In some ways, my internship is very similar to school, to state the obvious similarity - I am working in a school. However, despite the obvious similarity, working in a preschool and attending high school are incredibly different. First off, I am the teacher instead of the student. It's incredibly interesting to see school from a different point of view. Second, the kids receive four meals a day at school and have nap time; whereas at high school I have one meal during the day and no nap time. The work week and school week are fairly similar in the sense that I have to wake up before 7am for both and leave work/school around similar times (work - 4pm, school - 3:25pm). They're similar in that at school and at work we do activities, but the activities themselves are totally different. At school we are constantly doing assignments like writing and researching, but the kids at my internship have assignments like playing on the playground or playing with legos. Another difference is that with school I often have work on the weekends but as the teacher at my internship my work week is strictly Monday-Friday 8am-4pm.
My main responsibility at school is to finish my work and turn it in. Of course I have other responsibilities too, but my sole responsibility is to complete my assignments. At internship, I couldn't possibly figure out my sole responsibility because I do so much: walk the kids to meals, serve meals, make sure the kids eat, clear the dishes, walk the kids to the bathroom, grab the toilet paper from the classroom, give the kids soap to wash their hands, help wash their hands, problem solve with the kids, reprimand the kids, lay out the blankets on top of the kids for nap time, clean up the blankets, lead activities, help lead activities, and so much more. Plus, my responsibilities are always changing depending on what the teacher needs that day. For example, today my teacher gave me the responsibility of drawing a cow, three fish, and a rabbit for an activity we will be doing on Monday. The interactions I have with the teachers and kids are completely different from school. At school, I feel like there is a lot of respect between the students and teachers. At internship though, I feel like I have to gain the respect from the teachers, instead of receiving respect as soon as I walk into the building. With the kids though, I feel like I did have their respect as soon as I walked into the building. But the amount of respect is way less than that of my peers at HTHI. The way the teachers speak to me is completely different from school as well. If the teacher needs toilet paper, for example, she won't ask "Can you grab the toilet paper please?" instead she just yells "Paper!". My time at internship is spent different as well. At school I have a designated lunch time in which I have 40 minutes of break. At internship, my "break" is when the kids go down for nap time. But that isn't really a break. I use that time to eat my lunch (since I am focused on the kids at lunch time) and work on my project. I think this internship has confirmed the fact that I want to pursue a career working with kids. I have realized that although they sometimes drive me crazy, I love their energy and happiness. I feel instantly happier when I am helping them build lego towers or holding their hand while they slide down the slide. I also enjoy seeing them finally process a lesson I've taught them. For instance, I taught the kids to share the swing on the playground by starting a count up. When a kid gets on the swing, I push them for ~30 seconds while counting out loud to 30. Once I get to 30 I stop the swing and the kid gets off and the next comes on. No arguing. When I first played with the kids on the playground on Tuesday, they would argue and cry and push each other over who got to ride the swing. Now, though, the kids are really good about getting off the swing when their turn is up and waiting in line for their next turn. Seeing this change in their behavior has been so rewarding for me. I will definitely be bringing the characteristic 'patience' back to school with me. I have always thought of myself as kind of an impatient person, yet working with 17 three year olds has definitely instilled a patience in me I didn't know I had. I use this new-found patience when teaching them lessons and waiting for them to finish eating/using the bathroom. I also use this patience when the teachers have the kids watch two hours of TV as an activity and I just have to sit there and watch the same little music videos play over and over and over again. In addition, the kids' patience has inspired me to be more patient. While I fumble with Spanish words trying to arrange the sentence I want to say, the kids just wait and listen until I say what I want to. They could just stop listening and walk away but they stay and wait for me and it's really nice. I am really happy to be gaining this characteristic and I am sure I will be using it in my life back at school.
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About MeHi! My name is Ashley Price. I am in 11th grade at High Tech High International. I enjoy doing musical theater, being co-founder of my school's improv team, traveling, dancing, singing, and hanging out with my friends. I am looking to attend college in the Northeast, and major in psychology. I am currently interested in pursuing the career of either a speech therapist or a jury consultant. I am incredibly excited for my internship!
About My InternshipI am interning at a daycare center in the San Roque neighborhood in Quito, Ecuador. Below is a link to the webpage about my internship through Bolivar Education. http://www.ecuadorvolunteers.org/ecuador-volunteer-programs/children-youth-volunteering-ecuador/quito-san-roque-daycare.html#prettyPhoto ArchivesCategoriesPhoto Gallery |