I learned that unlike education in which lots of teachers really stand alone, this industry is very different from that. There are numerous roles that lots of different people have to play in order to accomplish a common goal here. It has been my experience that within education at a smaller school in particular there is one teacher per subject per grade level. This setup leaves teachers with no one else to collaborate with within that content area, so you get very used to working alone. This internship experience has made me want to reach out more to other teachers as well as community members within my school, district, and even Kenan Fellows in order to collaborate more.
We have PLCs at our school but often they are to be data driven for all subjects at one time and not so much about sharing teacher practices. With time restraints and lack of effective collaboration I have really learned to do everything on my. I know that I need to bounce ideas off of others and learn from what they are doing within their classrooms in order to make my teaching more meaningful as well as for personal growth. I already have started to collaborate with my science teacher to implement some of the scientific applications that I have observed here within my internship site and maybe even write a grant or two.
I am excited for the future and I hope that it only continues to get better!!!!