Beginning Of Internship

The start of my internship has been slow, but very enlightening and helpful. I began a week early, returning to the middle school for meetings with all of the other teachers. I was able to help my host teacher set up the classroom and get things organized before the students came back. I was able to speak with my host teacher about my expectations and set a tentative schedule for when I would be taking over classes and how things operate in the classroom. I was placed with the same teacher that I was with in the fall of my participant year, so the transition to my internship has been very smooth because I am familiar with how she does things and conducts her classes.

I have been doing a lot of observation so far in order to get a feel for the personality of each class so I can differentiate my future lessons to meet their needs. I go over quizes and get them settled down when class is about to begin. Monday I will begin taking over my first classes and I am so excited! I feel that not just being "thrown to the wolves" during the first week and doing observation will allow me to ease into the teaching role and I will be more confident in what I am doing.

This semester I will be teaching algebra 1, geometry, and course 3, which is the basic 8th grade math course. The average class size is about 25, but one class I will be teaching has 37 students. This is a collaborative class, so there is an inclusion teacher in the room to help. I know this is the class I will have to be most patient with, not just with them but with myself. Having 37 students in a class is a struggle and I know I will learn a lot from dealing with such a large group of students.

My time at Suncrest Middle has been great so far and I am looking forward to the rest of my internship!