1Michigan State University Internship Final Report

Intern: Kaitlyn VanderWoude

The Internship Setting
Cornell is a K-4 elementary school located in the Okemos School District. Historically, Okemos
has been a community of predominantly middle to upper middle class professionals and the
student population has reflected the level of professionalism in the community. In recent years,
however, the socio-economic demographics have become much more diverse. The community has
high expectations for students and teachers, as well as a high level of parental involvement.
Because Cornell is located close to Michigan State University, the school community is rich with
diverse cultural backgrounds, allowing students and staff the opportunity to learn about,
understand, and respect the similarities and differences among each other. In addition, the
classrooms exhibit a significant range of academic abilities.
Our third grade is made up of 23 students possessing a wide range of social, behavioral and
academic needs. Two students receive daily support in reading and math from our resource room
teacher, as well as additional reading support from our Title 1 At-Risk aides. Two students are
Asian English language learners with differing commands of the English language. These students
require varying levels of classroom teacher, Title 1 and ELL support to ensure understanding of
the content presented in class. One student presents challenging social behaviors that require
constant supervision and frequent documentation. Our yearlong documentation of these behaviors
and various strategies used in an attempt to help this student understand appropriate social cues
and behaviors have resulted in the parents agreeing to have their child evaluated in hopes of
receiving the support that will help him have a positive school experience. Another student has
Type I diabetes that required Kaitlyn and me to receive special training from the district nurse
regarding how to recognize and handle any possible medical emergencies. This same student does
three daily blood sugar checks that require a teacher to accompany him to the office and stay with
him while the check is completed. The classroom has also benefited from the presence of students
from diverse cultural backgrounds including African-American students, Muslim students, and
Asian students.

Knowing Subject Matters and How to Teach Them

Kaitlyn has worked throughout the year to identify the concepts, goals, information and skills that
are necessary for students to comprehend in order to meet district and state curriculum goals and
objectives. She has been an astute observer of the students in our classroom throughout the year,
and is well aware of the various learning strengths and differences among them. She is thoughtful
in her instructional decisions, implementing strategies, methods, and materials appropriate for a
classroom of diverse learners. For example, while planning to teach our Force and Motion
Science unit, Kaitlyn spent time reading and researching content, choosing the most important
big ideas of the unit, and making instructional decisions for core content delivery. She
considered the academic and behavioral needs of our students when planning lessons and
activities. When introducing the unit, Kaitlyn used a familiar experience, swinging, to hook
students interest. She then used several hands-on activities to engage students and teach to the
important concepts throughout the unit. She was intentional as she planned organizational
groupings (pairs, small groups, or independent), considering student needs and personalities to

provide optimum student success.

Kaitlyn understands the importance of ongoing assessment strategies that are appropriate in a third
grade classroom, including formative/summative, formal and informal assessments to determine
students learning. She also realizes that teacher observation is a critical component in the
classroom and uses these observations to assess student understanding and possible
misconceptions, as well. In her introductory science lesson mentioned above, one student had the
misconception that swings move in a zigzag motion upward. There was no curved motion in the
students representation. In order to clarify this, Kaitlyn created an investigation where students
could observe the motion of different objects and understand that their motion is limited by
something they are attached to, i.e. like the swing is attached to the chains, which limit its motion.
Kaitlyn used her observations of the students discussion and participation in the investigation to
plan future instruction throughout this unit.
Kaitlyns integration of Smart Board lessons, computer software, Google Classroom, Vocaroo,
etc., and many hands-on activities are a few of the many strategies she uses to engage all students.
I am particularly impressed with how she incorporated technology into many of her lessons in all
subject areas. Our district now has one-on-one devices for the students, so finding ways for the
students to purposefully use them in their learning is a priority. For the final assessment of her
Michigan History unit, Kaitlyn assigned each student an event or person from our states history.
They were to research their person/event and write about it in Google Classroom. She printed off
their information, had each student present it to the class, and then decide where this person/event
should be placed on the timeline she had created throughout the unit. Teaching their peers new
information added another layer of instruction and made students more accountable for their own
learning.

Working with Students

Kaitlyn builds positive relationships with her students by demonstrating respect and kindness
toward each one that is evident in her daily interactions with each one. In turn, she expects the
students to show the same respect and kindness toward each other, fostering a safe and caring
learning environment. Kaitlyn values and respects each childs thinking, and treats all students as
capable of learning.
Kaitlyn helps students make important connections between new learning and prior knowledge.
She seeks and uses students' prior knowledge in planning instruction by gathering information
about what they know before beginning a unit. For example, Kaitlyn asked the students to answer
a few written questions about their knowledge of Michigan history before her first lesson. She
discovered that one student, in particular, had considerable background knowledge and in response
she adjusted some of the assignments for that student in order to extend her learning. Kaitlyn
monitors and checks for student understanding throughout her lessons by incorporating many
different strategies to make sure all students are actively engaged in learning, i.e., thumbs up, turn
and talk to your partner, explain how to do this to your partner, etc.
Knowing the various academic and social needs of the students in our class, Kaitlyn was always
quick to provide whatever support necessary to help individual students experience success. This
included, but was not limited to, scribing for a student with slow processing skills, making small
groups and partners of students who work well together, assigning group roles so that everyone
would feel successful, pairing those who struggle with reading a reading buddy to that they could

focus on learning the content instead of the actual reading, asking a student who was struggling to
stay on task to help her with teaching the class a math game, etc. Having a roomful of very active
students this year, Kaitlyn also structured her lessons to allow for movement, which in turn,
provided for more purposeful learning!

Creating and Managing a Classroom Learning Environment

In a classroom of diverse academic, emotional, and behavioral needs, Kaitlyn has sought effective
classroom management strategies that encourage personal responsibility and self-motivation in the
students. She has learned the importance of being consistent in stating the goals and behavior
expectations for lessons, activities and transitions, which has led to more on-task, appropriate
student behavior that supports her instructional goals. Kaitlyn has become more aware of
interactions among students and will proactively adjust the organization of the lesson and/or
seating of students to avoid interruptions to instruction and provide a more conducive setting for
purposeful learning. Her desire to create a safe, caring, and productive learning environment is
evident as she communicates high expectations for social interaction among the students that
foster respect and cooperation.

Working and Learning in a School

Kaitlyn is a friendly and positive member of the school community. She is respectful of all school
personnel and recognizes the importance of their roles in creating and maintaining a successful
learning environment. Kaitlyn takes every opportunity to work with other teachers and
administrators and has participated in formal and informal professional learning for and by
teachers (Professional Learning Communities and professional development opportunities offered
by the Okemos School District and the Ingham Intermediate School District). She has taken on
the extra responsibilities of a teacher including, but not limited to, before/after school car line duty,
helping with school wide assessments (AIMS Web), recess duty, cooperative planning and sharing
of instructional activities, and parent-teacher conferences. She has attended every school-wide
function and also helped to plan our March is Reading Month opening assembly and activities.
Kaitlyn worked with another teacher and two interns in our building to establish an after-school
technology club for interested students. For two six-week sessions, students attended technology
club where they were introduced to and taught how to navigate various websites and applications.
Kaitlyn has built a positive rapport with the parents and families of our students. She has
communicated through notes, letters, phone calls and informal interactions in the hallway and at
school functions. Kaitlyn planned and led many of the spring parent-teacher conferences,
demonstrating her knowledge of the abilities and needs of the students. Parents respect and trust
Kaitlyn as a professional and value her opinion as their childs teacher.
Kaitlyn is a qualified, professional, and creative teacher. She has given the gifts of time and caring
to her students, endearing herself to them. She would be a welcome addition to any school staff
desiring to make a positive impact in the academic, social, and emotional development of its
students. Kaitlyn has my highest recommendation!
Paula Pulter
Third Grade Teacher
Cornell Elementary
paula.pulter@okemosk12.net