Pre-Internship Experiences - Kelsey Davidson

Michigan State University has provided me with a countless amount of

opportunities where I was able to learn and grow as a teacher. Specifically, when I was
able to utilize what I was learning in my education courses and apply it to the many
different classroom settings that I was able to engage in the past four years. The different
classroom environments allowed me to experience diversity and culture through my
students, staff, and the school as a whole.
My junior year I completed TE 301 at Michigan State University. I had the
opportunity to administer a case study with a first grader at Edgerton Elementary in Clio,
Michigan. My time with the student was spent observing her in a classroom setting and
meeting with her after school at her home. During this time I administered reading and
writing inventories and did read alouds that allowed her to work on comprehension
skills. Working with the student one on one and involving the teachers and parents was a
very rewarding experience for everyone involved.
During my senior year at Michigan State University I completed the courses TE
403-406 and CEP 449. All of the courses required me to apply all that I had been learning
to my field experience in a fourth grade classroom at Sheridan Road Elementary in
Lansing, Michigan. I was placed in the classroom from the fall of 2013 to the spring of
2014. I spent over 80 hours total in the classroom. While in the classroom I planned and
taught a Social Students, Science, Language Arts, and two different Math lessons. I also
made a Behavior Intervention Plan followed by a Functional Behavioral Assessment
while working one on one with a student. While doing this together we were able to find
a solution to the students behavioral problem. I also was able to work one on one with
two students who had similar writing skills in their fourth grade classroom. I was able to
differentiate instruction for them in a way that allowed them to advance their writing
skills through an interactive application on an iPad. Although these were only a few of
the highlights throughout the year at Sheridan Road Elementary, I also advanced as a
teacher simply by observing my students in different classroom settings such as
computers, gym, and even just their interactions at lunch and in the hallway. Since I had a
great relationship with my mentor teacher and was given a prominent role in the
classroom I was able to practice my classroom management techniques every time I was
in the classroom.
This past summer (2014) I worked in a classroom setting at Elmer Knopf
Learning Center in Burton, Michigan. I was in charge of leading a classroom of thirteen
cognitively impaired children. My duties consisted of but were not limited to preparing
daily activities for the students, preparing for and then taking the students on field trips,
making sure all of the students needs were fulfilled with the supervisors and nurses,
interacting with parents on a daily basis, and lastly making sure they had a summer they
would not forget. Leading a classroom with the help of two others allowed me to embrace
teamwork and learn from the many interactions I encountered with my students, parents,
and fellow staff. Overall, I believe all of the experiences above paired with the mentoring
from my education classes and teachers at Michigan State University have fully prepared
me for my internship at Bryant Elementary in Owosso, Michigan.