Internship: Those Were The Days Part I

I was digging through the jungle of papers, books and notebooks in my cabinet today when I unearthed my Observation and Suggestion Book which dated from the months I interned in Cauayan National High School. It was my first exposure to the field of teaching and I was exhilarated and nervous at the same time—feelings that I know every practice teacher experiences.

The Observation and Suggestion Book was presented to the critique teachers (our mentors and bosses) in the school we practiced in and they wrote down what they think of us as we teach their classes. As I progress through the pages of my Observation and Suggestion Book, I can also see how I have improved as I became more and more accustomed to teaching.

Here are some memorable comments from my two mentors back in the day:

(On the very first page, which of course signifies my very first day handling classes on my own):

“The teacher speaks the target language. Good! Has a modulated voice, maintain it.”

And then the negative comments:

“Be aware of what is happening inside the class while teaching. Be a manager...use visual aids for comprehensive presentation and analysis. Encourage students to answer questions in complete sentences.”

And then there’s the killer part; this was the icing to the cake:

Check your spelling of the word “Heorot”. Heuruth? Heurot?

Seriously, my nerves got the better of me. I was teaching about the epic of Beowulf then and due to my neurotic tendencies I gave a different spelling of the term Heorot in each section I handled through that day. I can laugh at the silliness now, what a bumbling idiot I was!

I remember feeling terribly mortified by the number of negative comments I had on that first day. My face was red with embarrassment as I read the comments then. It was humbling but I was there to learn and learn I did, though my pride took a lot of beating at the same time. As the days passed, the negative comments decreased replaced by more positive comments. I take special joy and gratitude that my mentor in the second shift observed me every day and provided insightful feedbacks in my Observation and Suggestion Book. Here are some examples:

“The teacher’s lesson plan was well-prepared and properly demonstrated. The teacher made use of various instructional materials to aid her lesson.”

“The teacher has a good command of the language.”

“The teacher critically handled students’ questions with clarity. She’s tactful in correcting student’s wrong responses.”

Upon reading the said contents of my Observation and Suggestion Book, I look back with fondness at those times when I was but a mere intern getting her first taste of the teaching profession. I remember my two critique teachers who were accommodating enough to show me the ropes properly. They were critical but their criticism was constructive and helpful. I have heard horror stories of critique teachers who were cruel and demoralizing. I’m glad I never went through that and I ventured to teaching with a belief that teachers should be just like my two mentors back in my interning days in the National High School: kind, passionate, encouraging, insightful and dedicated.