I would say first and foremost, I absolutely adored elementary. I think there were many factors that contributed to it, but I think that is where I prefer to be, if not teaching agriculture. However, what made this internship site particularly special was the group of kids I got to work with. These kids are some that I have worked with since their very first day in school, back in kindergarten summer school. They were so new and completely unaccustomed to the way school was and many times I think I have described it to people as herding cats the first couple of days. I was with them as they first walked in a line, or put their backpack in their own school locker for the first time. I worked with them again the following summer, and this rotation I have had the chance to come work with them during a real school day. I have felt extremely lucky to have spent so much time with these kids. They have made so much improvement, and they have taught me a lot of things as a future teacher through all of my experiences with them. I am going to tell you just a bit about what I have learned and how my last day went.
THE LAST DAY
On my last day, I got to do something a bit more instructional than I have ever in my internship, which was a lot of fun. I read them a book by Mo Williems called, “Can I Play Too?,” and it was one that I read over and over and over in summer school. I enjoyed reading it to them again because it kind of made me reflect on how much they have changed and how they were the last time I read it to them. I got to make all of the cute sound effects and stuff from the book, and it was awesome to hear them all laugh at the funny parts. I got to ask them what predictions they had and test out their theories about the book, and I think we all really enjoyed it. Afterwards, I introduced their activity, which was to create their own comic strip with the characters in Mo Williems book. They were all so excited to make the story their own and I thought it was a great activity. After that, it was pretty much business as usual. They read independently and met with Miss James and made their comic strips, and I left somewhere in the middle of all of that. I walked out feeling like I had learned a lot, and I got a really cool opportunity on my last day.
WHAT I LEARNED
I have had a lot of opportunities in the past to get to know not only the kids, but their level of development and what kinds of activities they do, but this internship gave me so many more opportunities. First, I learned about all kinds of interactive activities teachers use regularly to keep student attention. They let them use telephones to read or stampers to learn writing skills, or just tools that will keep them interested. They let students create pictures and let their imaginations roam everyday. I know that this will always be something I hope to use in my classroom. I hope to always use the idea of letting students figure things out, or always making sure their content relates to their interests in some way. I also learned what a classroom behavioral management system looks like. In my middle school internship, the standard grade was pretty well it, and their was no system to really keep students in check, unlike this classroom. Miss James used anything from ClassDojo to the scoreboard to keep students in check and focused on their work, and they responded extremely well to these methods. I learned that this is something that I might not necessarily use in a high school classroom, but I think it just goes to show how student-driven these systems are, and how to use what they know to keep them focused. I learned so much about a teachers job as well. I learned that they are trying to accommodate various different understanding levels, and they are putting a lot of time into making sure each student is on the same level as best they can. They are observing students, keeping track of their progress and caring for each one of them so that they can be the best they can be. I learned that they look after students and know everything possible about each one. Without a doubt, elementary school showed me the level of care that should be present in all schools. I realize kids in an agriculture classroom may not NEED this level of care, but I think that in order for them to be set up for doing their best, this is something I have to do. I want to take in the kind of care and consideration elementary school teachers do no matter what classroom I am in. I learned about all of the kids this age physically, cognitively, and emotionally, and I have seen how fast they are developing. I know that the knowledge that I have gained from this classroom is irreplaceable, and I am so excited to use all of these strategies in my future classroom.
Teaching Portfolio 