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First Grade, First Internship: Some Observations

Amelia L. Jennings

Providence Christian College

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For my internship this semester, I observed and assisted in a first grade classroom at

Pasadena Christian School. Each time I came to the classroom for the first two hours of the

school day, in which the students settle in for the day and participate in reading group work

stations, including grammar worksheets and reading, educational applications on iPads and

computers, and activities ranging from crafts to written reflections and experiments. I helped set

up stations, distribute materials, return student work, monitor the classroom, assist students in

focusing during reading times, monitor station work, set up classroom displays, read with

students, grade worksheets, prepare materials, run science experiments, and guide students in

working on reflections and science lab notes.

One of the seemingly easier goals I set was to connect with the students, learning their

names and discovering interests or qualities to help connect them with their learning and

activities. Although names are typically a struggle for me, I found that the social aspect of

working with these children, experiencing different personalities and interactions with each,

helped immensely with this part of my memory. As I thought about the adventures of each

morning, I started to connect different aspects of each childs person with their name, but from

the start I had planned to accelerate name recall by interacting with each child using their names

as much as possible. In order to learn about points of interest, I would sometimes ask questions

based on things they mention or imply. Some children make this task easier in their eagerness to

talk about the things they find fun or exciting, or if they just generally desire to have attention

from adults they look up to and so will share any piece of news they can come up with. I learned

how to balance engagement and management in those instances, because often the time a student

wants to share is actually a time for them to be focusing on a learning experience or instruction.
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Another goal I had set was to learn how to grade student work and practice grading. After

I had shared my goals with the classroom teacher, I also highlighted that goal when appropriate.

After she had shown me how to grade a set of worksheets I was able to grade for her a few times

throughout the semester. Although I aimed to learn this skill, I assumed it would be more

complex than my experience grading worksheets as I did when I taught math to some of my

younger brothers. At this level, at least, with worksheets, the process is fairly standard so I was

actually quite familiar with the process and what to look for in student work.

Because of how much I have already learned about the need for continual assessment in

education, I wanted to work on observing student progress and providing feedback to the teacher.

As a station supervisor, I intentionally undertook this effort in an informal way. Mrs. Ryor

specifically asked me to observe how successful or discouraged certain reading groups were

when playing some of the apps on the iPad because of the possible disparity in their level of

reading and math competency and that which the game required. In addition to monitoring that

particular app, I watched for improved methods and results in student efforts when they asked for

extra assistance, complained about difficulty, showed frustration, or otherwise seemed to indicate

room for growth. It is fascinating to see the various different manifestations of this and how

students respond to offers for help differently. Each student has a unique personality, learning

profile, and different daily factors at play in how well they respond to the request for

engagement. Because I got to spend so much time with the students, however, I was able to

understand and assist them increasingly more. Not only did I participate in this informal

assessment of skills, but Mrs. Ryor actually had me work with a few students one on one on an

assessment of student understanding of a certain math concept. As beneficial as group work is, it

does limit how closely the teacher can monitor whether specific students understand a concept,
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of whether they are merely mimicking/copying other students, or even if they are not doing work

out of behavioral issues or actual lack of understanding. So my teacher had me isolate a few

students to eliminate a few of those factors and unearth their actual progress.

It seems that one of the main goals of student internships is for future teachers to see how

current teachers manage their classrooms. Classroom management is so critically important and

evident, but easy to discount when you are reading about classrooms instead of being in them. In

my internship, I aimed to help maintain order by upholding classroom procedures and rules. It

turned out that learning how the teacher manages the classroom was just as much work as

participating in her efforts. As a homeschooled student, I had no concept of how things work, but

since Mrs. Ryor needs first graders to be able to understand the procedures and rules, I was able

to grasp them too. As a station supervisor, I had no choice but to help manage the classroom, so I

did not have to make a special effort to implement this goal. When our class had a substitute

teacher I was able to step up even more in this capacity because, while the students were so

successfully conditioned to do things certain ways and informed the substitute of these

procedures, they conveniently neglected the rules of quiet times. Additionally, as the students got

more familiar with my presence in the classroom, they were less excited and awed into good

behavior. Time also had an effect on their relationships with each other, so that with the passage

of time rose the need for conflict mediation and discussions about when to tell the teacher about

issues and when to refrain from being a tattle-tale.

Part of the beauty of a well managed classroom is that when a volunteer such as myself is

in the classroom, delegation runs smoothly. I arrived to the classroom anywhere from half an

hour to ten minutes early in order to debrief with my teacher and prepare for the morning, and

once the students came into the room at the bell, I was ready and able to help with minimal extra
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communication with the teacher. Both she and I were able to be flexible with simple instructions

for times where she wanted additional help on a task, or when I encountered an issue or question.

This was helpful, because in a first grade classroom, there is always something to keep busy

with. Once I knew the procedures for different tasks I could fill spare time and keep efficiency.

Because of how quick those tasks are, I was able to help get quite a few small things

accomplished which Mrs. Ryor and Mrs. Knott did not typically have time for. In general,

however, most of my work consisted of management and leadership tasks. From encouraging

quiet whispers in work groups to motivating students to stay on the apps they are supposed to

stay on, I interacted the most with the children. Many times I had to use different strategies to

keep students interested in the games they had in one case, the student complained of boredom

and said the game was too easy. In order to motivate her, I suggested that she use her time to

investigate for students who struggled more with the app by doing the tasks in different ways and

finding the best methods. Differentiation does not have to be complicated in this case, all she

needed was a good reason to keep on task.

In EDU 101, we learned that probably the most important aspects of the school day are

who the teacher is and how they handle classroom management. Unfortunately, while we could

watch Harry Wong videos all day, we would never really learn how to do management without

firsthand experience. Without a doubt, this was one of the things I observed the most in the

classroom. As the year progressed, the children got better and recalling and executing the

procedures that were in place (procedures such as packing and unpacking, moving around from

tables and stations, and collecting or distributing materials). I think the order and grace with

which this classroom strives to run speaks to the philosophy of education that Mrs. Ryor and

PCS have. Children are learning more than reading and math, they are learning how to treat each
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other kindly, how to interact with people when they have a complaint or concern, and essentially,

what is of worth. Students are whole persons with potential and worth.

In the course on childrens literature last semester, we discussed the importance of

student interest in reading material. Childrens books become classics not only because they are

written well, but because readers love the stories from generation to generation. As I observed

the students library selections and the classroom book collection, I could see a good mix of old

classics and new favorites. Children still love to read the Frog and Toad books because of the

enduring theme of friendship, and Eric Carle books will always hold a certain charm for the

brilliant, creative illustrations, but for some students, the choice is a little different. One of the

particularly difficult to manage children will not typically not sit and read while he waits during

the morning unpacking, but one morning he had a book about a superhero that he could not wait

to open up. This also ties into a principle from the teaching reading class I took this semester. It

is critical to include books of various topics and styles in the library and classroom. The

important thing in developing literacy is for students to read in more quantity of books. That may

mean sacrificing the quality of the content some of the time to allow student-interest led

selections.

Mrs. Ryors classroom is exceptionally differentiated this year, as the children are not

only at a variety of reading levels, but one of her students has ADHD and another has

undiagnosed developmental/behavioral symptoms (possibly Downs Syndrome). Because of this,

I have seen and been part of efforts to differentiate curriculum and instruction. Some of the

students need as little as an extra effort to motivate them, and others need more creative

instruction. At first, seeing that the morning station groups were split according to reading level

struck me as remarkably fixed in mindset, but actually, each student is expected and supported to
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reach the desired learning goals. While the lower reading level students may evince lower grades

from time to time, often all they need is a different way or time to work. Parent-teacher

partnership is clearly prioritized in this school, as Mrs. Ryor not only has parent volunteers in the

classroom, but also communicates with parents and families about things they can do to help

their children. One of the lower reading level students, for example, came in with her

grandmother on morning, and as they discussed the reading homework, Mrs. Ryor highlighted

the importance of the students home reading time. Her positivity about the students progress

encouraged her family and I think probably motivated them to continue fostering this healthy

learning practice.

In correlation to this internship, I read Eric Jensens book, Teaching with the Brain in

Mind.1 Some of the brain-based learning approaches this book discussed are already in practice

at PCS. For example, Jensen describes best practices for the brain to learn new information. The

iPad stations keep learning chunked into brief time slots, and reinforce practice of learned skills.

According to research, repetition of less quantity of material helps the brain retain. Brain

research also shows that learners need settling time where they are not getting new information

and their brain can process, sending things to the right storage places. Having recess and moving

breaks helps this. At PCS, recess and snack started at 10, which means that they were only

getting instruction for two hours, then get a break, and get a break again not long after for lunch.

Even just moving from station to station is helpful, as exercise uses more brain mass and gets

blood flowing (the brain gets more oxygen that way). One of the most interesting chapters in the

book dealt with brain states and motivation. Motivation includes both willingness and action,

which means that a positive brain state is part of the battle. In this classroom, there was varied

1 Jensen, Eric. (2005). Teaching with the brain in mind. Alexandria: ACSD
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success at making activities interesting, to stimulate curiosity, and relevant, to give students

opportunity to see the value and buy in to learning. Jensen argues that teachers should make

students aware of their brain states and that they can control them themselves. A couple of the

students in this classroom are starting to learn that they can take responsibility and control of

their attitude, and they may be on the road to learning how to more directly work on getting into

a good brain state.