Seniors in our Teacher Academy of Maryland program are now out teaching in various elementary and middle schools in the county. To graduate from TAM, students need to complete an internship where they are placed in a classroom interning with a teacher, and hopefully getting some wonderful classroom experience. They have been interning for over a month now and some were willing to share the experiences they’ve had in their classrooms and tell us about what they love about their internships and what they are learning.
Madeline Orsi is interning at Southampton Middle school, working with 7th grade science. She plans to continue teaching science at a secondary level in her future career. We asked her what her favorite thing about her internship is, she gave us this- “My favorite part of my internship has been getting to know the kids and seeing how they are all improving. It makes me super happy when I am working with them, and when they better understand a topic that they used to struggle with.”
Delaney Klaus had a lot of positive things to say about her internship. She is interning at Homestead Wakefield Elementary School in a 1st grade classroom, she is with them for morning meetings, phonics, reading, snack, free play, and math. When asked about her favorite part of her internship, she said “My favorite part of my internship is seeing growth in students that have trouble. I work with a lot of students one-on-one in math and reading. There is no other feeling when you explain something to a student, and you see their face light up with understanding. It is so rewarding because you know they are having trouble, and they feel accomplished when they can solve problems or read a sentence independently” Delaney makes her passion for teaching young students very apparent, so it comes as no surprise that she wants to teach younger elementary or possibly even elementary special education.
Maddie Gibson is interning at Havre de Grace Elementary School with 3rd grade. In her future career she wants to teach between 1st-3rd grade. We asked Maddie what she Is learning within in her internship, and she told us this – “I am learning many things at this internship. The biggest one would probably be behavior management, and how to handle that calmly without drawing too much attention to that student. My teacher is also good at keeping the students engaged and quiet while there is a lesson going on, which I admire her for considering the age of the class. I also learned ways to get to know the students personally and how to not make them ever feel pressured or embarrassed to share anything, or share a wrong answer.”
The seniors are learning a lot during their internships. We asked them about the specifics, and they gave us answers regarding classroom management, managing behavioral issues, and even multitasking and how to handle the stress and chaos of a classroom; none of this is easy, but they’re all very important as a teacher.
An internship at a school is a big responsibility that our students are taking very well. They are expected to be on time and professional, they must follow the same rules as any regular teacher would. They have to be ready to teach what their partnering teacher wants them to teach and be ready to help when a student needs guidance. Most of our seniors are primarily helping in their classrooms with small groups, going over homework, and helping individual students.
Needless to say, our TAM seniors are doing very well and are having a great time attending their internships; they are learning a lot and are increasing their passion for teaching, and we are very proud of them for what they have accomplished. We wish them well on the rest of their internships and in their future careers!
