As I come into the final weeks of this internship, I feel as though I have gained plenty of experiences in the field I wish to work in. This week I learned about the benchmark assessments teachers give students to see their progress throughout the year in reading fluency and comprehension, and spelling. The students do these assessments three times a year (September, January, and May). While Ms. Henry completed the individual reading assessments, I gave the spelling assessments to a group of students. This was an eye-opening experience because I am usually the one taking the exam, but now I am the one giving the exam. My role was to read 30 spelling words and 4 sentences for the students to write down. The most challenging part of this was keeping the students quiet and focused on the assessment. With every word I say comes a story or a giggle, so I learned you have to move quickly and keep the students focused on the task. I really enjoyed giving the assessments because it's just another great teaching experience to have.

    On Friday, I taught my very first math lesson. Ms. Henry gave me the math curriculum with step-by-step instructions on Wednesday, and then I prepared the lesson about adding 10 more and subtracting 10 less just using their brains. The math curriculum provides warm-up problems for the students, a math message, and workbook pages, so I just have to teach it to the students. I also created a game for the students to play to practice what they learned. At first, it is somewhat nerve-racking standing in front of all these little children who are just counting on you and watching your every move; however, once the lesson went on I became more comfortable. Overall, I really enjoyed this experience because I got to practice being a real teacher.

    This week was also teacher appreciation week. Which was kind of perfect because I feel like I have created a bond with each of the students, and when I think about my last time I tear-up a little because I am going to miss each other them. They picked dandelions during recess for me, brought in homemade chocolates, and other little gifts. These are the moments in teaching where you feel extremely blessed to be surrounded by such sweet students.