HDF 417: LEADERSHIP INTERNSHIP

PRACTICUM EXPERIENCE




Catherine O’Donnell

Spring 2020
[email protected]


 TABLE OF CONTENT
Opening Statement SLIDE #3
Strengths SLIDE #4
Competency #1: Personal Values SLIDE #5
Competency #2: Helping Others SLIDE #6
Section 1: Self Leadership SLIDE #7
Section 2: Leadership Theories SLIDE #8
Section 3: Inclusive Leadership SLIDE #9
Section 4: Critical Thinking SLIDE #10
Section 5: Interpersonal/Organizational Leadership SLIDE #11
 OPENING STATEMENT
My Leadership Internship at Peace Dale Elementary School opened my eyes to a community of
leaders. As a Peer Teaching Assistant for third grade students, I learned how members of the
school community work together, in their own unique ways and collaboratively within a team,
to accomplish the most important mission: empowering others to provide educational
excellence for all.

Being a natural Achiever and Lifelong Learner, I am committed to becoming part of the change
that Peace Dale aims to achieve for their students. I learned how to build quick relationships
with students and staff and dove right into helping students succeed in their academic work.
As a Principle-Centered leader, my morals and values led me to become the best role model
and leader I could be for the third grade students.

Due to COVID-19, Peace Dale Elementary School had to adjust to distance online learning.
Through this additional and unprecedented experience, I was able to look at critical thinking
and Crisis Management in a whole new way.

I have no doubt that these experiences will prepare me for when future problems and set backs
occur.
SIGNATURE STRENGTHS
Talent Strengths
Achiever
Positivity
Developer
Learner
Empathy

Character Strengths
Love
Appreciation of Beauty & Excellence
Love of Learning
Kindness
Curiosity
 COMPETENCY #1: Personal Values

Values are a guiding force for individual behavior. Acting in alignment with one’s
own values can contribute to one’s authenticity and ability to inspire others.

I believe my internship has helped me to master this competency in

many ways. As a college student, I am continuously searching for
my identity, who I wish to be, and what I will become. However, the
one part of myself that has remained a factor in who I am as a
person is my personal values of love, appreciation for others,
finding joy in learning new things, kindness, and curiosity. Without
thinking, I demonstrate these qualities in the classroom. I know my
personal values have an effect on the students and my supervisor
Mrs. Rosen because she is able to communicate how impressed she
is with my performance. I can attribute this success to my personal
values.
 COMPETENCY #2: Helping Others

Voluntarily giving assistance to others when one has no personal stake in
the outcome of the assistance in an effort to make a task or process
less difficult or time consuming for others. Because leaders care
about people, they know how valuable it is to help others and foster an
environment in which people help each other.

In addition to exercising my personal values in the classroom setting,

this internship experience offered me endless ways to help the
students and my supervisor, Mrs. Rosen. Every time I arrive to
Room 23, I scanned the room for any student who looked like they
were struggling with their morning work. Also, I was eager and
willing to sit with any student who needed help with their essay, so
I would correct parts that needed fixing and answer any questions
the student had. Without having to be told, I would grade and file
homework for Mrs. Rosen based on observing how these
procedures were done by example.
 SECTION 1

SELF LEADERSHIP
Outcome #10
Student will demonstrate the ability to lead a project from start to finish (follow-through)

In HDF 290, we were assigned to complete a mini-presentation either by ourselves or with a partner. I was partnered
with Victoria and we were given the Relational Leadership Theory by Komives, McMahon, and Lucas. In class, we
mutually decided that a PowerPoint would work best for this presentation and proceeded to divide the work amongst
ourselves. Back in my dorm, on my own time, I organized our PowerPoint by titling each slide so myself and Victoria
would know where to effectively place each bit of information. I made sure to keep the slides concise with the
appropriate amount of text and images. When it came time to present our final product, I asked if Victoria wanted to
say the conclusion and wrap up the main points we talked about and I would open with an introduction to brief our
main points. She agreed and we delivered our presentation efficiently. I believe I took a leadership role in this project
and offered a sufficient amount of ideas. We followed-through the whole assignment by supporting each other, our
ideas, and creativity.
I encountered a project in my third grade classroom which consisted of organizing multiple-level reading groups for
the third grade students. Being able to follow-through is super important in the classroom when it comes to
individually helping students strengthen their academic skills. I worked with students to create obtainable
expectations that they can work toward so they are not left hanging without any goals to help them grow as a learner.
I decided to check-in and take notes on each student’s progress each visit. I created a plan to meet with the low level
readers twice a week, and the middle to high level readers once a week. I deliberately initiated this plan on an
organized chart that I created on Google Docs. I was able to accomplish my goals each week up until learning became
remote learning at home due to COVID-19.
Additionally, I am often faced with projects that I must follow-through with to successfully finish them. One project,
that occurs very often now that my family and I are all at home, is yard work. My dad has big plans for our
landscaping image and he sets his mind to the task. I am eager to help, so I ask what he would like me to accomplish.
Some examples are, chop firewood and make a wall, rake leaves and dispose of them in the woods, plant new plants
and trees in bed, cover the bed with soil, and spread bark mulch. I know my dad has high expectations and I want to
make him proud, so I not only get the job done, but I get the job done well.

(Fulfills Competency #2)

 SECTION 2

Leadership Theory and Models
Outcome #36
Student will describe personal application of the above theory (Argyris)

When I am at work in the classroom with three-year-olds, I have to constantly be on my A-game.

As a professional, a role model, and a leader, I must abide by my personal values that dictate
my decisions and actions. For example, if a child says, “You are stupid!” to another child, I will
immediately approach the child to tell him/her to apologize. I abide by the value of kindness,
and therefore my direct and natural decision to tell the child to apologize is derived from my
Governing Variables element of following the value of kindness. If the child continued to belittle
another child, I would have to speak to this child again to enforce the importance of the value of
being kind to friends. The strategy I would be using here is reinforcing expectations. There
could be too outcomes for this situation. The child could listen to my words the first time and
practice being kind to his/her friends, or the child could repeat the poor behavior. A
consequence that I often experience for myself is when I fail to approach that child again when I
see repeated poor behavior. I question why I did not follow-through with my expectation, so in
the future, I will remember the governing variables that drive my actions. From another
perspective, I sometimes realize that my actions have not been kind, and so I have to question
why I broke the moral code I just enforced on my preschoolers. It motivates me to live up to my
own expectations and expedite action strategies to combat any moments where I fall short of
kindness.

(Fulfills Competency #1)

 

Section 3
INCLUSIVE LEADERSHIP/ DIVERSITY and its application to leadership

Outcome #88
Student will describe personal examples of being a change agent

As I got comfortable in my internship site and became educated on the school’s vision statement, I was
confident enough to start being the change that the community wants to see. For example, when the students
are walking in the hallway to PE or Art, I stay toward the back of the line to monitor behavior. The expectations
are to use quiet voices, keep hands and body off walls, walk safely, and stay in line. When I see a student
breaking one of these expectations, I aim to alert the student of what they are doing wrong and direct behavior
to a safer and wiser choice. Additionally, when we are in math applications and reading groups, I have to
monitor student behavior because often times students speak over each other or get into arguments over what
the correct answer is or not doing a problem the “correct” way. I delegate these situations by steering
students in the right direction by telling them to sit nicely, be respectful of everyone’s space and work, and wait
patiently if a peer is speaking.
In EDC 250, I was assigned to a fifth grade classroom at Carl G. Lauro Elementary School. Here, I helped
students practice their math skills to prepare for the RICAS, the Rhode Island Standardized Assessment. The
vision statement of this school states, “It is the intent of the faculty to lead students toward being disciplined,
productive, informed and fulfilled individuals. To achieve these ideals, mutual respect and understanding must
be present in the learning process on the part of all participants- the faculty, students and community.” I
believe I was committed to becoming a change agent in this environment because I treated every student with
the same amount of respect and expected to receive that respect in return. Throughout the math groups, I
made sure to focus on one student at a time near the end of my practicum because I wanted to ensure that
every student had the chance to feel vocally heard, helped in any way they needed it academically, and taught
the skills needed to transform into productive and informed learners.
https://www.providenceschools.org/domain/1101

(Fulfills Competency #1)

 SECTION 4 

Critical Thinking
Outcome #105
Student will describe personal examples of having used five problem solving / conflict management

Method #1 was used at Circle of Friend’s Preschool when I would have to not only vocalize the
expectation for “keep your hands to yourself” but point and show the children the Classroom Rules
Chart on the bulletin board. Method #2 was used in the same preschool classroom when I set up the
children’s snacks and lunches. They have name tags for their spots at the table so that they can
practice finding their name, so I have learned how to strategically place these name tags in spots
where two children next to each other or at the same table will not cause a conflict. Method #3 was
used when I was babysitting for a family in my town. The children were being rough with their bodies
and I could see it leading to someone getting hurt, so I had to pry them apart and say firmly, “We do
not fight with each other like that, one of you will get hurt. This is not a safe option, please choose
something else to play with.” My intent was straight-forward, to the point, and convincing enough for
the children to stop fighting. Method #4 was used at Circle of Friends when I had to sit a child out of
outdoor play time so that he could think about his actions (pushing another friend which resulted in
that child falling and bruising his knee). Then, I approached him after some time to discuss what he
did wrong and how he will change his actions (he told me “I pushed him” and so I probed the
question, “was that a nice thing to do?” and he shook his head “no” and I proceeded to say, “what
can you do instead of pushing?” The child responded with “use my words” and I thought I got my
point across pretty well after that. I personally use method #5 frequently in the classroom setting
whether that is at my internship site or at my job. An example from Peace Dale was when a student
was not following the directions asked of her, so I told her to move to her desk to work by herself in a
more focused environment. I “took away” her chance to work with peers, but that environment was
distracting to her, so I swiftly fixed the problem by removing her from the source.
(Fulfills Competency #1)
 SECTION 5

Interpersonal and Organizational Concepts
Outcome #128
Student will describe personal examples of organizing meetings / setting agendas / leading
meetings
In Outcome #30 I spoke about bible study, but here I will go more in depth about how
organizing, planning, and leading was a large portion of this leadership position. I was given
a Leader Manual that pinpoints the steps to invite, plan for the semester, and prepare
questions to ask during the study. First, I organized the meeting by intentionally inviting
everyone who I knew was interested to attend bible study from 4:00 - 5:00 pm on Tuesday. I
made sure that the girls knew bible study would be the same day and time each week so it
would be a good idea to block that time off in their agendas. Then, I would set the agenda for
what we would talk about by writing down notes for myself to remember the order in which I
wanted to talk about certain topics or when to bring up questions. I would read through the
bible passage to become familiar with it and research any words or phrases I did not know.
Then, I would look over the example questions the Manual provided, as well as attempt to
think of questions on my own. When Tuesday came and leading began, I would open the
circle by thanking everyone for coming and then opening the floor to talk about our high and
low moments for the week, often a moment of ventilation and personal sharing among the
group. Then, we would take turns reading the bible passage out loud. I was hesitant to
answer questions that the girls had because I do not have all of the answers, but the more I
became a confident leader, the more I relaxed and knew that I could say “I don’t know, but we
can research that together.” Overall, this experience provided me with tools that taught me
how to set up a meeting, organize its components, and lead to the best of my ability.

(Fulfills Competency #2)