Best Experience
My best experience during my internship in Ms. Houchins classroom was the day before spring break. She had planned an activity that was fun and educational, but not as trying as the usual lessons in her classroom. We created tessellations and I helped pass out all the materials. Everyone was ready to get out of school, so the students were very jittery and excited. However, when Ms. Houchins explained what they were going to be doing, everyone participated. I was expecting the day to be rough because of the student’s focus on spring break rather than on school, but they actually were engaged in the activity. Each student got an index card that they cut a design in themselves and after the shape was approved by Ms. Houchins or me, the student received a piece of paper. They then traced their index card over and over on the paper in order to form a tessellation. It was a creative way to demonstrate a mathematical theory because the students then proceeded to decorate their papers by coloring them. It was an easy way to pass the class time and learn something all at the same time. I got to walk around and comment on the student’s creativity and actually talk to the students rather than sit in the back and observe. It was a great experience for me to get to know the children on a more personal level. After everyone had moved on to coloring their tessellations, Ms. Houchins asked me to pass out cookies to the students. I went one by one to ask each student if they wanted a cookie. They children thanked me immensely and I feel like I connected with them on a new level because of the conversations that we had and the respect they still had for me after these quirky conversations. It was a great experience during my internship.