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I was a 6th-grade teacher at Partnership Schools while pursuing a Master of Science in Childhood Education at City University of New York (CUNY) Lehman College.

This page offers a glimpse into my supervised internship experience. Instead of completing traditional student teaching, I chose to work full-time as a teacher for my clinical experience. By immersing myself in the classroom from day one, I gained invaluable hands-on learning that deepened my understanding of teaching and student engagement.

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Each week, I had the opportunity to meet with my colleagues and Dr. Wills-Jackson to reflect on our teaching experiences. While most of my classmates were student teachers, some, like myself, were teacher interns balancing full-time teaching with our graduate studies.

Together, we discussed the challenges of being new educators, explored potential solutions, and supported one another in our growth. One memorable experience was attending a school event honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., where we came together to celebrate his legacy and share a meal.

I am incredibly grateful for this collaborative community, which provided guidance, encouragement, and a shared sense of purpose during my first year as a teacher.

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This semester I developed a mini unit of 3 ELA lessons. Each lesson includes content objectives, language objectives, state standards addressed, assessments, and most importantly differentiation.

Instead of trying to adapt my lessons for particular students, I use Universal Design for Learning (UDL) when creating my lesson plans. UDL is for all students, including those with physical or learning disabilities. I learned that UDL makes content accessible for all , by making sure that the lessons are planned so that all students in the class can learn. This includes using visuals, technology, graphic organizers and other strategies and tools.

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As teachers we may feel like we do so much already. When Lacey Robinson mentioned this at the start of her talk, it immediatedly stood out to me, perhaps because I can relate to this feeling. As a first year teacher at a parochial school, I'm often exhausted juggling expectations  from administration and religious elders, all the while trying to best educate my students. My school requires me to check students are in full uniform, no accessories, collect cell phones, make sure there is silence in the hallway etc. If one of my students is caught laughing or socializing with another in the bathroom, I get a teacher or an elder at my door reporting the behavior and expecting me to "discipline" my student. Something about this feels terribly wrong, almost dehumanizing.

Even though, I have to enforce most of these rules to keep my job at this school, I work hard to create an environment where my students are free to be themselves inside of my classroom. Lacey Robinson's talk has inspired me to do more by bringing up my concerns to my administration, or to any colleague who will listen. Perhaps the "conspiracy of politeness" has kept me from speaking up at times. As an educator, I still have so much growing to do- growth that will hopefully lead me to become confident enough to stand my ground in a group of people who don't agree, or better yet, growth that enables me to change the minds (or the hearts) of those who believe that the appearance of order takes precedence over true learning.

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Justice in the Details - Lacey Robinson and Brandon White

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When I started in September, I arranged the students’ desks in rows of two and three, all facing the front of the classroom. While this setup allowed for some discussion and collaboration, students could only interact with those seated next to them.

During an observation, my supervising professor, Susan Tsiropinas, asked how could I increase collaboration among my students. I decided that I could increase collaboration by grouping students into clusters of 4–6. After implementing this change, I noticed a significant improvement—students began to engage in larger group discussions and debates, fostering deeper critical thinking. Additionally, this arrangement made small group instruction more effective, allowing me to provide more individualized support to students.

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We celebrated our learning at the end of each unit by posting up our work for all to see! There was student work posted for every student in our class.

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During family night, I hosted families in my classroom along with a colleague who teaches my students Math. I presented a slideshow about myself as a teacher and my expectations for their children. I presented in both English and Spanish, since about 30% of my students families are Spanish speaking. Parents were encouraged to ask questions, and were able to make suggestions for curriculum, classroom activities, and preferred communication. All parents were heard!

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Students collaborated to decorate our door. Some create the design, others drew pictures, cut out or colored. 3 students were photographers

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An arts education allows children to think outside of the box, which is helpful to develop general problem solving skills that can be used across all subjects. Art is beneficial for children from early childhood and all throughout their elementary school years and beyond. In “ Ten Lessons the Arts Teach”, Eisner discusses the benefits of incorporating the arts into the classroom for children. Eisner states, “lesson 5. The arts make vivid the fact that neither words in their literal form nor number exhaust what we can know” suggesting that academic writing and math test scores do not portray the level of intelligence of people, including children.