?

EP: I love everything that Kirstin’s done this year, and there is so much I already want to use next year. I really loved using read aloud to establish our classroom family and all the procedures and rules we wanted to go through. We started with a read-aloud and connected that to the rule or the expectation. I think that has been such a great thing for our students’ behavior. Every class is going to have behavior issues at some point, but I think we did such a good job at the beginning of setting those expectations, rules and our class mission statement.

One thing that I wanted to improve on this year is behavior management. When you’re in your practicums during college, it can be hard to be seen as a role model and someone that they look up to and respect because you’re only there a few days a week. I didn’t know what things I should be stricter about. What things should I let go? What’s the balance and consistency there? I think it’s been beneficial and more possible to practice that this year.

My goal for this year is to become more confident in myself and my abilities across all areas, whether that is in instruction or curriculum or things like IEPs. I know I will be able to learn more every single day and reflect on the things I’ve learned. There’s a lot of time left, so hopefully, I can learn much more.

What things have you learned about one another that surprised you or may surprise others?

EP: I was surprised to learn some of the feelings that Kirstin has felt about, such as being shy or nervous, because she always has it together and speaks so confidently. It was really reassuring to hear that she has doubts about what she’s doing, too. We could see that we were on the same level sometimes, and it helped me realize that being nervous about things or shy is just part of getting my feet wet with teaching.

KS: We both tend to hide how afraid or confused we might be in the moment–we put on a brave face. As we’ve gotten to work together, I’ve already started to see that and know when it’s time to give her space, cheer her up or at least get her what she needs. We have to put on a face for the students, but we are comfortable asking what the other person needs on any given day. It goes beyond just teaching.