Mason Musser – Elementary Education Internship

Hello, my name is Mason Musser. I am doing an Early Childhood Education internship at Blue Ball Elementary School. My mentor is Melissa Bliss, and I work with her first-grade class in the mornings. I mostly get to work with the students on their ELA (English Language Arts) work, which includes reading, writing, phonics, and comprehension. Although I only get to see the students during their ELA time, it is a treat to be able to work with them and watch them grow and learn every day.

A typical day does not exist in first grade, as all sorts of things can happen, but I do have a general routine for my day. I arrive at the elementary school at 8:00 AM, and, until the students arrive at 8:45, I help Mrs. Bliss with getting ready for the day. Getting ready for the day can include many things, but what I do most often includes printing and making copies, cutting out papers for activities, getting the morning bins ready for the students, and sharpening pencils. When the students arrive, I greet them and help them with their morning routine of getting their reading folders out and ready to be checked. At around 9:15, Mrs. Bliss begins the whole group ELA instruction, and my job becomes observing what she is doing. I always try my best to observe the things she does when she teaches, including how she handles interruptions and how she keeps students engaged. After the whole group ELA instruction ends, usually around 10:00, the students move into rotations, and my job consists of helping students with their daily word work assignments and helping those that are struggling, while Mrs. Bliss runs a small group station at her table. These rotations are unfortunately the last I get to see of the first graders for the day, as I leave at 11:00 as the kids begin their snack and iSpartan time.

Throughout the course of my internship, I feel I have developed and grown in many areas. One area in which I see great improvement is my ability to teach. I feel, through observing Mrs. Bliss, that I have learned many valuable teaching skills that I have already been able to apply in the classroom, such as using examples specific to students that help that student understand better. Another facet of growth I have seen in myself is how this internship experience has changed my career goals. Going into this internship, I knew I wanted to be a teacher, but I wasn’t entirely sure what age level I would have wanted to teach. Through this internship, I have confirmed entirely that I want to be a teacher, but I believe I want to teach at the secondary level, as I feel more confident in my ability to specialize in a subject, as opposed to teaching early elementary and teaching children all sorts of subjects.

Overall, this internship has been a wonderful experience, largely due to Mrs. Bliss, as well as the lovely students I get to work with every day. Although the elementary level is not what I want to end up teaching, this internship experience has been entirely formative in showing me that teaching is my calling. I hope that each day continues to teach me more and more, and I hope I continue to learn and grow from this experience.