Our academic internship program offers a terrific opportunity for students to gain valuable experience in the classroom now, as undergraduates, without having to wait until graduate school to complete formal student teaching! We have an arrangement with a local pre-K through 8th grade school (see listing for the Bartlett School) and Lowell HIgh School and can place students there. If students wish to intern somewhere else, they can arrange that placement through a simple process. Many students leverage their own contacts to arrange an internships at their former high school or a location where they have a contact. The English Department Internship Coordinator can help you with that process!
Here are some further details:
1) The UML student completes 120 hours (minimum) of unpaid work for the school. Sometimes the student can count off-site preparation time towards the 120 hours, but we prefer the student to be on site as much as possible for this kind of internship. Given the timing of school vacations, we encourage interns in schools to plan their schedule carefully so they will be able to complete enough hours. Hours spent at the school helping with parent-teacher conferences, a resource fair, or other relevant events can count toward the 120-hour total.
2) Student interns in K-12 schools will need to pass a CORI background check, a process that can take a few days or a few weeks, so it is best to plan ahead. CORI paperwork is site specific, so having completed a CORI check for another organization does not transfer over to a school. This is a relatively simple form but does need to be submitted in person so they can make a photocopy of the applicant's identification. Some placements also require finger-printing. Plan to get the approval proess started at least four weeks prior to the start of the internship.
3) The type of work students do for the school should be worthy of university credit. For example, busywork such as photocopying and data entry should be kept to a minimum, but beyond that, the student can engage in a wide range of activities such as observing the teacher, working with individual students or small groups, preparing a lesson and delivering it, grading students’ work, attending parent-teacher conferences,assisting the teacher with relevant extracurricular activities (for example, debate team, theatre, student newspaper), etc. Activities should contribute to the UML student’s learning goals as stated in the Internship 1 course syllabus. Student and school supervisor should decide together on the goals and end products that will be required, and the UML internship supervisor will assist. A student intern contract must be approved before the student can begin the internship.
4) The UML student can be supervised and mentored at the school by any qualified staff person. There is no restriction as to licensure of the school-site mentor since this is an undergraduate English class and not a graduate course or official "student teaching"—just as long as the supervisor is capable of offering the student guidance and mentorship, that is all we require.
Sign up for Internship 1 (ENGL 4960) and contact the Internship Coordinator to take advantage of this opportunity!