Internship Reflections
Week 1: October 22
What have you seen in language arts/reading instruction?
I have seen a lot of language arts and reading instruction. Because I am in a transitional first grade, mostly everything they do involves reading and writing. Students practice sight words many times a day. I have done flash card sight words with students every time I am there. The teacher is preparing them for the next grade, and they need to know certain sight words to advance to the next grade. The students read from basal books and then do writing assignments that relate to the story. Most of what I see involves reading and writing.
What have you taught in your internship?
I have not had a chance to teach anything yet. I have helped students with sight word flash cards. I learned something I did not know about sight words though. I was letting the students sound out the word when they saw it on the flash card. The teacher instructed me that they are not allowed to sound them out because they are sight words. Some cannot be sounded out, so if you let them sound out certain words, they will try to sound out all the words; even the ones that cannot be sounded out. It confuses them.
Comment on any interesting things that you have noticed about your school, the teachers, the students, or the curriculum.
I have noticed that the school is a very diverse school. It is also a very small school; consists of 222 students. Most of the students in the school come from low-income families. About half the students in the school are white. The other half are a mixture of African-American, Hispanic, and other. The teachers are mostly white. There are a few that are African-American.
Post any questions that you have about teaching/learning.
Teaching sight words and how to read seems really hard in the class I am in. I feel it is hard to teach them these things. Am I ever going to be able to do that? It scares me a little bit.
Week 2: October 26-29
What have you seen in language arts/reading instruction?
I have done a lot more things with reading since last week. I have reviewed sight word flash cards with students, but I have also had the pleasure of reading with some of them too. They are learning to read simple reading material with sight words within the text.
What have you taught in your internship?
I have still not had the opportunity to teach anything to a whole class, but I have been teaching individual students how to recognize sight words and have been helping children learn to read.
Comment on any interesting things that you have noticed about your school, the teachers, the students, or the curriculum.
I have noticed that the staff is very friendly. I love the PE teacher. She is crazy. She is so good with her students. She exercises with them and everything. She is an excellent PE teacher. All the teachers are very friendly and have really been excellent helpers. The curriculum in the class I am in is different from the curriculum throughout the first grade. We have lower students, who need modification to the tasks they are presented.
Post any questions that you have about teaching/learning.
Being at Valmead all day on Thursday wears me out. I hope that I am up for the challenge of teaching. I am nervous about student teaching. I am nervous that some of the students I teach will not understand the message I am trying to convey? Does anyone else have this fear? I hope I am not alone.
Week 3: November 2-5
What have you seen in language arts/reading instruction?
We are still doing sight words with the kids. The teacher says they need lots of repitition to learn the sight words. They say a student doesn’t truly learn the sight word until they see the word 100 times.
What have you taught in your internship?
I actually got to teach this week! I was really excited. My teacher was out of the room all day doing DIBBLES, and we had a teacher assistant in the room. From 1 to 230 I got to teach the lesson. The students were given a writing prompt and I helped them come up with ideas to write about. Then I helped them with their Weekly Reader. We also read a short passage and did a WS on the short /i/.
Comment on any interesting things that you have noticed about your school, the teachers, the students, or the curriculum.
I love going to PE with the students. They absolutely love it, and I love watching them! The PE teacher is so awesome with them. I also like chatting with the teachers at the lunch table, because I learn so much about the school and the students. Sometimes though, the teachers say inappropriate things about the students, that I feel shouldn’t be said. That is the only thing I do not like sometimes; the negativity they have about some of their students. I also note that some students are treated differently than others.
Post any questions that you have about teaching/learning.
Is teaching involve a lot of politics? I worry that politics is always going to be an issue with teaching; its always about who you know. I hope it is not that way though when I begin teaching.
Week 4: November 9-12
What have you seen in language arts/reading instruction?
I have seen a lot of Letterland in the classroom. The teacher has her students dress up as the letter land characters. The students seem to really enjoy letterland. They know what each letter’s character says and the rules for sh, th, and ck. It is amazing that these little first graders can recite the sentences almost 100 percent correctly. I have also seen a lot of word sorts. The students are placed in small groups; one table with the teacher and one table with the teacher assistant. Students really seem to undersand the rules and patterns of words when they are doing it with the teachers.
What have you taught in your internship?
I did not really teach anything this week, but I did get a chance to test a student for my math interview. After he solved the problems, I made sure to let him know whether he got it right or not, and why he got it right. I also tested my reading student on the word flash and he read the passages.
Comment on any interesting things that you have noticed about your school, the teachers, the students, or the curriculum.
All the students in the classroom I am in seem to be enjoying us being there. The teachers also seem to be enjoying our help. They are always asking when we are coming back to help. I think Caitlyn and I are making a difference.
Post any questions that you have about teaching/learning.
I think I find it hard to address every student’s individual needs, while trying to address the class as a whole. It is hard to modify things for particular students, but it will be necessary. I hope I am able to do this well and reach all my students’ needs.
Week 5: November 16-19
What have you seen in language arts/reading instruction?
Over the past 48 hours, I have seen a lot of language arts/reading instruction. Reading is the biggest focus in the class, because it is a transitional first grade, and reading and writing is what they need to learn the most. They are doing great, and have improved a lot just in the time that I have been there.
What have you taught in your internship?
I have taught students a lot about sounding out words, and sight words, that you cannot always sound out. I have taught the students how to recognize different words by looking at the similar endings: for example, ock and ay. They have taught me a lot too. I had a little boy on Thursday say to me, “Sometimes I can teach teachers too.” It was adorable.
Comment on any interesting things that you have noticed about your school, the teachers, the students, or the curriculum.
I have noticed how much teachers care about their students. All of the teachers I was involved with, were always trying to help their students.
Post any questions that you have about teaching/learning.
Am I going to make a good teacher?
2 Comments »
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heatheryar Said:
on November 9, 2009 at 2:06 am
I agree that there are politics in teaching. I hope that it is not that way when I teach as well. I have noticed that some teachers say negitive things about their students. I think that is their way to vent. I don’t think that it is appropriate either, but I am not a teacher yet. I have the same fears about not being able to convey the concept or idea that is in my head as well. I think that with your creativity that this will not be a problem. – Great Job! – Hang in there!
Jennifer Leasure Said:
on November 10, 2009 at 1:52 am
Megan, I worry about teaching sometimes too. I worry that I won’t be able to reach each child or that I am not able to explain something so that they will understand the material.