VTFT 1 Internship Essay

Brynn Brazukas
2018-2019

Most people tend to think that being a teacher is the worst idea because it is
known that you don’t get paid well, and some people do not like kids and they cannot
handle the stress. To me, being a teacher would be my dream because teaching
includes getting to spend time with kids everyday and teaching them how to be better
human beings. Teachers are not only there to give information, but to build character
and honesty within the children. The best teachers are the ones that love their job, love
kids, and have a passion for what they do. I aspire to be one of those teachers when I
grow up so I can help others find their dream too. My internship was at Linkhorn
elementary school in a first grade class. My teacher was a very kind younger lady
names Ms. carroll, she worked very hard to help me learn how to become a better
teacher while keeping all of her kids on task. I admire that because it is not an easy
thing to do. During my internship I learned many things: how to have patience when it is
not easy, how to help kids in a way that they want to be helped, and how to deal with
behavior issues that all children come with. I learned that not every child is the same
and every child learns differently and that is okay.

My teacher separated my class into four sections: the poodles, labradors,

retrievers, and the shepherds. Those groups were based off of their reading ability,
some were lower than others. I got to mostly work with the lowest reading group and
those kids definitely had a lot of character. They had no idea what they were doing but I
feel that I helped them understand their reading and writing better. One thing I liked
about the classroom was there were 5 different tables and each kid had an assigned
seat at a table but the groups at the tables were mixed with different dog groups. This
way, everyone could help each other and learn off of each other. This created an equal
balance throughout the classroom. Working with these lower level students helped me
realize that their reasoning for falling behind is mainly caused from their homelife and
lack of parenting and extra help. One little boy was out for half of the year because he
had a lung disease and then he came back and was very behind in all subjects because
his parents did not get him enough in-homeschooling. Another little girl name Lorene
was the light of the classroom, always filled with smiles and happiness, but she could
not read and could barely write a sentence on her own. I learned that Lorenes homelife
is difficult and her parents do not understand that she is growing up and they need to
help her get better.

My mother always told me that patience is the key to life but I never fully
understood that until this year. As you can imagine, a class full of 25 first graders is not
all rainbows and butterflies. They have so much energy and they cannot keep it in for
 VTFT 1 Internship Essay
Brynn Brazukas
2018-2019
eight hours a day. During my internship, I had to learn that the hard way and face the
consequences when I was not patient with them. They cry when I say no, run when I
say walk, and get louder when I say be quiet. I had to learn how to communicate to
them in a fun and encouraging way so they were more encouraged to get assignments
done. Some were better about listening than others but that is what you should expect
from a first grader. I also how to learned how to help them without giving them the
answer, I got better the more I did it. I learn to give them more clues and ask more
questions so they could figure it out on their own.

Last but not least, I had to learn that teaching is not just about teaching
information, but shaping human beings. I think that this is the most important part of
being a teacher because you are not only there to help them learn, but to teach them
right and wrong in life. Not every child has a good adult figure to teach them those types
of things. I think that younger children need this the most because when they are little
they are still learning the world and getting to be the person who shows them that world
is the best thing ever. You get to be one of the very first influences on that child's life
and possibly one of the only decent ones.

This internship changed me in many different ways, but the most important way
is how it helped me realize my passion in life. I have learned how to create a spark in a
child’s mind when they learn something new and to me, that is the coolest thing in the
world. These kids come to school everyday ready to learn and it is our job at teachers
to teach them and show them what they can do for the world. Every little kid deserves
someone that will be there for them, and lead them. If my internship taught me anything,
it is that there will be many different kids that I will encounter while teaching but every
single one of them just wants to learn and have someone that will be there for them. I
will be that person, that person who will go the extra mile to help a students, or the
person who will do their very best to make sure no child is left behind, because no child
deserves to feel alone.