Ellie Loose – Elementary Education Internship

Hello, my name is Ellie Loose. I have been an intern at Blue Ball Elementary for the entirety of the year so far. I work in Mr. Lewis’s sixth-grade classroom for the last two hours of their school day. I am in the classroom every day with the exception of Thursdays because it is my observation day. I have a set routine with the students and follow it very closely. I am with them for their content (Science/ Social Studies) class for a half an hour and the entirety of their Math block. Thursdays, I have the objective of completing eight observations over the course of the semester. The goal of this project is to broaden my view of the types of instruction and techniques that are used by other teachers to gain perspective.

 

Every day in the classroom I follow a routine created by Mr. Lewis that ensures daily interaction with the kids. During their content class, I monitor and help the children with projects and worksheets they are completing. This half-hour chunk is more flexible.  Additionally, during this time I also run errands and make copies for Mr. Lewis. During math, I work with the kids in the collaborative station of hybrid learning. Hybrid learning has been integrated completely into the school day to solidify different types of learning into the school day. The collaborative station encourages children to work together on projects or to complete a task. I work with the students to help them with any questions they may have along the way or to guide them in the correct direction. This helps me develop teacher skills such as flexibility, patience, and classroom management.

 

Since I have chosen to extend my internship past one semester, Mrs. Hackman has asked me to complete observations. This has become my favorite part of the week because I get to see all the different teaching styles people use. So far I have completed two observations and both were completely different in nature, however, I was able to see the personality of each teacher shine through their curriculum. The first observation I completed was of an elementary librarian. She was working with 1st and 2nd grade and she did an amazing job of managing the kids effectively while still allowing for participation. The second observation I did was of a high school Psychology teacher. I was able to sit down with this teacher and discuss the differences between a first and second semester AP class. The teacher explained effective methods of fast-paced learning that he has found beneficial to students. My observations are my favorite part of my internship because I learn something different about teaching each time I go off campus.

 

This internship has taught me very valuable lessons about authority and flexibility in a career. From this experience, I have truly found my calling and know that I want to pursue education post-secondary. Being able to work with the kids on a daily basis has allowed me to gain knowledge about growth in students as they progress through the year. Observing other teachers has allowed me to think about how I might want to run a classroom when the time comes. This internship has given me so many valuable skills I will take with me in my future career.