After completing your internship, write a paper (minimum of 4 pages, double-spaced, 12 point font or smaller) about your experience.
Campus Data
What is the name of the campus and school district in which you are interning?
List the titles and names following personnel: principal, vice-principal (or instructional coordinator), counselor, nurse, librarian, and any other support personnel not listed.
Give the address and location of the campus.
What is the URL for the campus webpage?
Describe the environment in which you are interning i.e. private preschool/school, religious sponsorship, public school, grade level; location.
How many faculty members serve this campus? Give this by grade level and/or content area.
Demographics and programs
What is the academic rating for this campus?
If it is a low-performing school, what special efforts are being made to improve? Give details.
What support programs do they have and how many? (Example: content mastery, dyslexia, special education, at risk, tutorials, ESL, etc.)
Special Programs
List all of the special programs provided on your campus.
Who is the director of special education in your school district? What are the duties of this position? What other support personnel are there and what are their specific duties?
Who is responsible for the gifted and talented program? What kind of program arrangement is there for GT students? (Example: pull out, self-contained, regular classroom with enrichment activities, etc.) What are the expectations for the rgular classroom teachers of the gifted.
What kind of teaching/remediation is provided in the special programs on your campus?
Who is the Title I director for the district?
How are students identified to participate in a Title program?
What is being done on your campus for at-risk students? Discuss any programs/procedures in detail.
Who coordinates referrals for all of the special programs on your campus?
Use the following questions as a basis for your reflections. Your paper does not have to cover all of the following ... just use the questions as a starting point.
Children
What individual physical characteristics were apparent?
What was the multicultural composition of the group?
What activities were popular?
Could all children in the room be viewed from one spot in the room?
Did all children seem to lose themselves in play?
What kinds of play existed? Solitary? Cooperative? Other?
What languages were spoken?
Did any child seem uncomfortable with adults?
What seemed to be the 'general interest, general behavior?
Were there any children who needed an abundance of teacher attention?
Were there any children with special needs?
Teaching Behaviors and Interactions
How was guidance of child behavior undertaken?
Were all children supervised?
What style of teaching seemed apparent?
Were feelings of warmth and acceptance of individuality shown?
If you were a child in this room, how might you feel?
Did teachers show enthusiasm?
Program
Did an atmosphere exist where children and teachers shared decision-making and showed respect for individual differences?
Were children exploring with teachers more often than being directed by them?
What were the planned activities?
Was there small group or large group instruction?
Was it a developmentally appropriate program?
How did activities begin and end?
Was the program based on child interest?
Did lots of dialogue exist among children? Among children and adults?
Were the children "tuned in" or "out"?
How were children moved from one activity to the next?
Overall First Impressions
What immediate questions would you have liked answered about the classroom?
What emotions occurred as you observed?
What were your first impressions of the classroom?
Based upon what you have read in your textbook, what if any changes would you suggest for your campus?