Kena Scott

Aspiring Educators

Natalie Barner

November 2020

Growth In The Classroom (Internship 2)

Preschool is definitely way different than I anticipated.Walking into the classroom, the

first thing I noticed was the set up of the class. There is a play area called “home”. It has a

kitchen, couches, a coat rack, fridge, and more. There is also a library, which is now sectioned

very differently than before due to covid. And there is always two or more children at one table. I

didn’t see much diversity on the outside, but there could be diversities on the inside that the

children are going through that I don’t know of. This taught me to think more about what could

be going on behind closed doors and not just at the appearance of students.

Observing the classroom showed me how different preschool is from daycare, and from

kindergarten. Most people say that preschool is just like daycare. But in all honesty, it really

isn’t. Preschool is more educational than daycare. Daycare is just providing the children a place

to be while their parents are off at work. While preschool can offer parents that same benefit, it

also allows the students to actually learn while in the care of these teachers. I have also gotten to

learn how difficult it can be to work with preschoolers. Preschoolers need way more attention

than kindergarten. You have to make sure they go to the bathroom multiple times a day and there

are times where you might even need to change their clothes for them. You have to make their

beds and put them to sleep, and much more. There are also times when the kids will cry nonstop,

or run from you in the hallways. These observations have shown me that if I truly want to work

with preschoolers that I will need to be prepared for anything that could possibly happen.

The learning needs of preschoolers is way different compared to kindergarten. With

preschoolers, they need extra help focusing on classwork, and sometimes the things we do for
Kena Scott

Aspiring Educators

Natalie Barner

November 2020

them doesn’t phase them. Many of the students will become distracted or bored because of the

smallest things when we watch lesson videos or read alouds. To help this, my host teachers

would separate them from their friends, or they would change whatever video we have playing to

something the children would enjoy more. I believe that these are effective methods because it

will help the children stay on track during lessons. Some characteristics that I have noticed is that

the children tend to want to do what they want, not what we wanted them to do. They will

always come up with a third option for work time, play time, recess, snack time, and every other

time that doesn’t involve an option that they would prefer. The teachers have to be very stern to

get the children to understand that their choice does not matter in the moment.

For the entire time that I worked with this class, there were only a few sayings or chants

used to catch the attention of the kids. Before recess Mrs. Ballard and Mrs. Carter would make

sure their bodys are calm and their voices are quiet by saying “My arms are by my sides, my legs

are standing still, my bubble is in my mouth.”. Then they will proceed to ask the children if they

have done all of the above. They also passed out stickers for their paw in their cubby. They

would receive these for cleaning up after lunch and snack time. Once the children had five

stickers filling up their paw, they got to pick something out of the treasure chest. The kids also

received golden star stickers when they would make up their cot perfectly without help. I really

like these methods and it taught me a few tricks about making cleaning up exciting.

When Mrs. Ballard and Mrs. Carter plans, they are given ideas in a book, then they come

up with the actual lessons on their own. On the two weeks that I was there, they worked on

recognizing letters, the sounds they make, and things that relate to that letter like an animal or
Kena Scott

Aspiring Educators

Natalie Barner

November 2020

color. They made sure to have everything precut out so that the kids didn’t have to use scissors.

They also made sure that every assignment was hands on so that the children could maintain

their focus on the work.

The way the use assessment of learning is very similar to my first internship. The kids are

“tested” by being given words to say, or simple assignments to do. If their vocabulary is

incorrect or if they can't identify certain words, colors, and shapes, then they will have to work

on past assignments and receive extra help. I like this method because it really prepares the

preschoolers for kindergarten.

Many things about this internship were very different compared to my first because of the

age difference. It is only one grade under kindergarten, but the learning process is nothing like

kindergarten. It takes a lot more effort from these teachers at Gerner to teach a room full of

preschoolers that haven’t learned how to behave in a classroom environment.