Journal+One

Meagan Blanchette Zenion February 2, 2012 Internship; Journal 1 Ms. Zenion is in my life everyday. She viewed me as a student. When semester two began I was to take on a new role in the classroom. I was now her dorky internee. I was excited and nervous. The first class began the same as any other semester class. The students exchanged awkward stares, and clung to the people the felt most comfortable with. As I sat in the front of the room I greeted people as they came in. I realized Ms. Zenion was that person for me.

Throughout the first three classes of my internship there has been many firsts. The students were introduced to free writes, game face, peer review, and of course, Ms. Zenion. On the first day writing samples were collected. The topic we wrote about connected to our first assignment, the literacy narrative. When everyone finished, Ms. Zenion asked for volunteers to share. First she read, followed by a student. Both free writes were well crafted and embedded with sensory details. Then I read mine. It was choppy and abstract. It was real. The free write was not a glorious first draft, but it had potential.

The more I talk to Ms. Zenion about the following class the more relaxed I feel. “It’s always good to over-plan” Ms. Zenion tells me each time I question the lesson plan. Particularly on the second day of planning our agenda was filled with reading, passing out books, familiarizing the students with the course reading, and lastly my favorite, game face. The game is magical. It allows the students in the classroom to let their egos go and take the course as a learning experience. The topic we chose was; awkward moments. They are inevitable and happen to everyone. Once everyone completed their cards, we relocated to the Cafeteria. When we entered the Cafeteria everyone sat down next to their lifeline in the class. One by one a card was read. Eliminating one student at a time. Once the game was over, we gathered our stuff and went back to the classroom.

Peer review can be intimidating. That is why Ms. Zenion and I decided to start the class with an introduction to the ten most commonly used grammatical errors. This information was located in the Longman Handbook. The students guessed what the top ten mistakes were. However, one topic was not on the list. I believe passive voice is number eleven. Since I am so familiar with this topic, I gave a brief overview. To visually show passive voice I used a sentence. This showed the steps of manipulating a sentence in passive voice into active voice. Then peer review began with one of Ms. Zenion’s famous lines that I adore. “In order to be in a group, you must move your desks to look like you’re in a group.” At that moment I felt a complete connection to the course. Those simple lines that I heard so much, created a sense of comfort. Almost turtle like the students moved their desks into groups of two, three, and four. While I walked around I heard comments like “I have never actually been taught grammar,” “In English I have never been corrected on my writing. I get A’s and B’s but I am not sure how,” lastly my favorite “Mine is awful and don’t judge.” It is those conversations I join. I tell them about my first paper and how I revised it eight times. In the end it turned out to be one of my best pieces of work. I calmly say writing is a process; revise and everything will be okay.

My first three classes have been about trying to eliminate nerves. Therefore, that might be a direct relation to only drinking one cup of coffee that morning. Overall, I am pleased. Ms. Zenion deals with all of my questions and nervous energy very well. I hope that by the six or seventh class I will have the structure of //the daily agenda and objective// understood without having to ask questions on every other word. For me, the easiest things are most challenging. That is what makes this internship so dynamic.