Overall, I would say that this internship has been incredibly rewarding. After each visit, I come back to my roommates with stories about some awesome thing a student did, or a funny thing they said, or I come back with a cool craft to put on the mini fridge. I’ve even ended a few nights with exciting ideas for projects for my future classroom. But a case of the Fridays hit the art class pretty hard this Friday, and the girls were really struggling. The excitement of the showcase project has worn down a lot, I think, as the process gets more and more tedious. By the end of the session, there had been three crying incidents, one threat of quitting, and one and a half beheadings. Yes, beheadings.
But one of my goals at the beginning of the semester was to gain some classroom management skills, and Friday definitely gave me some experience. I watched as Miss Jill and Mr. John worked students through their emotions so they could calm down and get back to their projects. I also watched them as they collectively put their foot down when the entire class got out of hand. I was able to help a student with her frustrations when repairing her project wasn’t working out, and I was able to get her back on track. I also was the reason that there was one and a half beheadings, and not two. I had to step in and stop a student from beheading her project before she got all the way through the act. It was strange having to be stern with them for the first time – but I am glad I did have to be, oddly enough. It’s something that I haven’t encountered yet in my classroom experiences, yet its going to be one of the most important things to know in the field of education, so I’m thankful for the experience this case of the Fridays has given me.
Building Bridges 