Midpoint Reflection – Youth Life

I can’t believe that I am already halfway done with my internship at Youth Life. The internship has completely exceeded all expectations that I could have imagined for this summer and I am so fortunate to have had this experience. I have gained invaluable teaching skills that will set me up for success in my role as a Teach For America corps member. I have found effective techniques for leading a classroom and ways in which students prefer to learn. The most valuable skill that I have learned is that students will behave in the environment in which you lay before them. For example, if I am about to start my lesson and have all of my items on the table, my students will start to mess with them. However, if I clear the table and lay out the expectations before I start to teach, they will obey. Teachers must take control and establish authority in order to effectively lead a classroom full of students.

When I applied to Teach For America, I knew that I was interested in being a teacher but had no clue whether or not I would be good at it or enjoy it. However, after only three weeks of teaching at Youth Life I can definitely see myself teaching for the rest of my life. I have become extremely invested in the lives and education of each student that attends the learning center and am already trying to carve time out of my schedule to serve as a mentor during the school year. Although I have unfortunately discovered the time consuming nature of lesson planning, it is all worth it when I can see my students learning each and every day. This internship has given me some peace and provided reassurance that I chose the right career path. More specifically, I know for sure that I want to have an impact and teach in a low income community. The work that Youth Life is doing in the Southside of Richmond is making such a difference in the lives of these children and their communities and I can’t wait  to have a similar impact in Jacksonville, Florida.