Internship Fall 2014
North Wilkes Middle School
2776 Yellow Banks Rd, North Wilkesboro, NC 28659
Physical Education at North Wilkes Middle School
"At North Wilkes Middle School our mission is to develop a partnership with the community, promote the value of education, set high expectations, and acknowledge the uniqueness of each student."
What strengths and liabilities do you bring to this experience? How will you make the most of your strengths and minimize your liabilities?
The strengths I had working with this internship would be that I enjoy working with children of all ages, my willingness to work, and my ability to learn quickly. My liabilities would be my age due to the students not treating me the same as the adults. Also, I am very shy at first. However, I treated the students like young adults and they treated me with the same respect as they did Mr. Steelman and Mrs. Surgeon. I quickly learned not to be so shy, and the students opened up to me even more.
Describe the marketing activities your organization utilizes including advertising, personal selling, events, sponsorships and social media. Explain the goals of these marketing activities and analyze their effectiveness.
Athletics is a major contributor to raising money for the school. Not only is the middle school able to sell tickets into games and matches, but also North Wilkes Middle athletics apparel. Their marketing goals are to raise as much money as possible, and they are very affective because the middle school was allowed to purchase new equipment for the P.E. department.
What have been the most and least positive parts of your internship experience to date? Be specific.
The most positive experience I have been a part of at my internship would be helping with the special needs class. They have taught me not only patience, but to be grateful for the things we are physically able to do every day. During one particular class, I was able to help one of the special needs students finally make a basket during basketball. The least positive experience would have to be when two students got into an argument and I had to settle the dispute between the two. Both students thought they were "right" and therefore refused to listen to anything I, or the other student, was saying to them. Eventually, both students apologized to each other for their behavior and were split into two separate groups to avoid further disagreements.
Discuss how you apply what you have learned or are learning in school to your internship.
I have taken both Health Science I and II and I can apply what I have learned in those classes to my internship. At certain points throughout the semester, some of the students came to me with complaints of an injury, and with what I learned in those classes, I was able to provide first aid. Also, we taught students about nutrition which is also a topic I learned in those classes.
What qualities or characteristics do you see in the people around you that you want to develop in yourself?
I hope to one day enjoy my job as much as Mr. Steelman and Mrs. Surgeon. Not only do these people have a genuine care about their jobs and the students, they were never once in a bad mood at the school. A bad mood can affect your whole day, as well as the others around you, and both Mr. Steelman and Mrs. Surgeon were positive and encouraging to others throughout whatever may be affecting them outside of the workplace.
Explain the importance of oral and written communication in your organization. What do you have to do to become successful at these skills?
Both oral and written communication are very important at the middle school. Orally, you have to be able to give students very precise directions so that they understand exactly what their task is. When requesting grants, you have to send in a written request. For example, you have to write what the grant goes towards, who it will benefit, and why they should give the school the grant. To become successful at these skills, it is best to get comfortable with talking to large groups of people, and also re-reading all written requests to ensure there are no errors.
Explain how your experience at the internship will impact your high school and further education.
My experience will definitely be a positive impact on my further education. I understand that it is best to not be shy around others, and to effectively get any point across, I need to be able to talk to groups of people of all ages.
Describe an activity or accomplishment in the internship that you are proud of. What did you learn from it?
I am proud of the times that Mr. Steelman and Mrs. Surgeon asked me to teach students on my own. I was able to effectively teach the activity and let the students have as much play time as possible. I learned it isn't as easy as it looks to keep a group of sixth-graders focused long enough to learn an activity, so I had to make it as interesting and appealing to them as possible.
Describe a situation when you were really frustrated and explain how you dealt with it. What did you learn?
One situation in which I became really frustrated was when two students were in an argument that turned violent. I asked both of them to stop arguing long enough to tell me what was wrong. Neither of the two students would allow the other to explain to me the issue without yelling, "it's his fault!" Therefore, after I explained to the both of them that hitting one another when not agreeing was inappropriate, I had to split up the two students into different groups and they apologized and we were able to move forward with the activity.
What special personal qualities does one need to be successful in this organization? Do you have or can you attain these qualities? Can you see yourself working in this industry for several years? Why or why not?
In order to be successful at the middle school, one definitely needs patience. I thought I had patience, but after spending my semester with these students, I quickly learned I needed more patience than I had. I was able to become more and more patient with the students as the semester progressed, and after being a part of the P.E. department with my internship, I could see myself having a job as a physical education teacher in the future. I really enjoyed my time spent at North Wilkes Middle School.
What different personalities have you encountered and how have you dealt with them?
I have encountered very different personalities at North Wilkes Middle, not only with the staff, but also the students. With each personality, there is a different way to deal with them that is deemed appropriate. For example, some students are not willing to try any activity, or even participate. I had to talk to these students in a different way that I had to talk to students who were viewed as the "class clown" and caused numerous disruptions.
How are teamwork and collaboration utilized at your work site?
Not only is teamwork and collaboration utilized to explain activities to students, but were also taught. We explained throughout every unit that teamwork was key, and that the best way to be successful was to rely on other teammates as much as you do yourself. This was taught in volleyball, basketball, football, dance, etcetera.
What is the most important thing you learned about working with others?
The most important thing I learned about working with others would be to accommodate every student accordingly. We wanted to be fair to every student that came into the gym, even those with special needs. Therefore we would set up different activities for certain students, such as those with wheelchairs and those who could not work with others as well as the other students. It was very important that no child felt left out in any activity that we did.
Dance Unit
Students learned the Electric Slide, The Cha Cha Slide, The Wobble, and Funkytown.
Volleyball Unit
Students learned how to pass, set, and effectively play a game of volleyball.
Basketball Unit
Students learned different techniques, BEEF, how to dribble, and the different ways one can be fouled and when to call the fouls on each other during a game of four-on-four.