Small group activity

Ask an abundance of questions to always better enhance education and your own teaching skills. Show passion in what you do.

Internship: Week 1

Last week was my first week as an intern at Mylan Park Elementary. This semester I was placed in a pre-k classroom. Although my students have not yet begun, I have already learned so much from them.

Since I am to take the role of the teacher, I accompanied my mentor teacher and aid on my very first home visits.  Before visiting my students, I felt that I had to mentally prepare myself. Mylan Park is one of the highest poverty schools in the county. Approximately 75% of the students receive free and reduced lunch. Even after knowing this information, I was still shocked at some of the living situations of my students.

Since I am not sure of the confidentiality regulations of what I am allowed to share about my visits, I will just say that I now realize that many students live in an environment that would make it hard to excel at school. However, I am glad I participated in the home visits so that I can better accommodate the individual needs of my students. Now I will know that if a child is not thriving in the classroom, it could be due to lack of sleep, food, or other necessary resource. I also learned that to make the classroom as welcoming and student-friendly as possible since it may be the only positive, warming, or clean environment they know.