Robert Hunter Summation

For the past few months, I have been fortunate enough to intern at Robert Hunter
Elementary School in Flemington, New Jersey. I was interning in a second grade classroom with
Lori Carlucci as the main teacher. I specifically internships from March 21, 2019 to May 3, 2019
which totalled to a total of 26 hours. The classroom had 27 students and at specific times had a
teacher assistant in the classroom to help.
Robert Hunter was a historical figure who entered the British army and rose to
the rank of major-general. He was appointed lieutenant governor of Virginia in 1707 but
was captured en route to the colony by the French. After being released in 1709, he
was appointed governor of New York and New Jersey. He served with success for
almost 10 years, and was one of the few popular Royal Governors in American history.
He later served as a governor of Jamaica (1727-1734). Hunterdon County is named
after him as well. A man of wit and humor, he was the author of the famous Letter on
Enthusiasm (1708). In 1714, he also authored Androborus, the first play to have been
written and printed in British America. Mr. Hunter died in March of 1734 in Jamaica. He
was 70. Robert Hunter School was building in 1961 and was named in his honor. When
I first walked in the school, I noticed that a significant of the students work was hung up
outside the classrooms on the walls. Although the school is lacking in air conditioning,
the teachers make up for the environment of the school.Inside Mrs. Carlucci’s
classroom, there were desks formed into four groups with a round table in the back
where the students could work during their stations. As well as desks and tables there
was a standing desk where students can work at. In the front of the classroom there
was a smartboard, a white board and carpet. The students would sit at the carpet when
they were sharing “Star of the Month” as well as their spanish special. The classroom
was very active during the lessons and accommodated all their needs as a student.
After I signed into to the school, I would go into Mrs. Carlucci’s classroom.
Depending on the day, the class would either be in the classroom or at their special. If
the class was at their computer special, I would walk to their computer lab to assist and
observed how their computer special would operate. After the special, the class would
walk back to the classroom to start their stations. During my time their, they worked on
Fundations and language arts specials. My classmate and I would assist the students
and answer any questions as well. After their stations would end, the student of the
week would do their “Star of the Month” which would include reading their favorite book
and answering any of their peer’s questions about the book they read or their life
outside of school. This gave an opportunity for the student to share their interests and
fun facts about them to their classmates and teachers. Personally, I enjoyed listening to
these interviews because it gave me the chance to learn more about the students and
bettered my relationship with them.
 This past internship taught me a lot about managing a large classroom as well as
certain strategies in the classroom. One specific trait of the classroom that I learned was
that it was good to have the students talk. Having the students talk to each other and
not necessarily having a quiet classroom allowed ideas and thoughts shared between
the students. This would continue a learning process that cannot be repeated in other
classrooms. It also gave the students more independence and allowed them to take
specific jobs to maintain the classroom. I would like to apply this to my future
classrooms as well as the management strategies I observed in the school.