Insights from Interning

My internship has just ended and it has been such an amazing experience. In my specific internship classroom I had no ESOL students, but I took the opportunity to alternate with another intern in the same grade as me. Her classroom had sixteen students who are in fourth grade and are reading at a second grade level. Most of these students are ESOL students and one of them is monolingual in Spanish. Switching into her classroom was a complete shock for me, which leads me into my first insight I learned from my internship.

1. Students who are monolingual can communicate in different ways. I have also thought it would be impossible to teach a student who couldn't speak any English, but I was wrong! This student seemed very shy at first and didn't want to communicate with me in any way. She would talk to the student who sits next to her and have her translate because she was very self conscious about her English speaking skills. After I was in the classroom for a couple of days she started opening up to me. One day we were packing up to go home and I said something to her in Spanish and her eyes lit up. She then asked me if I spoke Spanish and I told "pequito" and she started laughing so hard. Ever since that day she seemed to gravitate towards me. Just by making her feel comfortable I had opened a line of communication that I had figured would never be opened.

2. You don't have to have ESOL students in your classroom to use ESOL strategies. In the previous classes we have taken it seemed that it was always stressed to use these strategies with ESOL students and we never talked about how they would benefit English proficient students as well. Since my classroom only had one LY student who spoke perfect English I was hesitant in the beginning when I had to use the Jigsaw strategy for my video, but it turned out to be one of the best decisions I made for my class. The Jigsaw strategy worked wonderfully for them and gave them a sense of ownership over the material. I have really learned that I can use these strategies to help my students with comprehension. They really are wonderful tools!

Overall my internship has taught me way too many things for me to list here and I have gained a sense of what it's like to be in a classroom day in and day out. Each student has made an impact on my heart and my future teaching styles and I will miss them dearly. I cannot wait to find out what awaits me for Block 5!