Elementary Internship: Day 13

(104 hours down, 16 hours to go)

One of the best parts of being a media specialist is the fact that I always get a room with a view.  Gray, wintery days seem tranquil rather than cold when viewed through the ceiling high wall of windows, and on beautiful spring days like today, the media center is the next best thing to actually being outside and enjoying the warm sun. Come to think of it, that warm sun isn't quite warming the air enough, so maybe I do have the prime place to enjoy early spring days.

Of course, we do have something of a greenhouse effect in the media center. The sun starts to shine directly in at about 2pm, so we have to close the blinds otherwise we absolutely bake when its sunny.

Well today was another interesting day.  We had a staff meeting this morning. The principal received our school's budged allocation from the district last night, which she shared with us this morning. At this point, there's not much to know. Once the school's declare who they're keeping, the district decides if there are enough positions for each job type. That's how I got excessed two years ago, suddenly there were more media specialists than jobs available. Lucky for me more positions opened up in the summer, which brought me to my current school.

After the staff meeting, the principal met with me and let me know what I need to know to get a 2010-2011 prep schedule drafted. As it turned out, first and second grade was on a field trip all morning so I had two extra hours, so I spent most of that time talking to various people (like the secretary, they always have the best overall perspective of how the building works) in order to hopefully get a few possible schedule options done in two weeks. I'm actually thinking of asking someone at my middle school internship next week what they do for prep scheduling, just to gain some perspective on how its done in other schools.

The rest of my extended prep time was spent getting my plans ready for my sub next week. I'm glad I secured a sub that is well-known in the building. It really helps with behavior.

I really only had 3 classes today. My kindergarten class was good. I read them There Was An Old Woman Who Swallowed A Fly. They really enjoyed it! I forget sometimes that kids just don't hear those classic rhymes. Only a few of them had heard it before.

My last two classes I administered the student survey again, and gave them the last 20 minutes or so as choice time. When I get back from my internship I'll be starting a concentrated MCA (Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment) prep time with my third and fourth graders  (using Study Island mainly) so I figure a little time to play now is needed.  Only a few weeks then until Spring Break (yay, that's when I'm doing my high school internship) and the MCA starts soon after we get back. . .

. . . and its the beginning of the end.