Welcome to Internship: An Overview

Interns, Cooperating Teachers, Family Child Care Providers and Administrators~~

~~Welcome to Internship.  Internship is an exciting opportunity for interns to refine skills, engage in new learning, and gain confidence in professional abilities.  Cooperating teachers and administrators report that while supervising an intern requires additional work, the benefits of observing an intern’s growth and experiencing their own learning are enormous.

Internship is the culminating experience of the Early Childhood Education AAS Degree or Certificate program at Northampton Community College.  It provides students with the opportunity to integrate their learning about children, curriculum and teaching strategies.

This manual provides the standards, guidelines and resource materials that guide the internship process.   This information applies to all settings and types of internships, both campus based and distance learning.   

Interns plan learning environments and experiences based on their knowledge of children and their families as well as best practice.  The plans are implemented through supportive and stimulating interactions with the children.  Interns are required to reflect on the effectiveness of these plans and interactions to modify and/or create new approaches.  All assignments are linked to the NCC early childhood program standards.

Internship assignments are integrated into the planning and operation of the internship site.  Whether the intern is a student intern or a current employee, the intern is to participate, and be viewed, as a member of the staff.   Interns new to the program are gradually assimilated into the practices of the program so they function as full staff members by the end of internship.

Appreciation is extended to the administrators, family child care providers and cooperating teachers who partner with NCC faculty supervisors to provide interns with the support and guidance required for a successful experience.  Best wishes are extended to each intern.   

Sincerely,

Rebecca L. Gorton, Director              
610-861-5472             
rgorton@nothampton.edu

Mission

Prepare early childhood teachers and leaders with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to provide children a stimulating and developmentally appropriate inclusive early education and care program that is arts ­integrated; responsive to the uniqueness of each child, family, and community; and consistent with current best practice. 

Internship Resources

NCC Early Childhood Philosophy: Appendix A (Below)

NCC Internship Standards and Key Elements: Appendix B (Below)

NCC Early Childhood Teaching Skills and Strategies: Appendix C

Art as a Way of Learning Children’s Curriculum:  Appendix D

Forms: Appendix E

Intern Requirements and Expectations

NCC Student Interns (not employed by the internship site) will have:

·        A current NCC Health Form on file in the NCC Health Center

·        A Criminal Record and Child Abuse Form on file in the ECE office.

·        Two letters of reference on file in the ECE office

Interns are responsible for:

·        Regular attendance

·        Arriving on time

·        Maintaining a regular schedule

·        Being prepared

·        Completing all assignments.

Interns are responsible for attending:

• Six Credit Internship: 15 weeks, 13 hours on site. Total Hours= 195.  In addition, campus based students attend 2 hour weekly seminar; distance learning interns participate in weekly seminar discussion forums per course syllabus

• Three Credit Internship: 15 weeks, 6 hours at intern site. Total Hours= 90.  In addition, campus based students attend 2 hour weekly seminar; distance learning interns participate in weekly seminar discussion forums per course syllabus

Interns are responsible for submitting an official

NCC Internship Time Card every two weeks.

Schedule:

All Interns (Student and Work-site) and Cooperating teachers are responsible for developing a weekly schedule that identifies specific teaching and planning times. This schedule is submitted to, and approved by, the college supervisor. Work-site Interns identify specific times each week that focus on Internship.

Changes to the schedule must be approved by the college supervisor.

Emergency Closings: Student Interns are to know emergency (weather, disaster) closing procedures and be included on phone chains.  Interns note a closing on the time card.    These hours must be rescheduled in order to meet the required internship hours.

Illness and Personal Emergencies: Student Interns immediately notify the cooperating teacher and college supervisor when ill and/or a personal emergency arises.     All Interns note the absence on their time card. These hours must be rescheduled in order to meet the required internship hours.

Internship Site Requirements and Expectations

Internship site Administrators or Family Child Care Providers commit to providing interns with:

1.     One teacher assigned as the student’s cooperating teacher.  This person will be responsible for: documenting the intern’s skills and providing feedback to the student and college faculty as needed, and complete a Performance Summary on a form provided by NCC due at the middle and end of the experience.

2.     The opportunity to:

·        Observe and document children’s actions and teachers’ interactions.

·        Use a wide variety of materials and supplies such as water, pretend play props, instruments, paints, children’s books, blocks, recorded music, etc.

·        Interact with children during a period when they have uninterrupted play.

·        Provide children with developmentally appropriate creative experiences that promote children’s ability to think, communicate and express.  These experiences will require children to create their own unique work and may involve “messy” and “noisy” activities (goop, paint, musical bands).  The students will be responsible for set-up and clean-up of these learning experiences.

·        Collect children’s work (or sketches/photos of work) to document learning experiences and observations.  The center will assign children based on signed clearances.

·        Provide opportunity to interact with parents both formally and informally.

·        Video their interactions as required by the College supervisor

If the Intern is enrolled in the Distance Learning section….

….. the cooperating teacher must:

·        Commit to participating in Blackboard Discussion Forums with other cooperating teachers and facilitated by the college supervisor

·        Communicate with the college supervisor using email and telephone.

·        Facilitate the video process by ensuring that children have clearances and support is available.

Internship Learning Experiences

The primary focus of Internship is on implementing the teaching/learning cycle:

Observe and Document, Plan, Interact and Assess

Observe and Document: Observing and documenting information about children, families and the environment required for planning and interacting. Careful looking and listening leads to knowing each child’s development, interests and unique abilities: and to understanding the child within the context of his/her family. 

Assignments include:

·        Observation Notes

·        Child Portfolios

·        Documented conversations with parents

Plan: Interns are responsible for planning individual and group learning experiences. Plans are based on the knowledge and interests of the children, their families, and the environment, and provide experiences that lead children to acquire the skills, construct knowledge, and develop attitudes and dispositions that prepare them to:

·        Use multiple languages to communicate and represent what they know and feel

·        Critically and creatively solve problems

·        Connect community, family and culture

·        Build and maintain positive relationships and begin to develop understanding of self

Interns are responsible for preparing the learning environment with materials and displays. 

Learning Experience and Environment Plans must be discussed with, and approved by, cooperating teacher before implementing.

 Assignments include:

·        Learning Experience Plans

·        Environment Plans (Learning Areas, Materials, Display)

·        Journals

·        Photo and or diagrams of the materials and displays

Interact: Interactions occur spontaneously in response to a child’s need and/or are planned learning experiences.   All interactions, spontaneous and planned, are thoughtful and responsive based on prior knowledge about the child and scaffold the child’s learning through the use of teaching strategies that support, stretch, direct and stimulate.

Assignments Include:

·        Journals

·        Planning Forms

·        Guiding Behavior Documentations

Assess: Assess is used to identify what children learned and how they learned. It links back to observe and document.

Assignments Include:

·        Child Portfolio

·        Observation Notes

·        Journal

Additional assignments include:

Action Research Project  

The Action Research Project is used to more deeply explore a

situation and/or issue occurring within the learning environment. 

For example, there may be a learning area that is not being

used effectively by the children; a child may be having a specific

challenge; or you are wishing that more parents were able

to attend child report conferences.  When engaged in action research you identify the situation that you hope to change, gather data about the situation and review literature to identify related research and professional articles, develop and implement a plan, and generate findings.

The situation and/or issue to be explored is decided cooperatively by the intern and cooperating teacher.  The faculty supervisor provides full guidelines for the project to the interns who are responsible for sharing them with the cooperating teacher.  The implementation of this project is to be integrated in to the daily activity of the learning environment. 

Partnering with Parents Projects

Guidelines provided by College Supervisor.

Child Assessment Portfolio Guidelines

Interns are required to keep individual folders/portfolios for their “observation children.”  The information contained in these portfolios is used to assess the child’s development, plan learning experiences and classroom environments, and communicate to parents. 

Completed portfolios are based on daily observation note, sampling of children’s artwork, photographs of the children’s work (when possible), interviews with children and notes of discussions with parents.

The intern and cooperating teacher need to:

1.     Arrange for a place to keep the folders

2.     Discuss procedures for photographs

More detailed guidelines will be provided during the semester. 

Intern Supervision and Assessment

Supervision and assessment are to be viewed as a process for

“improving” rather than “proving.” It is a strategy for improving the

quantity and quality of learning.

The intern, cooperating teacher and college supervisor work as a team in the supervision and assessment process.  The assessment process guides the intern’s learning and the cooperating teacher and college supervisor.  The goal is to have a cohesive, coordinated and documented process developed through consistent, planned communication among the three participants.

The college supervisor is responsible for monitoring the work of the intern and ensuring communication among the intern, the cooperating teacher and herself/himself.   The college supervisor is available as a resource for the intern and cooperating teacher.  Interns and cooperating teachers are to contact the supervisor when questions emerge rather than wait for an issue to become a problem. 

The college supervisor will provide approximately three to four classroom visits and/or responses to video observations according to the modality (campus-based or distance learning) of the internship and the intern’s needs.

The following basic assessment processes must occur:

·        Intern provides:

o       Reflection, self-assessment journals

o       Assignments as required in the course syllabus

o       Complete Self-evaluation using a Feedback on Student Teaching Skills & Strategies Student Self Evaluation Form at time of Progress Report and Final Grade

o       Final Internship Assessment Portfolio.  Guidelines are provided in the Course Syllabus

·        Cooperating teacher provides:

o       Daily informal feedback to the intern by describing and responding to the intern’s planning and interactions using the categories on the Cooperating Teacher Feedback on Student Teaching Skills & Strategies Form as a guide.  Students need this information for writing their journals.

o       Feedback to college supervisor according to the modality (campus-based or distance learning) of the internship and the intern’s needs.  Techniques include e-mail, telephone, during on-site observations and discussion forums.  All cooperating teachers submit a completed Cooperating Teacher Feedback on Student Teaching Skills & Strategies Form at Progress Report and Final Grade Time (see appendix G: Forms). 

o       Weekly feedback to intern during planning sessions.

·        Faculty supervisor provides:

o       Feedback from assignments and observations, either direct classroom observations and/or video observations.

o       Progress report and final conferences that includes an ECE Faculty/Supervisor Evaluation of Student Teaching Skills & Strategies form.

The final grade is the responsibility of the college supervisor using information from the assessment process.

Visual Documentation

Photographs and Videos are used as part of documenting children and intern’s work.  In particular, videos are used by the distance learning college supervisor as the observation tool in place of classroom observations.  They are also assigned to campus-based interns as a supplement to direct observations. 

Detailed guidelines are provided by course instructors for visual documentations but the following is required:

All children visible in photographs and videos must have signed parent release forms on file in the program’s office.  A sample release form that may be duplicated and used is in Appendix E of this manual.

 
Responsibilities: Summary Checklist

Cooperating

Teacher                       Intern         College Supervisor