Internship Reflection #10

The Hardships & Happy Moments

The internship in an elementary school was pretty challenging to me who doesn’t have any experience with American schools. The hardest parts are, absolutely, related to cultural differences and language barrier. At first, everything was new and interesting but challenging since the classroom environments, atmosphere, curriculum and even the relationship between teacher and students all were different from those that I had experience while I was in a school.

I, sometimes, have met embarrassing moments which could discourage me. Common theme was about students’ resistance and mistrust toward me. For examples, when I came to the students raising hands and ask them whether there are any questions or something to talk about, some students said like “I’d better ask Ms Ward or No nothing” and rejected any conversation. But as the host teacher shared the authority with me by emphasizing my roles as a teacher, the resistance was becoming weak. For instance, she frequently mentioned me with her like “Ms Ahn and I figured out… or you have to get permission from me and Ms Ahn” and provided me a chance to talk in front of the class. Through this strategies, the host teacher helped students recognize me as a cooperator who also has authority about the classroom. I was a little bit discouraged every time I experienced students’ resistance but I, soon, realized that it wasn’t only me. According to the host teacher, students’ resistance could easily happen to the classroom with a new teacher. When the familiar teacher who had worked with for more than several years was gone and new teacher come to the school, some have a hard time to emotionally accept and adapt to not only the new teacher but also new environment and different teaching style even though majority are pretty good at adapting to the new environment. I believe this is understandable since some easily tend to emotionally unstable or insecure and this kind of children always need more time to get used to new ones.             

I wanted to overcome the resistances and make me as a familiar person instead of a stranger to students in order to efficiently communicate and interact with children. Since the art teacher teaches whole students of the school, if I attend once a week, it is hard for me to be close to any students. So I made a decision that I attend the school more often. After attending almost every day, I have felt like many students started to express good feeling toward me and it makes me much more comfortable and confident. Especially The several students who used to mistrust started to believe me after watching and experiencing me solving their problems. Getting used to students faces and names, I could also start to enjoy working with students. Several students gave me a hug and students who want to have conversation with me are increasing. It is inspiring enough to me and, absolutely, the happiest moments to me.    

  

Fortunately, the host teacher is open-minded and positive person so that I could interact with her without any pressure. She also frequently asks me before she made a decision. It was very beneficial to me because I could not only hear a lot of background information about children and teaching experiences or strategies but also suggest my opinions about the class and get a chance to solve the problems. Watching the process reflecting my ideas or suggestions and good results, I could be more confident. The host teacher’s encouragement and compliment also inspire me to actively think about the class and learn a lot. I believe this internship could be remembered as an invaluable experience in my teaching career.