The author reflects on their internship at JEB Stuart High School where they observed various classes and teaching methods. They observed the respect students had for their teacher, Dr. Sherlie Scribner, and how she maintained order through seating arrangements and hall pass policies. For one class, the author was asked to teach about Indian literature from the Rig Veda, with the help of a student of Indian descent. Students actively participated and the internship provided valuable experience in understanding American school culture and teaching techniques.

1. Reflection on my internship at JEB Stuart High SchoolSeptember 30-October 30During my experience at JEB Stuart High School I have learned a lot about the culture of an American school. Also I have learned about the role of the teachers and the way they are viewed by their students, as well as a couple of techniques they use that don’t vary much, at least in the lessons I observed.My internship was made at JEB Stuart High school which is a very well known institution not only because is one of the best schools in the county of Virginia, but also because it is very diverse in relation to the students that attend to it. In school you get to see many kids from everywhere in the world and the school is very proud of having such a unique population in their locality. During the first day we were welcomed very kindly by Ruth Dejong, Head of the ESOL department at Stuart and one of the most amazing teachers I have met here in the US. My mentor teacher is Dr. Sherlie Scribner, a very polite and gentle woman with lots of things to offer to students and an enormous commitment to teaching. She teaches mainly literature (at least those were the classes I observed from her). I observed Dr. Scribner’s class for around 4 days and she got me involved in a certain amounts of activities during these days. I checked students’ homework and also I co-taught a couple of times during these four days. During those four days some of the things I noticed in the class was the respect students had toward their teacher. At some point it seems that the way the teacher approaches the students has a major impact in the way the relationship in and out of class goes along. In this particular classroom there is very little classroom management problem and if there is, the teacher manages to find a way of getting the class together again; the most common thing she does is to look directly at the “problem student” and lower her voice to make them quiet and listen to what she has to say. Another thing I noticed was the seating arrangement. Always, before Dr. Scribner started the class she took some time to tag the seats where she wanted students to sit; this was to avoid the fact that noisy students could sit together, or close friends sat together and started chatting. Also, when students wanted to go out to the bathroom or drink water, she wouldn’t allow it at least the first 15 minutes of class or the last 15 minutes of class (school’s regulation) and if she allowed it, students had to sign exit before leaving the classroom and sign in again when entering the room; this is to avoid the fact that students go out of class and wander around the halls and if there is a problem with that student at that particular time (when he/she was outside) the teacher has a proof of where the student said he/she was going. In classes the methodologies the teacher used were very much common and traditional. Students would read a while and then the class gets together to analyze the story they had just read and then answer a couple of questions to check understanding. The class was very focused on critical thinking and getting ideas on students’ analysis using vocabulary from the lesson as well. Tests were made practically every day and they were always based on what students had read the days before or even that same morning. Students participate sometimes in class but most of the time they are writing or reading their books and completing the worksheets the teacher has prepared for them. There is a lot of material given by the teacher and whenever there is a test or homework that has been evaluated students check it in their folders of grades that the teacher has prepared for each of them, also students keep a binder where they write their assignments or add the materials that have been given by the teacher in class. For homework teacher sometimes assigns them memorization of quotes from the readings they have done or gives them worksheets for practice of punctuation and spelling that they check on an overhead projector the next class.After the days of observation I was asked to teach a class so, during the fifth day Sherlie asked me to prepare a lesson for this particular day about Indian Literature. The lesson had the main objective of introducing Indian Literature and analyzing the pieces from the “Rig Veda” called “The Creation Hymn” and “Night”. For this photocopies were reproduced and a test was going to be made about the analysis of both pieces of literature.Some of the things I like about literature is that everyone has a different understanding of things and at this point you analyze the piece the way you understand it and that is what I asked students to do. For the class, since we have some Indian friends and to make the class a bit interesting I asked Lakshmi to come to the class and help out explaining what the “Rig Veda” was and why those to pieces were written. Students were very attentive to the lesson and participated actively because Lakshmi explained everything to make it as understandable as possible having the background she has and being part of the Indian community.My internship has been a great experience and I have enjoyed it a lot.Jacqueline Cecilia Blanco CarranzaEl Salvador