Autumn Levengood

Me sitting at my desk in the classroom

Every year Boyertown allows for seniors to choose an internship at a certain work site. So, I chose an internship at the school. Not many seniors intern at the school, but my experience should help kids in the future better decide what they want to intern for. For kids who want to go into education, here’s a little sneak peak into what that career looks like.

Last year, I had determined my career path to be fairly certain. My goal: to become a teacher or professor. Then, when I learned that Boyertown had internship opportunities through the school, I was elated. At the time I was an AP Euro student and my teacher was Mrs. Clager. The relationship we shared through last year was stellar, so when I asked her about potentially interning for her, she was all for it. Fast forward to August 2023, and I have finished my first week of interning, and this is my review.

For the first day of school, it was a matter of getting to meet everyone. Mrs. Clager went over important classroom policies this day, and specifically the cellphone policy. As a student myself, I know that students may have an issue abiding by this policy, so doubling down on it during class should remind the students on what is and is not allowed in Clagerland. Besides this, making copies and retrieving books were my tasks for the day.

On the second day, we did ice breaker activities, which includes a paper where you have to obtain signatures from people who fit the description of a certain quality on the paper. While I was signing papers and talking to students who were curious of my role in the classroom, I had to mark said papers. Now, this certain activity was easy to grade: everyone gets a perfect for participating, and students who got every signature, they got an extra point. The trick was, absent students. Now, experienced teachers may laugh at this, but having to track down absent students after class and also figure out papers with no names, was very stressful. Three days later I was still in the process of finding students to claim a paper for period three.

For the third day, I put together my desk for the year. I am quite proud of it. I have my own coffee mug filled with pencils and paper clips, I have containers of rubber bands and clips for big stacks of paper, and lots of sticky notes. I am currently contemplating getting one of those name tags that sit on one’s desk. This was also the day I finished grading all the papers from the previous days’ activity, excluding the no named papers. Finishing the grading felt really satisfactory. Also, on this day I assisted students in an activity where they had to locate and put together a world map. I honestly thought it would be easier than it was, but I learned to never take even the simplest of tasks lightly. My ego had me saying I could complete the map in 5 minutes because my geography skills are A-tier, but 15 minutes passed and I was still trying to figure out where the ocean tiles went. I eventually completed the map, but not at the speed I would’ve liked. Afterward, I sat back at my desk and let the students do the map, and allowed my brain to reset.

On the fourth day, work began for the students. They were required to bring in binders for inspection by Mrs. Clager and I. I’d say about 65% of students followed the instructions, which were presented in a clear and precise manner. This was also the day I started the brainstorming for the w0nder wall in the classroom. I had photos ready for print on this day, however I would not get to print until the following week due to classroom tasks that were more important.

I am looking forward to next week and the start of new things to do in the classroom. Plus, a new student teacher will be coming in for the school year. I am unaware of how long she’ll be here; however, I am grateful she’s coming not only to help me, but Mrs. Clager as well. The only downside is, I don’t get the comfortable chair anymore.