Internship

My internship this past semester was so fun!  The internship was by far the most nerve-wracking thing on the list of what I had to accomplish in order to obtain my Master's degree.  I even put-off applying for this degree program for an entire year because I was scared of the internship.

Once I knew that this was just part of it, I applied for and got accepted into the Master's program.  After working full-time for a year while pursuing this degree online in the evenings and on weekends, I quit my full-time job in May 2018 to complete one intense summer of classes before my field experience and internship.

My field experience was a trip in itself.  Supposedly, Master's candidates would be assigned to a school classroom (or potentially three or four) to assist the teacher and observe the ins and outs of classroom management.  I chose to complete all four field experience requirements in one semester.  I did this in the fall of 2018.  Although I was supposed to be assigned somewhere in August, I wasn't assigned anywhere until October 2018.  I substitute taught in September while awaiting my placement.  My field experience requirements were due in late November, so I didn't have very long to complete the forms and field trips necessary for these programs. I was given the option of an extension by my professors, but I didn't want to do that.  I would feel unfinished over the Christmas holidays if I chose an extension.  So I buckled down and did the work.  I turned everything in on time and was able to have the entire month of December free to substitute teach.

I was very apprehensive about the internship process since it took nearly half the fall semester to even get an assignment for field experience.  On January 7th at the first seminar for internship, I quickly discovered that interns are golden children and field experience candidates are the stepchildren.  Interns get emails responded to within a couple of hours.  Placement assignments are handled beforehand, and every single intern walked out of the first seminar with a location to attend the following morning.  I got my top school choice and couldn't have been more blessed.

My field experience was in an 11th grade classroom, and although I was anticipating a 10th grade assignment for my internship, I received 9th grade World History.  This was seriously the best thing ever.

The cooperating teacher (ie, teacher I had to shadow and take over from), was my age and therefore was up to date on current events and we had lots to talk about during our planning period.  He was kind and offered constructive criticism in a way in which I never felt embarrassed.  I took over two of his five classes (the smallest class: 15 students, and the largest class: 31 students) and had an absolute blast.  During the first couple of weeks that I taught them, things were fast-paced and I scared a lot of the students with my expectations and requirements of them.  This was mainly because I had SO MUCH to turn in for my program and I needed concrete examples of students work in order to complete my own assignments.  After that first month, we settled into a routine and teaching was easy and fun.  The students from my large class started coming into the classroom during break to hang out before our class period began.  Students from both classes really developed a rapport with me quickly and it was easy to teach all 46 of these 9th graders.  Students from the remaining three classes that I did not teach kept asking me when I would teach their classes also.  Now, I am not someone to wear rose-colored glasses, so I understand that some students just wanted a change and wanted something new in their class, which is why they wanted me to teach it.  I will say that some of the students whom I taught were quite resistant to change when it actually occurred to them, and I had to work at breaking through the barriers and showing them that I had the credentials and aptitude to be there.   On my last day (which happened to be my birthday), I had several students wish me well.  One of the toughest students presented me with a gift-- a candle and a hand-written note.  Usually, I am not one for opening presents right away, but I could tell she wanted me to, so I did and when I praised the candle and thanked her for the note, her whole face lit up in a grin and that completely reaffirmed to me that I am needed in the school system.  I want to be there for these kids and show them that an adult really does care what they do and who they become.

On Tuesday of this week, I will meet with the principal at this school to talk about potential openings.  These openings may not be in my field of study, but in our state, teachers are allowed to teach "out of field" for a year.  So we'll see what happens.  God knows how much I want to teach there and I am trusting Him to prepare a path.

Until Next Time,
Much love, Reba