My Internship took place during the Fall of 2021, in a grade 3/4 classroom. I had the pleasure of working and learning along my cooperating teacher before starting my 3 week block of teaching and managing the class full time in November.
During my placement, I had the privledge of co-coaching the girls football and volleyball teams. This provided me with an opportunity to develop relationships with the senior students, as well as develop my coaching and leadership skills outside of the classroom.
I had a wonderful experience teaching different areas of the curriculum to my students. In science, I taught a unit on on Rocks, Minerals, and Erosion, and a unit on Static Electricity and Magnetism. I enjoyed the opportunity for hands on learning that these units allowed for. In Math, I designed and taught a geometry unit to both grades. This unit challenged me to plan and deliver different content to both grades simultaneously. In English Language Arts, I taught a mini unit on fairytales and fractured fairytales. The students enjoyed learning about characteristics of the stories, comparing fairytales and fractured fairytales, and began using a writing process to edit and revise their own fairytale stories.
My favourite part of my Internship experience was challenging myself to step out of my comfort zone, and become “comfortable with being uncomfortable.” I asked many wonderful staff members to observe me teach, I tried out lots of different hands on activities and learning centres, and worked to incorporate technology into my pedagogy practice.
I can’t wait to gain more experience teaching in the future!