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Rundown- 1/9/24
At High Tech High Media Arts, all juniors are required to conduct an internship with an organization, or whatever they desire, for an entire month. These internships allow us to dive into work fields and prepare ourselves for our futures. For my internship i will be attending Sherman Elementary School as an assistant to a first grade spanish teacher. I am curious about the logistics and what it takes to run a classroom. I also would love to help out in the classroom as i know that being a teacher is a stressfull job. im looking forward to this learning experience.
Blog #1 - 1/12/24
My First week of internship has been great! though the first day was slightly rough in the beginning as I wasn't really sure what to do i slowly warmed up to talking to the kids and helping them with their work. on the second day I sat down with my mentor Mrs. Liz and planned what my project could be, as of right now we are thinking about converting a space in the corner of the room into a safe, quiet space for children to do their work away from the chaos of the classroom. the goal of Sherman elementary is to educate students of all levels equally and effectively.
The students are great and lovely to work with, luckily they all are very sweet and non problematic. Though sometimes it is a little monotonous to run them through basic things like how to spell a certain word or pronounce a sentence eventually it gets done.
So far in this first grade class we are reviewing the letter J and connecting said letter to things like animals and foods, to accompany these lessons we bring in sheets where the students need to spell words and create sentences with a key word that starts with the letter of the week.
Who is your mentor? Describe his or her life, education, career path and more. Don't forget to post a picture of you with your mentor!
My mentors name is Mrs. Liz, i didn't have much of a chance to talk to her about herself because the second i got to school the work started, but from what i do know now she has wanted to be a teacher all her life and loves the first grade, she went through a teacher assistant program as well as getting her PHD in education. From my experience so far she is a very kind and thoughtful teacher and mentor and is always willing to help me with any questions i have.
Blog #2 - 1/21/24
Its been a Great Week! i really feel myself getting more and more used to being an authority figure in the classroom, whereas last week i was nervous to give orders to students I'm now more and more comfortable in making sure they are on task and making good choices.
My mentors name is Mrs. Liz, she's a super sweet Spanish teacher and I'm often in awe of how well she communicates and manages her students.
I've been planning my project and I've had a few ideas so far. one is to give a lesson to students using the letter of the week which is a system to focus on a single letter every week for kids to learn said letter with more detail. that or I'm thinking about redesigning the current rewards system which is currently a "ticket" which is given to a student where they write their name and class number and put it in a box.
I'm currently planning to take week 3 as one to plan and finalize my project to be ready for week 4.
What is the biggest challenge you face at your internship?
So far the biggest challenge i face at internship is connecting with the students. Luckily some students have been open and willing to ask me for help but there is a significant chunk that are still shy or not interested in getting my help. another challenge i face is organizing, i find that when I'm organizing anything in the classroom it is incredibly hard to make it so that the space is usable and wont get messy again, so there definetley was a steep learning curve to understanding the inner workings of a classroom.
Blog #3 - 1/27/24
this week was all about focusing on my final project, I took a step back from helping kids with their work and started to focus on organizing the classroom. about a week ago i organized a space next to the teachers desk where kids could go and be in a quiet and safe space away from everything else in order for them to calm down. So far after a week of implementation it has worked phenomenally and almost all the kids have used it at least once.
other projects I'm doing right now are to tidy up the file and test storage area which is really messy right now as well as organize all the books into fiction or nonfiction. I am also going to try to fix the cables in the Chromebook charging box which don't seem to work properly
This was the space i organized for students who where and are having trouble focusing or getting along with other students, as you can see before i organized it was sort of a dumping groung for all sorts of papers and extra items. but afterwards it was made to serve a better purpose. you cant see it in the image but behind the chair is a bean bag where students would sit and also a chest where there are several fitdget toys and drawing books to help calm the students down.
Who benefits from the work that you do at internship? How and/or why
Im lucky in that the work that i do has almost a direct benefit on lots of people. seeing what i do (organize classroom, help students, create spaces for students to calm down or to learn) it seems to be a help to the whole classroom, teachers included. Its also nice to see the fruits of your efforts in real time in the form of a student or students being more comfortable, happier or productive.
What are you thankful for in your internship experience?
the thing i am most thankful for in my internship is just the sheer amount of positivity you get in the classroom, everyday whether intentionally or unintentionally a student will make you laugh or smile, and its so rewarding to see that something that you played a part in made them smile as well
Blog #4 - 2/4/24
This week my focus on my project really payed off, i finished the class library organizing all the books into fiction and non fiction also separating them by size and whether or not the book was a hardback or not. Towards the end of the week i also started organizing the teachers filing system for students finished work but i couldn't manage to finish it by Friday so it will have to carry on into next week.
What advice would you give to a junior in high school who wants to pursue a career in the field of your internship?
i would first tell them to reach out earl in order to secure the internship they want. i would also tell them that even if they dont acquire the exact internship they want, it will still be a beneficial experience.
What is going well with your project? What challenges are you facing?
the main issue or challenge i faced while doing my project was the sheer amount of time, planning and organization needed in order to successfully make something like a library or to organize a storage system.
Final Blog - 2/10/24
Describe what you are most thankful for in your internship experience—what experiences, what people, and so on? What new appreciations have you gained through internship and how did you develop these?
There are many experiences and people that i am thankful for that guided me throughout my internship, obviously, i am most grateful to my mentor. She was so patient and was glad to help me with anything from making the most complicated copies all the way to filling out all the forms i needed and making time for my interview and IPOL. I am also grateful for all the other teachers who were so kind and especially to Mrs. Fry who got me this internship in the first place.
Describe your reflections on your internship project—what went well, what would you do differently, and what stands out to you?
I have so many fond memories of this internship, and i would consider myself lucky in that there weren't many things i would do differently. So many things went well at my internship at Sherman Elementary i organized the classroom, connected with students and had a great time sharing this experience with my friends.
What advice would you pass on to future interns? What are the most important skills for a student to be successful at his/her internship? How could another student develop these skills prior to beginning an internship?
My mentor told me something a couple days ago that really stuck with me, that initiative was something that can make or break a career, if you only did what you where told to do you would get nowhere, She's definitely right, there were times where when i took initiative and did things on my own and the classroom benefitted from it. another tip i would give to future interns is to definitely reach out early if there is a internship you really really want.
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