Internship 1

I began internship 1 today at Fern Creek Elementary School in a fifth grade class. Although I didn't end up doing that much, I was still so excited to be there! It was kind of a hectic day for the class, my teacher said, so it was a bit atypical. I'll see how tomorrow goes.

My supervising teacher's name is Kristin Abel, and she picked me because my name is Kristy Zabel---so similar and confusing when the kids say one of our names! I really like her though; she is very nice and willing to help me in any way, which is great. She had the kids write notes to me about themselves, and they were very nice and, at the same time, entertaining. Some of the students were at a loss for words, while others wrote a lot about what their favorite food is, what they do in their spare time, what game they played the other day, and just some random thoughts. I always love to see students' informal writing. The notes they wrote for me gave me great insight into not only what they like, but who they are and how they think. It's fascinating. It will also be interesting to see how they grow as writers as the year progresses. I'm looking forward to seeing what improvements are made.

I like the school as a whole too. It is a quaint, little school in Downtown Orlando with a great mix of students. I want to work at a Title 1 school once I graduate, so working with the student body at Fern Creek is going to be a good experience for me professionally and personally. I get a greater satisfaction from teaching the less fortunate. Teaching is always rewarding, but I have found the teaching of students at Title 1 schools to be even more rewarding because they lack certain care from settings outside of school. As for the grade I'd like to teach, it doesn't matter to me because I like all grades. I'll have to see how fifth grade pans out during this internship; I'm loving it so far, and I can't imagine that feeling will change.

I am looking forward to tomorrow. My birthday is tomorrow, so interning will be a nice present. I'll be 21!!!--which means I'll be old enough to rent a car! Woohoo! :) No drinks for me! Anyway...are you all in internships now? I'd love to hear how your days of interning are going! :)