Series Big Picture Deeper Learning: Student Profile: Real-World Internship

Individualized Real-World Learning

Selecting Student Internships

Mentoring Through Internships

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Student Profile: Real-World Internship

Kathleen Cushman on Student Internships

Student Profile: Real-World Internship

Lesson Objective: Personalize learning through internships and learning goals

Grades 9-12 / All Subjects / Self-Directed

4 MIN

Discussion
Supporting Materials

Thought starters

How can schools address college and career readiness through internships?
How can students be supported to meet learning goals through their internships?
How can schools help students form relationships with adults who serve as mentors?

5 Comments

Jessie DeLuca Nov 9, 2016 5:28pm

Deeper learning competencies are communication, reasoning, analyzing, critical thinking, applying what the student learns to the real world situation in which they are placed. Deeper learning is so much more than just superficially skimming the top; it's really understanding how what they are learning affects their performance and responsibilities in a real world situation. It's to understand on a completely different level than that to which most students are exposed. A personalized learning plan is exactly that - a plan that is customized for one student and what that student is learning in his/her internship. That student's education doesn't begin and end with an internship. Rather, the student attends the internship on Tuesdays and Thursdays then attends regular academic classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The student is free to pursue the career s/he would like to have as an adult. As far as deeper learning in my classes, I already do use this to a certain extent, but obviously it's not possible to completely immerse a student in a traditional school setting. However, I do tell the students about my real life experiences and I encourage them to tell their own stories when something happens to them that relates to what we learn in the class. I'm always very excited to hear about their successes, which is why I enjoyed the community service trip I ran last summer to Costa Rica. Even though not all of the students studied Spanish in school, all of them made a real effort to communicate in Spanish with everyone we met. They all continually asked me how to say certain phrases or words to describe what we were doing. I was so excited to share my love for language with them and they really got to see how what they learned helped their efforts to communicate.

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Valerie Coogan Nov 9, 2016 5:25pm

I really like the fact that these high school students have the ability to participate in an internship program that aligns with their personal interests. Not many schools (that I know of) allow students this type of opportunity. Many have to wait until college, as I did. It's great that these students are given the choice to explore different career paths at such a young age. Having the hands on experience can give them insight as to how life can be in the "real world" and preps them for their future. As in Diana's case, she wasn't getting what she wanted out of a particular location, so transferring to Big Picture gave her the ability to work with the cameras, editing, voice recordings, etc. These students are able to connect to a real life task, with deeper understanding, when it is something they enjoy.

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Kristine Rago Nov 9, 2016 5:20pm

I loved how the students were given the opportunity to "work" in a field they have an interest in. They were also taught that they had to explain why they made certain decisions for the work that they did. The students were also held to the same requirements as any other student of their age.

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Maria Flood May 21, 2014 10:36am

Shouldn't all classes be designed to have a REAL WORLD application? What a great way to have a greater understanding of that content area! Hands-on experience is definitely the way to go!

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Andrew Frishman Mar 23, 2014 10:15am

REAL work! in the REAL world! (cool to see kids super-engaged in their learning beyond the walls of the classroom!)... here's how I think about this - http://www.bigpicture.org/2014/03/andrew-frishmans-remarks-at-sxswedu-342014/

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Materials

Transcript: Student Profile: Real-World Internship

Transcripts

Student Profile: Real-World Internship Transcript

+++ 00:00:00 +++
Card:
Deeper Learning
Diana:
a student profile
Diana: My name is Diana Lang.

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Student Profile: Real-World Internship Transcript

+++ 00:00:00 +++
Card:
Deeper Learning
Diana:
a student profile
Diana: My name is Diana Lang. I am a sophomore in high school.
Lower Third:
iTV/Channel 16
San Diego, California
Diana: I’m doing my internship at iTV, Cable 16.
Lower Third:
Diana
10th Grade Student
San Diego MET High School

+++ 00:00:25 +++
Diana: I chose to switch to Big Picture because I was really tired of not learning what I thought was what I was supposed to be learning. I would hear, “Oh, in the real world, you do this. In the real world, you do that.” And I was like well, why am I not being taught about the real world.

+++ 00:00:40 +++
Rick Berger: Find that archive too. And usually we don’t put photos in folders, so we’re just can use those as a root directory sort of. Diana is just an exceptional intern. She really is. She’s very, very well spoken. She’s younger than most of my interns. I’ve never had a sophomore before but she has that maturity level. She blends in right away with the team.
Lower Third:
Rick Berger
Diana’s Mentor
iTV/Channel 16, San Diego, CA
Rick Berger: And other members that I work with of my staff are constantly coming in and saying, “That girl’s really good” .

+++ 00:01:13 +++
Diana: I guess they saw a lot of potential in me. I’ve always been interested in game development, cinematography, anything of the like. I presented my sketchbook. I told them what I’ve been into. They were just like, “You would be a perfect fit for this, so let’s see if you can live up to the task and be responsible.” Yeah, this is the very beginning.
Lower Third:
Debra Villegas
10th Grade Advisor
San Diego MET High School

+++ 00:01:37 +++
Debra Villegas: We put so much emphasis into our internship program because of the fact that the real world hands-on learning is a key component to most of my student’s learning. They’ve grown so dramatically and see themselves in a new, mature fashion that they continue to strive off that.

+++ 00:02:01 +++
Diana: Well, some of the tasks I do is set up with the cameras. I do editing for different projects. I’ve done voice recording and I’ve done even things that every day people do, like PowerPoints. So it’s things that are just every day to stuff that, you know, you’d only get at an environment like this. So when I worked on the slides, they originally were 2012 and then I had to edit them
+++ 00:02:34 +++
using this list, and these are the nominees. And it has all the information that you put on here.

Debra Villegas: Typically, every three to four weeks, I’m out there visiting the students, checking up on them, touching base with the mentor, so making sure that they’re communicating. She’s asking questions and he’s answering the questions and vice versa. Do you have to stay within the parameters of the lines?

+++ 00:03:00 +++
Diana: Yeah, these-- this is probably the safest zone.
Debra Villegas: What she’s learning is based on our learning goals, communication, social reasoning and personal quality. She hits those all the time just by showing up, dressed, ready for work, speaking with her mentor, analyzing and critical thinking and balancing and pacing herself at the internship. So every single day, she’s hitting all her learning goals. With Diana, she has struggled a little bit with keeping up with the academics only because we do it so differently than comprehensive schools.
Lower Third:
10th Grade Student Advisory

+++ 00:03:36 +++
Debra Villegas: Let me see what you have in your essay because I want to use that as a stepping stone because I know that you’re struggling on understanding the expectations. That one.
Diana: This one? Oh, right, yeah, okay.
Card:
Rubric graphic to come
Debra Villegas: So look at the rubric and I want you to take a minute to brief over it.

+++ 00:03:58 +++
Diana: There’s a lot of work and it’s more independent so you have to think more for yourself and you have to go beyond just a textbook or a piece of paper. You really have to work. You have to have a lot of responsibility to be able to be in the school like that. So it is not easy but it’s totally worth it.
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