As the picture next to this says, "Be the change you want to see in the world." Those were the last words I read before walking out of the Elementary school. I would love to say that I collected my memories and smiled, but instead it was an emotional good bye. I stayed calm as I hugged the kids. They suggested that I became a teacher so that I could come back and teach them the next year. I smiled and told them that it did not work exactly like that. Walking with Sharon to her car was very hard for me. I did not allow my tears to come out, but they didn't listen. I was crying and Sharon without noticing my state kept talking about how she was going to miss the school. I will miss those kids very much and I am glad that I got that experience. It was not a perfect internship and I learned a lot about what not to do, but those kids were all special and beautiful in my eyes. On Monday I played football with the kids, on Tuesday I walked around and helped them with their artwork, on my last day I danced to, "Swing your partner round and round." I sat with Derek and tried to calm him down, I saw the true bubbly Ella, and I joked with the kids. It was a perfect last week.
This week Sharon and I only got to intern two days. Right away, we asked about safety. At that moment, the nurse was coming from her office and was nice enough to stop and answer questions. When asked about infection control she said that teachers use virucidal disinfectant and are provided with gloves. The custodians also have a rigid check off list to make sure everything is safe. For personal safety, there are universal precautions that have to be followed. Aside from the universal precautions, there are on the OSHA guidelines which must also be followed. The biggest thing that ever happens at River Oaks Elementary is, “bodily spills.” This means that no child or adult gets seriously hurt and the worst things are throwing up, etc. Teachers and the staff must also go through Blood Borne Pathogen safety training online. For environmental safety there are things like monthly surveys that each district must fill up. Monthly drills for fire emergencies, tornado drills, etc. are also another safety measure. River Oaks Elementary school has a safety team which meets annually or semi-annual. This is a combination of teachers, staff, and others who want to suggest new things that need improvement. When a threat to a child’s safety is recognized, this is the team that brings out the topic and discusses it. The school nurse said that the most common hazard at the elementary are, “slips, trips, and falls”. That is why there are certain rules the kids have to follow like what side of the hallway to walk on, they must walk by the blue squares, and their shoes must be tied. For emergency procedures, she said that they have a special AED and CPR team that is prepared for the worst.
Something interesting that I learned this week was the differences in each child. I had never considered the difficulty in teaching children that were different from the teacher. For example, Taylor answered an answer on the board and she wrote it differently from everyone else. The reason for this was that she was left handed. Mrs. C looked over at me and said, “It’s hard to correct a lefty.” She was not saying anything mean about Taylor, only that it was hard to teach someone who had learned a different. Mrs. C also informed me that she had previously had a student who could not talk. Mrs. C was teaching the kids about language and included sign language as another type of language. Then, she superficially explained that last year she had a student who couldn't speak. Later, I asked her about it and she said that she was terrified. She called her mother who was also a teacher and asked for her advice. Mrs. C said that slowly she got the hang of it and could say some things. Thankfully, the student had a helper who would sign to the student and help her communicate with the teacher. Mrs. C said that she was not the only one who learned from this experience. She said that the students in that class also picked up on some sign language and even when they got it wrong the student still knew what they were saying.
Another interesting thing I observed this week were the, “1st and 2nd Grade Thinks Sheet.” Apparently, when the kids are bad they have to sit and fill out a sheet describing the rules they broke and what they did wrong. I feel bad for admitting this, but I found that funny. There was a boy from anther class working on it in front of me. His light blue eyes looked up shyly at me and asked what he was supposed to do. I read the paper and described his instructions. I asked what he did wrong and he answered, “I talked, but I don’t understand why that was wrong.” There sat the boy for five minutes with only one question answered because he really did not know what he did wrong. I thought the teacher should have taken him aside and spoken to him before he completed the sheet, otherwise he would not learn a lesson. The result was a confused boy who kept getting yelled at. It was time for specials, which is music, art, P.E., etc. and Mrs. C was trying to get everyone out of the class. “Get out of my class, can’t you see we are trying to leave”? Said Mrs. C to the boy. The boy sat there not understanding and I tried to whisper to him to get up. He didn't hear me in time and Mrs. C became ruder to him until he almost ran out of there. Even at the end he didn't know what he did wrong and he was treated rudely. The only mistake in this generation would be that “Thinks Sheet”.
The procedures for accurate documentation and record keeping was answered by Mr. Smith. If a student misses a class the teacher notes it, then Mr. Smith goes by the classrooms and makes sure it’s all correct. He then codes it on the computer. When keeping things such as records there is a different procedure. The nurse is takes in all of the special cases for kids who need special medication, etc. They then put the paper in the teacher’s box so that they know the situation. Records are kept in a records room and arranged per teacher, per grades. When a student moves away they still keep the documents, but as an inactive file.
HIPPA is not involved with River Oaks Elementary school. The people who are allowed to see the records are the teachers, staff and parents if they request it. Personal information about the children is not shared. For example, all of the kid’s names do not appear online. It is a safety measure for the children so that strangers can’t find important information about them. The kids and parents consent to things formally. Usually parents are given papers to sign so that they know what is happening at school.
It is the child’s right to get a good, safe education. They have the right to be respected and helped. The children and parents are expected to show up to the school on time every morning. The parents must make sure that the children do their homework and that they study. A lot of the kids in reinforcement when it comes to what they learned that day. An example of this is Alexander, he began to study what he is currently doing in math, over the summer. The parents must also remind the kids to behave and to be respectful of the school, staff, teachers, and other students.
The scope of practice for Mrs. Critelli is the standard way professionals must behave. She cannot say inappropriate words or have a rude attitude. She must dress appropriately. She cannot share information about a student unless instructed by a student. People who work at a school cannot have a criminal records and are searched by SLED, etc. I noticed in Mrs. C’s class that on the table there was a list of teachers and whether they passed the SLED search. Mrs. Critelli cannot speak badly about anyone including the teachers, staff, kids, parents, principal, etc.
This Monday was P.E. specials. That is my favorite day and I completely become a child and play with the kids. When someone didn’t have a partner during the ball toss, I would throw it to them as high as I could and they would love jumping for it. To get me back, they threw it in the opposite direction of where I was so I got a good workout. There were two knee injuries. One of them was small, but Nivea pretended it hurt her too much. I could tell it wasn’t true by the way she kept switching legs when she limped. Ella on the other hand really did get hurt and her knee became red. I took her to the nurse and got to meet the nurse. She was a completely sweet nurse and the nicest nurse I have ever met. Something I found interesting was Tristen’s attitude in P.E. Tristen is usually a quiet boy, who walks with maturity and always follows the rules. I heard him tell Joseph, “I’m the smartest guy in this class.” The accuracy of his words weren’t the problem, but the way he understood that he was different from the rest. He didn’t say it to be smug or show off, to him it was purely a fact. There was someone subbing for P.E. plus the Coastal interns were there. Blake, a Coastal intern took over, but didn’t have as much authority as he needed. It wasn’t him, it was the kids not wanting to listen to him. The next day I saw the P.E. teacher and she said she missed because her daughter was getting an award. Her daughter is in 3rd grade and got on the honor roll. She said that she almost cried and I felt proud to know that there were parents who really value their children. It brought back memories of my parents trying to take a million pictures and not caring if they were blocking anyone else.
I’m so used to the flexibility of high school and have forgotten how dominating elementary school was. When someone asked to sharpen their pencil, Mrs. C told them, “You know the rules, we sharpen pencils in the morning.” This was so foreign to me because I sharpen pencils when the pencil needs sharpening, not when the schedule permits it. The kids raise their hands and I try to let Mrs. C steer them in the direction they need. I don’t want to over step my boundaries and tell them they can go to the bathroom when they can’t. So far my instructions haven’t interceded with the teacher. Alexis on the other hand doesn’t care for my answer. When I asked her what she needed she said, “The teacher has to say so.” I didn’t find it rude, but it was strange that she had been the only child to acknowledge that.
This week in speech the kids were very whiny and didn’t want to do anything. Alexander would laugh at everything, causing John to try to make him laugh, and Evan was negative the whole time. Finally, the speech teacher answered Evan, “Then don’t play.” I’m the kind of person who does not like to baby people when they just want it for attention. If Evan didn’t want to play he didn’t have to. The speech teacher and I had the same thought process. In the end Evan didn’t want to be left out and played the game. After speech, I spoke to the teacher about college classes and why she became interested in Speech. She explained many things to me, for example she went to college in Florida to be closer to her family. The reason why she was in South Carolina was because of her husband. I was thinking about going to a college in Florida, so I quickly took her advice. She said that the college she went had the longest program which meant that it took her twice as long to become what she wanted. “When I found out it was too late. I had move in and everything,” she said. I enjoyed her teaching style and reminded me of what I did with my parents. I learned that she does not have children yet, although Alexander thought she should have one thousand and John thought she should have one. The ironic thing is that Alexander has no siblings and John has one. John surprised me by randomly saying, “I want to go to the military, so I don’t go to college.”
At my intern site there has been a mixture of positive and negative professional characteristics. The positive has been the way the people handled themselves. Mrs. Critelli, who always has a lot on her plate, always maintains her calm demeanor. She is the secretary of the school. A new thing in the school system is that whoever comes into the building must press a button and then the secretary has to click something that lets the people in. Mrs. Critelli not only organizes everything, works with the parents bringing the children, she also has to run around pressing the button to let people in. She fixes name tags for the kids who ride the bus and so many other things. Everything I have seen her do is exemplary and she has always treated me with kindness.
Mrs. C has demonstrated positive and negative characteristics. An important point about her is her comfort level with the children, she treats them as equals. That being said, she is sarcastic and snarky sometimes. With Alexander, extra patience is needed. She knows exactly what he needs and helps him, but sometimes she slips and tells him to, “Shut up.” It is weird for me to experience a teacher who tells a child, “am I speaking Japanese” when they freeze because they don’t know the answer. I was taught patience, especially from my teacher cadet class, but I am not a teacher so I cannot judge her.
Two important jobs I have encountered are being a secretary and a teacher. Mrs. Critelli, the school’s secretary said that she originally went to school for medicine. She wanted to be a physical therapist, but then she became a mother. After being a stay at home mom for years, she thought it was too late to go back to school. She became a substitute in New York and continued on that path for three to four years. Then she worked in accountancies and finally when she moved to South Carolina she became a secretary at River Oaks Elementary. She fell in love with it and gushed about the greatness of the job. Mrs. C went to college in state. She went to Coastal Carolina for four years and majored in early childhood education. She previously mentioned that her parents were both teachers and that it was basically in her blood. Currently, Mrs. C is trying to attempt getting her master’s degree in administration. At my site, people get jobs by applying to Horry county. They don’t apply to a certain school, in way the school chooses them. They are pulled out of all the people that have applied and fit with the school that would be best for them. One important factor about working in River Oaks Elementary is that they had to be good with technology.
On the first day of this week, there was a substitute who filled in for Mrs. C. She was sick again and called in early that morning. The substitute was sweet to me, but she didn’t know how to handle kids very well. She would read off the instructions Mrs. C left, which would usually be read to a high school class. It went on and used higher vocabulary causing me and the rest of the class to drift off. The kids had to go into different groups and practice math. There were nineteen kids all trying to ask questions and being disruptive. George and Derek were worst of all because Derek would make noises and George would do the opposite of what he was told. Alexander, who always sticks by a schedule, just seemed confused the whole time. There was a time when I had to completely take control of the class. I practiced something Mrs. Conrad did to quiet them down and then I remembered that I was not in charge and tried to give the authority back to the substitute. She just shook her head, smiled and told me to keep going. The substitute thanked me a lot and said, “Being a sub is hard, especially when it comes to knowing the names, so thank you.”
Another instance in which I had to take charge was in art, where there was another substitute teacher. Compared to the usual art teacher she was more authoritative in getting the kids settled down. The kids were the best they had ever been in art, which isn’t saying much because they were not that calm. It still became loud many times and everyone had to be calmed down. Alexander went to the bathroom during this class and accidently followed a girl into the girl’s bathroom. The substitute found him and she kind of laughed it off, but Alexander kept repeating, “It was an accident.” This made me really sad. The teacher did not explain anything to him and I worried for his future. This substitute was rough with Derek and Alexander. Derek needed the tough love, but she would yell and grab Alexander who would just follow Derek’s lead. It was not fair to him at all because he really didn’t understand what he was doing wrong. Sky cried again in art, this is the second time she has cried in art. Sky, the tomboy girl who is a rebel, cries every time she finishes her artwork. This time she didn’t tell me why. Ella cried at the beginning of art class. She is a smaller girl who always does her work and talks in whispers. When I asked her what was wrong she said, “I don’t like when it gets loud.” After that I tried my best to keep the class quiet for her sake and she stuck by me every chance she could. Laquanda an African-American girl who likes a good disruption now and then hugged me about five times in one day. She kept running to me and hugging me tightly, she wouldn’t let go. Sometimes Derek and Joseph would join her. It was cute, but it worried me that she seemed so needy for contact. The moment I took charge in art class was when the substitute went to the bathroom. I do not know if they are allowed to leave me alone, but I thought a quick bathroom break wouldn’t hurt anybody. It was very hard to keep everyone quiet when many would come up to talk to me or needed their pencils sharpened. When I sharpened pencils I gave my back to Derek and something I learned was to never do that. So I would sharpen and quickly look back. Surprisingly, he did not dance behind me like he would with the teachers. He just stared out of the window in the corner where the substitute put him.
This week I learned that Alexander is very particular about his day. He likes the certain schedule and when it is off he becomes off. Since Mrs. C missed the day before and the class was changed, he was slower the next day and didn’t take in his surroundings as much. Instead of being good at math like he is he would say, “55 minus 4, oh okay. 55…53…no, 55…54…53…52…51. Oh, I know it is 41”!
River Oaks Elementary is public run site. The site is “brand new”. This means that it has only been running for two years so no problems have come about. The secretary that runs everything up front is named Critelli. She is the first person I see and the last. She says that everything runs smoothly at the school because they have very good communication. She thought about it deeply, but could come up with no problems. The kids who go to the school are expected to try their best and learn. The parents’ job is to get the kids to school on time and make sure that they are studying at home. My site does not deal with insurance and it is not of high importance. They accept any child, whether they have insurance or not.
On the first day of interning, Mrs. C was sick so she was absent. The sub that took her place was a retired teacher who loved her job. She was very sweet and a very good conversationalist. Since Mrs. C wasn’t there, all of the kids had different activities and games to play. I worked with Sky and Derek. They were doing a math worksheet that related to money. I could tell that it was especially hard for Sky and tried to help as best as I could. Working with both of them individually made me become closer to them and even Derek worked well. For such a loud and rowdy boy, Derek tried his best to get the answer even when Sky had already found it.
The speech teacher came in later than she usually does. She was late so the kids that were with her had less than thirty minutes. It was Evan, John, and Alexander. As they worked through different words, Evan laughed at the fact that John said nuts. The teacher cringed and asked what was so funny. Evan’s answer was, “He said nuts, like the elbow.” The teacher looked taken aback and I laughed in my head. For a second, we were both stiff with worry that he knew what he was talking about, but the U-turn he took reassured us.
Monday is P.E. day. The usual teacher was not there so there was a very tall man filling in for her. The kids did not let him forget his height. As the kids walked into the gym and sat down, I had to call five of them aside to tie their shoes. The game of the day involved bowling pins and balls. The teacher asked me to play and I quickly said yes. I had a blast. Throwing balls and trying to knock out the other kid’s pins. I was not good at it, but still the kids loved trying to get me out. They succeeded. One of the Coastal helpers told me to scoot back so that he could hit a boy’s pin, but instead knocked mine out. The other Coastal helper laughed as I did my walk of shame to the line of kids that were out. When I got back in Sky would put her pin beside me. I got out four times and each time I got in she would find me and get next to me. The sudden interest made me worry because I didn’t want her to become too attached. At the end when they played a different game, I accidently gave wrong directions. The kids did not let me forget that the whole week. I learned that they have good memories.
On the second day, I helped out with math and glued things for the kids at Mrs. C’s directions. She was very open about me helping, but her authoritative presence made me always talk in a whisper. That was strange to me because I have such a thick and loud voice. Art class was terrible. The kids would not listen to the teacher and I could not get them to settle down. Joseph would walk around and play with scissors. Joe would play on this stool to the point where it tipped over many times. Alexander spill a whole glue bottle on the table and Alexis would shout out random things. There was too much chaos and no one listening. The kids had to make monsters out of little pieces of paper and many chose Mike from Monsters Inc. I looked around and saw Sky crying. When I went over to her, she told me it was because she couldn’t tear out a circle for Mike’s head. I reassured her that no matter how it was done, without scissors it would not be a perfect circle. I found it interesting that the lack of perfection made her cry when she is usually the nonchalant girl that dresses like a tomboy.
The third day wasn’t like it usually was. The second graders had to take a test, so I could not be in the room. I tried being with Sharon’s group, but her kindergartners were going on a field trip. Finally, they put us in a math room where there were many random kids grouped together. It was five boys normally in that class with a teacher who had never taught them and four kids with special needs that don’t usually have that class. It was the kids I used to see in Mrs. Bramble’s class, like Hannah and Alexander. The teacher was thankful to get help from Sharon and I. When everything settled down and all the kids went the right places, we weren’t needed anymore. Instead of disturbing people, we headed to the school to see the play.
I have a few friends in theatre who wanted me to see the play on Friday. I did not get the chance to see it so I was glad I could see it this week. I heard it was not chosen by the kids and that it wasn’t that interesting. I went in with low expectations and excitement to see my friends. My best friend Susanna was up in the sound booth and I was so proud to see her become a part of something. The play went on and all I could think was, “man these actors are good.” I really got into it and fell in love with the characters. By the end, I was convinced I was in love with Horace. That was how good he played his role. It was interesting to see the innocence of love renewed once again. It was not like it is now where the main character would have been laughed at for being so calm and sweet. Horace was himself, he accepted that he lacked confidence and tried to fix it. The audience was very good. I was so proud of my school for showing respect and clapping at appropriate times. At the end when they asked for questions, there were valid questions and the audience seemed into it. When they clapped harder for Marvin, I smiled and knew this was the school for me.
Interning this week was different from the others. Slowly I began to create relationships with the teachers. On Tuesday, I was notified that Alexander was smart enough to go into a normal math class. Although this is good because it shows his progress, it meant that I did not get to see Mrs. B anymore. I had finally made a break through with her and was going to teach her something on her computer. Before I went to Alexander, Mrs. B asked me if I could keep her informed on how Alexander was doing in math. It demonstrated that she cared about him. This change in class scared Alexander’s mom more than it scared Alexander. Mrs. C told me that Alexander was an only child and that his mom worried about him. Now that I had math with Mrs. C it meant I would see her for most of the day. Mrs. W was not present this week and this caused Mrs. C to talk to me more and she even told me I was allowed to walk around and interact. She made sure that Alexander was doing well with his math work and helped him. It turned out Alexander was actually ahead of the class and understood more things than the kids in that class.
Verbal communication was the most important aspect of my intern site. The kids did not understand disappointed looks or what was expected of them. In art class, the kids were rowdy and they went on that way for the entire class. When Mrs. C came to pick them up and heard them she used her authoritative voice and automatically all the kids quieted down. With kids, non-verbal communication does not work to keep them from being loud. It does, however, help create a connection. When one of the girls was crying and I cleaned her cheek she seemed to open up to me. When Tristan had a nose bleed and I cleaned him up, he began to trust me.
Electronic communications are everywhere throughout River Oaks Elementary school. As soon as you walk through the door, the nice lady in the front door signs me in using her computer. She says that when the system goes off everything goes awry. In class, Mrs. C uses a smart board for every subject. From doing math to reading, it’s useful. The kids love playing games on it and getting the chance to touch it. It makes it easier than printing out dozens of papers and keeping up with stacks of paperwork. Written communication is used when the smart board already has certain information on it and the teacher wants to note something special. When the kids do individual work they hand write things, but are guided by the smart board so that they know what page they should be on.
Medical terminology is not used in an elementary setting. I did use my medical knowledge when Tristan had a nosebleed. He raised his hand to let Mrs. H know that he was bleeding, but she didn’t know, so she told him to put his hand down. Tristan calmly sat there while his nose bled. His restraint and self control was evident by the way he listened to instructions without questions. Later on when the kids played instruments, he raised his hand again. I was behind him and could not see his face. Mrs. H finally acknowledged him and in a calm way he said, “My nose is bleeding can I get a paper towel?” Mrs. H handed him the substance and moved on. It was as if she didn’t know what to do in that situation. She tried to ask him if he needed the nurse, but Tristan said no. I raised my hand, like a second grader, and asked if I could take him to the bathroom. There I told him to hold his nose tipped down and made sure he didn’t do what they used to do, where they raised their head. Tristan told me this was his second time and that he bled two years ago. His calm demeanor was that of an older man. He let me walk with him and clean him up. Then he unhooked buttons at the end of his long sleeved shirt and washed his hands. I didn’t use medical terminology, but in the moment I tried to gather any information I had learned on nose bleeds.
I noticed a lot of things, but one of those things that stood out to me was Jasmine and Alexander. Jasmine always helps Alexander by getting him to the right page or repeating the instructions to him. Alexander never says thank you. When Alexander made a random sound and laughed, Jasmine also laughed and said, “You’re silly Alexander.” Alexander just smiled and said, “I am.” It was perfect communication between a girl with no disabilities and a boy who was trying to fit in.
On the third day, the kids were restless in math. It was hard for them to concentrate especially because they were working with money. Mrs. Bramble asked me to help Alexander, so I was finally given the chance to interact. There was a nice change this week because of going straight to Mrs. C’s, Alexander went to speech. The teacher worked with just three students: Alexander, Evan and John. This made it easier for her to play games with them. Alexander tried his best and was efficiently improving. John and Evan on the other hand, were rowdy. The teacher was patient with them and when she was frustrated she would whisper. That was an interesting concept because it is the opposite of what Mrs. C and most teachers do.
As a special, Mrs. C’s class went to P.E. The teacher was delightful. She spoke to the kids like adults. Several times she told the kids that if they disobeyed a little they would go on the wall and not play the games. It was not harsh because she nicely gave them ample warning and then she stuck to her word. When the teacher would play music she would sing along through the microphone. The atmosphere was relaxed, fun, and playful.
On the fourth day, the kids were even more restless in math class. Even the kids that are usually good did not want to do work. I helped as much as I could and even got Alexander on track. When I tried to help his neighbor John, he simply answered, “I don’t care.” Something interesting that I observed was John and Alexander’s relationships. Alexander does not usually care about other people’s feelings because he doesn’t realize that they have them. When John got in trouble, Alexander laughed because the boys always laugh together when they get in trouble. This time John did not find it amusing and told Alexander that they weren’t friends anymore. Quickly, Alexander apologized to him even as John was glaring at him. It showed that Alexander was close to John and respected him enough to care about his feelings. As I helped Alexander, I told him he could count with his fingers. Alexander told me that he does not use his fingers and said, “I’m not little anymore.” Mrs. Bramble and I finally spoke more. It was her birthday and she gave donuts to the class. She even asked me how to upload pictures from her phone and I offered to teach her. This showed that as a teacher she has no problem with being taught.
In Science, the kids took tests on magnets. Alexander had special help from Mrs. C. She let him read the questions out loud and then worked through them with him. When she lost her patience because he almost said the answer out loud, she whispered, “Shut up.” After that she regained her patience throughout the test. When everyone was done with the test a teacher came in to talk to Mrs. C, Mrs. W had to take control. She stayed in her seat and just called out all of the names of the people that spoke or moved. It became repetitive and the kids stopped caring. Especially Alexander, he decided to put his jacket over his face and make ghost noises because it made the other kids laugh.
Music class is where I observed the most patient and sweet women teach. It is hard to have a big class and many instruments banging together and still remain calm. I wrote down some things she said that I loved. For example, when she asked the name of the instrument she was holding a boy answered, “Accordion.” She did not scoff at him, but instead said, “Real close… guiro.” This made the boy feel that his answer was valuable even if it was not correct. When the kids did a really good job she would say, “Give yourself five claps, two pats on the back and a snap.” Smiling, the kids followed her directions. There was one main boy who would not follow instructions. His name is Derek. He is the type of boy who feels like he knows everything and can do as he wishes. Derek was especially loud and bossy that day, he even danced behind the teacher when he got in trouble for dancing in the hallway. Derek was sent to the corner of the room and to get there he would crawl backwards and just ignore the teacher’s instructions. Alexander did not understand the concept of music and would just bang the instruments together. These two students, Alexander and Derek, got together and exploded into noises and disruption. The music teacher tried her best to get them calm and never lost her temper. At the end of the class when she handed out tickets for doing a good job, she pointed out that, “Just because I did not give you one, does not mean you’re not doing a good job.” I appreciated that as I saw a little girls face fall because she did not get a ticket.
Phonics was the last class I got to see for the day. As we walked back into class someone must have stepped on the new teachers toes. She looked over at Mrs. C and said, “Just my toe, not something I need or anything.” They all laughed, including Mrs. W, and then they mumbled things to each other.
My interning this week was fun. I got to do new things and got to talk interact with the teachers more. I liked to note everything that I observed whether they were good or bad because we learn from good and bad examples.
I interned at River Oaks Elementary school and shadowed Alexander, a second grader with autism. His day begins with lower level math class with only five students. In this setting, he is comfortable and talks with the kids around him. John, who sits next to him, whispers math questions to Alexander. Alexander always told him the answers and helped him. John was an interesting boy because he would have to sit in the corner for pretending to stab him arm numerously. No one in the class saw this as strange, I hypothesized that they were used to it. The other side of the room contained the other three kids who didn’t have any abnormalities in their actions. They would answer questions and be into the class. Mrs. Bromell, the math teacher, tried to be as patient as she could. The first day she seemed to be tired, but she was never rude. Something I liked about her class was that they got awards if they were good, the system was called, “Otter Pride.” When Bryson, another second grader, said “I’m frustrated,” Mrs. Bromell jumped to his side and said, “Why, what do you need help in”? I loved that she acknowledged his feelings and didn’t make snide comments about him doing it by himself.
The second class Alexander had was science with Mrs. Winter and phonics with Mrs. Conrad. Mrs. Winter was an intern from Coastal Carolina so she would ask Mrs. Conrad what to do while Mrs. Conrad was also helping a new teacher who will begin teaching next week. In this class, Alexander completely changed. It was a class of about thirty children and there was a small space between the tables. This caused chaos that no one seemed to know how to control so it resulted in a lot of shouting from the teacher. Alexander moved a lot in this class, he would shake his head, whip around his arms and legs, and he would shout out, “no.” He did not answer questions and was not aware of any instructions being given.
Alexander is very logical. When a boy asked if he could borrow a glue stick, Alexander’s answer was, “only after I’m done with it.”This seemed different to me as a high school student because we are taught to share, have manners and be aware of other people’s feelings. In Art class, the kids became even more disruptive. The teacher tried to keep them quiet, but because Mrs. Conrad’s class had been tense they finally exploded. They weren’t mean; they were just loud and shouted even if the person was next to them. The art teacher could never get them to settle down and so I stepped in to help. The kids were very sweet to me and seemed to be very excited about me being there.
Music class was very interesting. The kids were happy to be there and followed the teacher’s instructions. Some kids still disobeyed like Joseph, Derek, and Alexander. The rest of the kids would quiet down quickly for the teacher’s approval. The teacher would let them be active and taught them music notes through fun games. When Derek gave a suggestion, she did not wave it away, but instead said, “No, but that’s a good suggestion.” This made me really happy because I had just seen him get yelled a lot in a previous class. The teacher was sweet and she never raised her voice or spoke in mean way. When the class ended I went over to her and told her that she was a fabulous teacher and that I liked her teaching style.
The greatest lesson I learned during this week was that kids become who they will be at a young age. There were the “goody-goodies” and the “class clowns.” I saw girls who would always answer the teachers and were excited to participate. Then there were kids like Joseph who joked around and happily disobeyed. In these little kids, I could see many teenagers in my class. That is why it is important to help children when they are very young because waiting may be too late.
I am an eighteen year old, senior Pre-Med student at AAST. As part of my senior mastery, we have to intern at a place that matches our ambitions. I chose shadowing teachers because I want to become a Child Life Specialist.