Internship Week 2 (4)

Although I was only at the high school for three days (two of them being half days), I learned so much! My mentor taught me a lot about the legalities as well as technological advances in special education.  I was walked through the process of Medicaid- how to fill it out, how often to fill it out, when to turn it in, etc.  This week, I have also navigated through the online IEP writing system with my mentor to see what it was all about and how to maneuver through it.  I am also learning about accommodations made for the WestTest as well as how to notify general educators of accommodations of the students.  All in all, this week has motivated me to be organized! The importance of having an agenda and a well-organized classroom and work ethic really stood out to me.  I have certainly found ideas that I plan to 'adopt' for my own future classroom!
I was only able to work with students for two of the three days, but I feel that I am developing a rapport with some of them.  As I continue to be enthusiastic, I find it hard for me to turn off that elementary teacher deep inside of me.  I am really enjoying being in an atmosphere with older students, but there are certain cases while I am in the resource room where I feel that my positivity might be 'too positive' for my students.  I am trying to tone it down a bit, but I will not stop being enthusiastic about my job! I am hoping that the students that are a bit resilient to opening up to me will be more accepting to my offerings of help.  I would like to point out they are not doing this to be rude, nor are they being rude at all.  I feel that the actions portrayed by some of the students come from the age of wanting to be cool.  My students, however, are all wonderful! I am truly enjoying this placement.  I'm looking forward to next week, as I begin teaching English 9.