Day 40 - The end is really just the beginning.

The end! Today was our last official day at the internship! I really can not believe how quickly this time has gone by and I am so fortunate to have had this experience. Whenever our students complain about how they don't get paid to go to school (entitlement issues much?) we remind them that we paid UF $3,000 to let us get to teach them, but this internship was really worth every penny. I can't even begin to express how much I have learned- I have started a list of things to focus on in the first few weeks of school, I have a better idea of how teenagers think and act, and I know I will be more confident entering a job than I would be otherwise.

Today we talked about plagiarism, which is a tough and often confusing issue. We tried our best to let the students know that we were not yelling at them, criticizing them, or accusing them of plagiarism on their projects, but that we wanted to inform them, so that they could not use ignorance as an excuse for plagiarizing. Many of them seemed frustrated and confused at first, but I think everyone started to come around by the end of class. Several students asked us, "Why has no one ever told us this stuff before?" That made me feel good, knowing that we had correctly guessed that many students had little idea what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it. We may not have made expert researchers today, but we did teach our students something valuable that applies outside of the social studies bubble. Learning how to write and use citations properly is a skill that takes time and practice to master; I hope we began pushing our students in the right direction today.

During lunch and after school, Carrie and I administered some make-up work to the responsible students (if you can call taking a test 2 months late responsible) who came in to take care of things before we give the reigns back to our supervising teacher. We cleaned the dry erase boards, cleared out our supplies, and basically cleaned up after ourselves. It is going to be sad not going back to that classroom and seeing the students everyday, because as much as they aggravated me sometimes, there is a rewarding feeling of fulfillment and  hidden within the challenge of teaching these hard-headed, opinionated, sometimes immature and irrational, but overall genuinely good-hearted students.

The ending of this internship experience is really just the beginning of the rest of my career- can you believe that?!? Now it is time to begin the job search. I have already nearly completed one application and will continue to do more in the next few weeks. I am going to try to utilize the few connections I have and make as many more as I can. Being a "grown up" is right around the corner. I have been thinking about and planning for this for probably the last 7 years or so and I can't believe it is finally here : )