Intern Teaching Experience - Fall 2008 - Davis Jr. High School
GO RAIDERS!
For my intern teaching experience, I had the unique opportunity to work with not only one, but two amazing veteran teachers, Pat Bieber and Kim Grusecki. Kim and Pat co-teach two blocks of seventh grade English Language Arts.
Co-teaching a class of 60 students with fellow intern teacher Robert Gardella was a very rewarding experience for me. I learned much about playing off each others strengths and supporting each others weaknesses. Teaching 60 students at once seemed daunting at first, but as my internship went on it became second nature. It is an incredible experience to be able to teach such a large group of students, yet also provide individualized attention with four teachers in the room.
I also had the chance to teach two sections of seventh grade English Language arts in a smaller 30 student setting. I got to see the differences between single educator instruction and multiple educator instruction, and learn that both have their benefits. With single educator instruction it is much easier to get to know the students and manage student behavior. With multiple educator instruction it is easier to teach more material because two people are sharing the information.
The third class I had the opportunity to teach was an 11 student remedial literacy course. The students that came to us were lower level readers who had trouble in reading comprehension, word recognition, and decoding. Pat's background is 5th grade with a focus on reading and literacy. She was a fountain of valuable information and I learned a lot from her. The students benefited from the smaller class size and more focused attention.
I will truly miss waking up and going to Davis to teach my classes. I can honestly say that I looked forward to each new day with my students. I believe that I learned just as much from them as they learned from me, and I will cherish this experience and the memories I have made.
