Intern Part 1

Have survived the first week of my internship (well, only two days, really).  It very much felt like a crash course in this facility and what will be expected of me, and was accompanied by feelings of panic, fear, and being totally overwhelmed.  Think of the sensation you get at the beginning of a semester when you read a course syllabus and see how many things you'll have to do, and multiply that by 3.11 googooplex.  Not scientific, but close enough.

I am expecting this to be a different experience from student teaching, but I can already see that this is going to be very, very different.  Of course my students will be adults, meaning I'll have to teach differently.  Some students have guide dogs (which I've never observed instruction in before), others want to learn to use ETAs (ditto), and there is a limited time frame for the student's instruction.  

That is probably what I anticipate being the most stressful part of this internship; deciding when a client is ready to exit the program.  Everything is so compacted unlike K-12 students, who essentially get 12 years to learn all the skills they need.  

So far I've been advised that deciding when a student is ready to learn a new skill/progress/exit is partially based on instincts, and any decisions I make are fine as long as I can justify them.  I'm not sure I've had enough experience and time to develop the instincts to do this sort of thing, or at least I would like to feel more confident in my instincts!  

After having a weekend to decompress and think, I am feeling a little less stressed about the coming weeks.  I'm going to take one day at a time, and I know that when I finish here, I will be very prepared for any job.  This coming week I'll be learning more about the classes at the center and observing instruction.  I'll also be teaching a class on guide dogs.  Wish me luck!