INTERNSHIP I – École du Val Joli, Val-Bélair
I initially started my BAE at Laval University in Québec. During my first year of training, I was teamed up at the elementary level at Val Joli Elementary School. This first internship consisted of ten days (Mondays) throughout the semester. During that internship, I mainly assisted the teacher in her daily routine, while observing the class and getting a better idea at what a teacher job looks like. I took charge of the class for two days, where I organized a bingo activity, related to a story that I would tell the students at the start of the first class. As there were a lot of students at Laval University, we were two students in the same internship classroom so I don't feel I got to get as involved as I would have if I would have been alone with my cooperate teacher. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this first internship and it confirmed that I was very interested in becoming a teacher.
INTERNSHIP II – Le Carrefour High School, Val-d'Or
When I came back in Abitibi-Témiscamingue to complete my BAE, I had to start over, with a few classes being credited. As my goal was to come back and establish myself here, I felt like it would be of great importance to get known by the different school boards around here, in order to get a job later on. I had to take over a few of the classes that I had already taken at Laval University as the programs between the two universities are somewhat different. My first internship was credited so I had to wait a long time before going back into a school, in a learning context. My second internship was during my second year back at UQAT, where I got to work with students at the secondary level, in the second cycle. Luckily for me, I got to work with one level only (secondary 4). I feel I was very lucky to only have one level to work with as it made it easier to plan my classes. Most teachers usually teach at two levels or schools so I feel it was a good thing for me to get some stability, as it had been a while since I've had been into a school. During that second internship, I got to take over very quickly. I had a great relation with my cooperate teacher who trusted me and gave me control of the classroom for the full three weeks of this internship. During that period of time, I got to create and model a LES of my own that lasted for the full three-week period (7 classes with each group) I was at Le Carrefour. I got to work with six different groups and developed my ability to manage a class. Even though the intention of this internship was not to evaluate students, I still got to do so with the help of my cooperate teacher. During a debate held in class, I got to evaluate C1: To interact orally in English. The second internship confirmed that I would be a teacher. I enjoyed that internship very much and wouldn't see myself doing anything else from that point on. Going into schools to teach was so motivating at that point that I didn't feel like going back to university to study. I wanted to stay on the market and get experience from there but I kept going as some important knowledge is taught at university and it is necessary to get it in order to be a better teacher.
INTERNSHIP III – Sainte-Lucie Elementary School, Val d'Or
Internship three was a great challenge for me. I feel that as teachers, we all have our preferences towards which level we want to teach at. Going back at the elementary was a bit difficult for me at first as I didn't see myself teaching at that level. Singing songs and dancing was not my forte so I didn't feel as comfortable as I were at the secondary level. I must say that this frame of mind I had quickly changed with the help of the great cooperate teacher that I was teamed up with. I quickly got into her class routine during the first few Mondays I assisted to the class, where I would reproduce the class she had given and adapt it my way. I quickly got a good contact with the students whom seemed to have taken a liking to me. I must admit that going into that level was a bit scary but I quickly learned to appreciate the elementary level. Kids were adorable and we quickly forged a bond, which gave me the confidence I needed in order to complete Internship III. During that internship, I created two long-term LES. My cooperate teacher had been working for a long time at that level already and had plenty of material to use. I used and adapted a lot of her material in order to plan my full two-month period I spent teaching from grades one to six. The first LES I created was called “My Favourite Hero”. During this LES, students got to learn about heroes. Through different activities, we ended up building our own hero that we presented to the whole classroom, into seminars (groups of five to six students). Students got to develop their creativity by building a hero of their own. They also got to develop both C1: To interact orally in English, and C3: To reinvest understanding of texts. I'm proud of the second LES that I built from scratch during this third internship. The LES was called “Christmas Doodle”. During the second part of the internship, my students and I worked on a song project. We got to watch a doodle clip on YouTube, in order to get them to understand what a doodle was. Following that, students had to fill in a questionnaire in teams, answering questions about what they had seen in the video. I then announced the project, where they had to take lyrics from a song and draw their understanding of it on a sheet of paper. In teams, they were given many parts of a Christmas song which had to be analyzed and reinvested into drawings. This LES was perfect to show differentiation towards the students as some lyrics of the songs were easier to understand than others. Each of my third cycle groups had a different song that they had to work on. In the end, I took all the drawings, scanned them and created a full doodle using Windows Movie Maker. Every student was given a CD with a copy of all three doodles that had been created by the three groups.
Overall, this third internship was an amazing experience for me. Even though I didn't think I would love the elementary level, I feel like this full two months of taking charge of a classroom really got me to discover the wonders of working with young children. I got positive comments out of this internship, which led me to pursue my journey into becoming and English as a Second Language teacher. I got to develop many of the professional competencies, especially evaluating. I developed evaluation grids, which I hadn't really done before, as well as piloting LES's on a longer period of time. I feel like that internship really showed me what a teacher's job is. I got to make lots of photocopies, assisted to different teachers' meetings, as well a parents' meeting. I feel like I have developed a lot of professional abilities during that internship and it has helped me become a better person as well.
Overall, this third internship was an amazing experience for me. Even though I didn't think I would love the elementary level, I feel like this full two months of taking charge of a classroom really got me to discover the wonders of working with young children. I got positive comments out of this internship, which led me to pursue my journey into becoming and English as a Second Language teacher. I got to develop many of the professional competencies, especially evaluating. I developed evaluation grids, which I hadn't really done before, as well as piloting LES's on a longer period of time. I feel like that internship really showed me what a teacher's job is. I got to make lots of photocopies, assisted to different teachers' meetings, as well a parents' meeting. I feel like I have developed a lot of professional abilities during that internship and it has helped me become a better person as well.
INTERNSHIP IV – Le Carrefour High School, Val d'Or (sec. 5 regular, sec 4 and 5 Language Arts)
I've recently started my fourth and last internship at Le Carrefour High School in Val d'Or. I must say that I am eager to take full charge of my six groups. I have been waiting for this moment since the beginning of my training to become an English teacher. As a student-teacher, I always tried to picture what a perfect teacher was. I feel that as teachers, we try to reproduce teaching habits that we liked in the past. I have to say that I was strongly influenced by my secondary five teacher back in the day, when I used to be sitting on the chairs my students are using at the moment. I loved my teacher's presence, her dedication to her students, as well as her presence in the classroom. I must say that she was a great influence for my choice of career, and I'm glad to be teamed-up with her for this last year of my training. So far, I got to observe her and exchanged great ideas concerning the global planning of this last internship. During the four months when I'll take full charge of the classroom, students will get to work on different things. Firstly, we will be creating our own newspaper. They will get to study the different conventions when writing a newspaper. Shortly after, they will get to create, as a team, a whole newspaper that they will present to the rest of the class. Further into the semester, we will talk about plays. They will once again have to use their imagination and creativity into creating a play of their own. We'll get to study different plays, while integrating some grammar and vocabulary. This final internship is the perfect test for one becoming a teacher. It is the conclusion of four years of hard labour, putting every professional competency into giving the best experience possible for our students.
* Internship IV - Commission Scolaire Harricana
After a few days at La Polyvalente Le Carrefour in Val d'Or, I have received an offer to work at La Commission Scolaire Harricana (CSH), as a student-teacher. This was a great opportunity for me to quit my job at Telebec and focus on my teaching carreer. My goals have now changed as I am working with a younger clientele. I had to redo my internship goals, as well as my Projet de Stage. As from now, I have my own class and my own students. This is an enormous challenge as I will not have the same support as I had in my previous internships. I will be in full control of the class and will be faced with the true job of being a teacher.
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Who dares to teach must never cease to learn. – John Cotton Dana