IRC Internship Journal

IRC Internship Journal: Include your hours and log of activities Document and reflect on specific classroom activities (e.g., a reading activity or a conversation activity) and interactions (e.g., an exchange with a student or an exchange between students). Describe what happened in the class (no judgment; just straight description) Discuss what worked for you (i.e., what went well) in the class and why Discuss what didn't work for you (i.e., what didn't go so well) in the class and why Discuss what you would do differently next time. 6/5

Orientation and VELT restructuring meeting. I met all of the people around the office and was introduced to the kind of work done at the IRC. They help refugees find housing, learn about citizenship, and get a job – all within three or so months. The goal is to make them self-sufficient as quickly as possible. My role will be in teaching and developing curriculum for vocational ESL lessons that will help these refugees find and maintain employment.

Total: 3.5 hours 6/10

Brainstorm on curriculum development, set up guidelines to follow with Stephen. We decided to break curriculum up by different professions, such as driving training, cleaning training, warehouse training etc. The refugee will be able to take the weeklong class that relate to the job they are most likely able to get. The lessons will be based on vocational vocabulary with presentations and hands-on activities.

Total: 4 hours 6/11

Finalized orientation materials submitted and finalized internship forms. Total: 1 hour

6/12

Gathered information on clientele, focused curriculum on job sectors that are in highest demand this summer (General Cleaning).

Reviewed material that Waleed already has. Began narrowing down focus areas (General Cleaning as opposed to Housekeeping and School Cleaning and Dairy Cleaning all separate). Gathered a vocabulary list. Learned about employment placement process – helps to understand the purpose of VELT and our target audience, as well as how we can use English to make the

employment alignment process easier and more successful for the IRC. Observed first worker/client interaction – an African woman with very moderate English who worked as a nurse’s assistant

o It turns out that the majority of clients we will be teaching speak no English, can’t drive, and lack work employable skills.

o This means that the curriculum needs to be designed to not only teaching them English vocab, but to teach them how to do a specific job. For example, teach the the word “mop,” then show them how to mop a floor.

Drive time meeting with Hamid Total: 4.5 hours

6/13

Meeting with Ruby about internship progress. She provided me with a helpful textbook and many online resources. We set some goals for completing the internship and talked about additional requirements.

I prepared for the meeting by creating a strict schedule for me to follow throughout the summer in regards to obtaining 10 hours a week. I also made a clear list of objectives for the fall semester and prepared additional questions for Ruby.

Total: 1 hour 6/17

Compiled 3-week lesson plan outline from a list of 130 vocabulary words. Not only did have to break the large vocabulary list into manageable quantities per day, but I also had to categorize the learning each day. Hamid and I set up the list in terms of beginner and intermediate vocabulary and broke it into sections such as general cleaning action words, places in the cleaning industry, etc. From this list we will be able to construct daily lesson curriculum, starting with PowerPoint presentations.

(Keep outline for material’s portfolio). To do:

o Send lesson plan outline to Waleed for comments o Browse through PPTS and graphics/images o Start making PPTS

3 hrs at IRC 1.5 hours drive/meeting time Total: 4.5 hours

6/18

I organized all of my material ideas and learning thus far into a comprehendible outline for the other volunteers at our curriculum planning meeting tomorrow. This included creating a day-by-day outline of the general cleaning course broken down into 15-minute intervals.

I read through the lesson plans provided by Work Place 1 for ideas on activities specifically involving time. This gave me a couple of ideas: the IRC has several clocks with movable hands, I plan to suggest an activity that involves having students move the hands to a time that is either written on the board or said out loud. In addition, another website I looked at suggested charades. Since the vocational vocabulary required by the IRC is very easy to act out, this might be a fun closing activity. I could give the students a flashcard with a word from the day’s learning such as vacuuming, then they could do the action for the class until a class member is able to raise their hand and give an answer.

Added hours and activity log to the online IRC system Total: 2 hours

6/19

Met with two other VELT volunteers to present what we have developed so far. They liked our lesson structure but added some new ideas such as color, number and alphabet repetition at the beginning of each class. With approval from the others and our advisor, Waleed, we are able to move forward on constructing the visual materials for each lesson. These include PowerPoints, handouts, homework assignments and flashcards.

Meeting with these volunteers was helpful because they have been exposed to the clientele and the old class structure. They informed me that lesson plans need to be very structured and hands-on activities seem to resonate best.

Total: 4 hours 6/24

Today I spent the day at home working on my own materials development. I created 2 slideshows that are photo intensive vocabulary learning tools. They go over a variety of words and feature identifying and matching games at the end. Since the IRC classes are taught in groups, I think that PowerPoint lessons will be effective.

I also created lesson plans to accompany each PowerPoint with suggestions for how to spend the time, instructions on each activity, and additional non-PowerPoint activities.

I will be presenting the curriculum and materials that I developed in front of all the IRC staff and volunteers at a meeting on Wednesday.


1.5 hour Finalized my presentation materials for the VELT meeting on Wednesday. I

added finishing touches to lesson plans. Total: 1.5 hours

6/26

Meeting/presentation – not many volunteers came, but I was able to show them the materials thus far and receive feedback from all of the staff. We have agreed that I am moving in the right direction, I just need to finish the rest of the week’s lessons.

Total: 4 hours

SUBMIT JUNE TIMECARD! = 34.5 hours 6/5-6/30 7/1

Worked at home, continuing to develop lesson plans. Total: 4 hours

7/2 Did a read-through of my journal thus far and began compiling a list of

materials to include in my portfolio. Total: 1 hour

7/3 Worked on creating pre and post-tests with Waleed. We decided that these

tests should be simple, easy and written. This includes giving point for things such as name and date. Waleed seems to think that these tests are meant to build up their confidence and test-taking skills, but not meant to challenge them any more than necessary. I am designing the test to reflect the same sort of handouts and written activities we do in class so that they may have a great deal of familiarity with the expectations by the time of the post-test. (tests are included in my material’s portfolio.)

Total: 4 hours 7/8

I spent 4 hours at home creating the lesson plan for Day 3. This was the trickiest one yet because it introduces verbs or “action words” as I chose to call them. The words I focused on were wash, sweep, scrub, dust, wipe, and spray. I also began creating flashcards. This will be a set that stays at the IRC that each teacher is able to use as part of his or her lesson or to fill time at the end of class.

IRC time – 4 hours – ran flashcards by Waleed. Hamid and I discussed the best way to teach verbs to a beginning level class. Worplace plus was a good reference and we came up with images and videos that show the difference between “a mop” and “to mop.” We both agree that understanding the specific difference isn’t that important for the first week of training, it is more important that they understand what it means to mop an are familiar with the word and it’s purpose. Hamid will work to build upon their knowledge of verbs in his week 2 lessons.

Total: 8 hours

7/9 Designed a pre and post-test to present to the others for approval tomorrow.

I kept it very graphic with matching activities. Created take home handouts to present to Stephen, Waleed and Hamid. I

included pictures, words, and a note section because I think it will be helpful for the clients to take notes in their own language (if able) as we go through the PowerPoints. This will be the document that motivated students can use to study at home.

Total: 2 hours 7/10

Met with Stephen to discuss props and activities. It turns out we will have access to the janitorial closet at the IRC and can pull many of the cleaning items from there. We discussed the ways in which this class differs from a traditional ESL class as it is ESL learning paired with vocational, job-readiness training.

We also decided on a start date for the classes and set a timeline for curriculum development.


Created the Day 4 PowerPoint and handouts Went into the IRC to finalize lesson plans. Met with Stephen and Waleed. We

discussed the need for even more hands-on activities and demos, for example, instead of showing a picture of a girl mopping the floor – buy a mop and a bucket and have the client come up and mop the floor by himself.

o This seems different than traditional ESL teaching, but since our class is so vocational focused, I can see how this will help them to further in their work environment. They may not be able to keep a job if they can only say and spell mop, but if they can actually mop a floor well and know how to use it, they are likely to hold their position longer and that is the goal of the class.

Fixed the replica timesheet I created for the class to more accurately reflect their work needs – add break in and out, no hours worked. We came up with the idea to have them sign in on a job-like sign-in sheet at the beginning of each class. They will also write down when they take a break and when class ends. They are also responsible to receiving a supervisor’s signature. It’s all part of getting them prepared for the job.

At home: 10:30-1:00 IRC: 2:00 – 6:30 Total: 7 hours

7/24

At home: 10:30 – 12:30

o Added more hands-on activities to the lesson plans, such as – a trip to the bathroom to label different items, traveling to different rooms to experience the difference between carpet and tile, having students tidy up an dirty area in the teaching room.

IRC: 2:00 – 6:30 o I read through my PowerPoints with Hamid and received some

helpful feedback. Since English is his second language he notices things that I sometimes seem to overlook. For example I had a picture of a mop in which the handle was cropped, he said that this might not be familiar to the client, especially since many of them aren’t use to the idea of cropping of digital images.


At home preparing for lesson: 1 hour o Fixed the IRC Timesheet to fit 3 per page and to have a section for

“break time in” and “break time out.” Waleed pointed out that it wasn’t necessary for me to have a section that said hours worked or total hours worked because that is done automatically for the client on the digital system.

Total: 1.5 hour 7/29

At home: 10:30-12:30 o Memorized my lesson plan o Made technical edits on all materials o Gathered props from around the home o Worked on lesson plan 3 o Create handouts

CLASSES BEGIN – no one showed on the first day of classes. The IRC staff seems to have had miscommunication with the clients and interpreters. Despite a little bit of frustration, it was good to know that we were prepared and ready if things would have gone differently. Hamid and I used this time to trouble shoot the lessons and to figure out how to make the set-up process more effective – for example printing handouts the day before, providing pens for the class, checking the audio system before class starts, etc.

IRC: 1:30 – 6:30 Total: 8.5 hours

7/31

Prep for class at home. I reviewed all of Hamid’s materials and looked for areas that it might be confusing or too redundant. It is great to have a partner to review your lesson plans and work, but I don’t know how often that is available in the real teaching world.

Total: 4 hours

=50.5 total hours for July = 85 total hours for June and July 8/5

At home: 3 hours o Added video learning to all PPTs and lessons. Reviewed lesson plans

for first day of lessons. At IRC: 2:00-7:00

o We began teaching a class of about 15 male students from 10 or different countries.

o The class was more advanced than we anticipated, there were also different skill levels present. I found myself having to think on my feet as I turned activities more advanced. In preparing for future lessons I would probably include alternate activities or lesson ideas in the case that students are more advanced than expected. I noticed that the class seemed to respond positively to the cleaning movies I showed. They had many questions afterward and they provoked good class discussions.

o Many seemed intimidated by a test on the first day. Some even complained. I think it would be helpful to have an interpreter present on the first day to ease their stress and so that they know that the test is supposed to be hard and that they aren’t supposed to know all of the answers.

o It helped to have the clients grouped by languages, but when there was a more advanced student present, I caught students copying answers instead of trying to learn them by themselves. I think it would help to encourage students to work on their own and to ask the more advanced students to forward their friend’s questions on to us rather than just providing them with answers.

Total: 8 hours 8/14

At home – spent time putting together Hamid’s flashcards. I organized all of the materials needed to transfer over to the IRC and made a complete list of completed projects and materials.

Total: 3 hours 8/19

At home: o Finalize IRC wrap-up materials (1.5 hours) o Finish Hamid’s flashcards

At IRC: 2:30-6:30 – met with Waleed on the first two weeks of classes and what is working and what is not. I was able to wrap up all of my loose ends at the IRC and to upload all of the materials I developed to their server.

I also received instructions from Emily on how to conclude my internship and what forms and assignments they need me to do to wrap up properly.


Finished internship materials, emailed/turned in to Emily. Total: 3.5 hours

=20 hours for August total = 105 IRC hours total Internship hours in addition to IRC hours:

Worked on Material’s portfolio (10 hours) Weekly reading of the required text (4 hours) Outlined and started the 10-12 page formal reflection (2 hours) Cumulative time pent on the IRC Journal: (15 min. per work day = 5 hours)

= 21 non IRC hours =126 total hours for the internship

Education

IRC Internship Journal