For my internship, my main focus was on summer school. I was the only person that worked with the students all four weeks, as the teachers changed out every week. This meant I was the one helping the teachers with the schedule we set the first week. I worked with the kids on phonics skills and basic math skills. Most of the kids in the program have lower reading comprehension scores, so we focused a lot on basic skills to boost their reading comprehension. The main teachers went over topics like imagery and connections from the text to their own experiences. We also spent time on math. I worked with the kids on drilling basic addition, helping them to become more automatic. The main teachers worked with them on reading time, counting money, and number sense. They also worked on individual skills that they struggled in on an online course while I and the teacher helped them. I was passionate about this project because I’m passionate about education. I’m majoring in education in college, and it was great to get some experience working with kids. I also got to contribute to the future of my hometown by giving the students a more solid foundation for their own futures.
My main goal for communication was to learn how to communicate effectively with the teachers. This wasn’t hard once we started summer school. The teacher and I talked every day after the kids left about how they were doing. Communication was free-flowing. My goal for leadership was to model responsibility to my students. For me, this included being punctual, dressing appropriately, and behaving professionally. I made sure to be punctual by setting timers on my phone for when I needed to leave my house. I made sure to check my gas gauge so that I knew when I needed to set time aside to refill. I wore nice shirts and nice jeans or capris every day. I made sure to use proper language and interact with the students in a professional manner. For the most part, this was easy. For my professional networking goal, I wanted to begin working with my former teachers as work peers. This was more challenging than the other goals. I learned under most of the teachers I worked with, and it was a learning curve seeing them as coworkers. They were patient with me and by the end of the process, it was much easier.
