Calvert County Public Schools / English Language Arts Internship

Calvert County Public Schools

Internship Profile

Position Title: English Language Arts Intern
Student Name: Amber Buckler
Major: Elementary Education
Type of Internship: Education / Teaching / Training
City, State: White Planes, MD
Semester: Fall, Spring
Hours: 5 or fewer hours per week
Paid or Unpaid: Unpaid

How did you find this internship?

A department faculty member referred me to this position.

What did you do as an intern at this organization?

At this internship, I observed the teaching of English language arts in a third grade classroom. I learned classroom management techniques, observed how my mentor teacher set up her guided reading tables, and saw how she taught lessons. I observed students at work and helped them when needed. Most of the time while my mentor had a group at the guided reading table, I walked around and helped the students doing independent work and made sure everyone was on task. I worked one on one with my mentor to write two lesson plans that I then taught to the class. I also did a lot of grading.

What did you find most rewarding in your internship?

The most rewarding thing was being able to learn from such a fabulous elementary teacher and mentor! We grew a very close bond, so I felt comfortable to ask her any question I had, and I knew she would answer my question as in-depth as she could. Another extremely rewarding part was being able to actually work with the students. It’s one thing to talk in class about how to interact with students, how to answer their questions with ones that make them think further into things, and how to build on prior knowledge. Actually getting the opportunity to try different techniques, talk with the students, and hear real student questions was a great learning experience and made me feel more comfortable and confident in teaching students.

What were the challenges you faced in your internship?

One main challenge in this internship was my confidence. I was worried that I would not have very good classroom management being that I had never really had to manage a class before. Timing was another big challenge for me that I am still working on! Creating lessons that fit into a specific timeframe was and is hard for me. I find it hard to properly judge how long things will take. My amazing mentor reassured me that this is a skill that takes lots of time and practice to really master.

If another student at TU was interested in your internship next year, what skills would you recommend they develop in the coming semesters to prepare?

A skill that I would say to prepare for is class management and questioning. A lot of this will come in the internship and with practice, but having an idea of what you might do would be very helpful. Think ahead and plan for many circumstances. How might you get the classes attention if they are being very talkative? What might you do if students are not participating? Practice answering questions with a question. For example, if a student says “how do you spell ____” instead of just spelling it, ask them to sound it out. Ask them what sounds they hear. How do they think it would be spelled?

about the organization

Calvert County Public Schools

Learn more about Calvert County Public Schools.