In my first and second practicum at Davis, I helped with the Breakfast Program, as well as the Boy’s Volleyball team.
Since then, I have been moved to Northwood Elementary and have been volunteering in the primary ESL classroom. Being a LEAD student, I have created an initiative to help ELL students with their social skills, as well as created an informal place for them to practice their English. The project is called “Club Connect” and I implemented it in the school during March 2017.
The presentation board I created for the proposal of the initiative:
The Club has been beyond successful and has become something the students look forward to. They know that once to twice every week during first nutrition break, they can come to the club, and even despite the nicer weather, they have chosen to stay inside to participate in the Club! We have played a lot of games, including cards, Uno, Scrabble Junior, and many games on the Wii (Mario Kart, Just Dance, etc.). The students love this chance to have fun with their ELL friends, as since they are in various grades (from 1-4) and belong to several different homeroom classrooms, they don’t always get that opportunity.
During November and December of 2017, I chose to focus on more community building activities in our Club. These activities allowed students to participate in conversations with each other, which in turn, allowed the smoothness of the activities. For example, below you will see a few students participating in a Cup Stack challenge. Students were split into small groups, and given six cups and 4 strings with one rubber band holding them all together. Students were first invited to use the string/rubber band contraption to stack the cups as a group without talking. The next time, they were invited to talk to their group members to discuss the best approach to stacking the cups using only the strings and rubber band to do so. The third time, they were racing against the other groups to complete the stacking. At the end, we sat together and discussed which time was easiest. Most students agreed that when they were allowed to talk to their group members, the cup stacking was easier. Some stated that it was harder, because their group members were talking over one another and causing each other to lose focus. These observations led to meaningful conversations about the importance of communication.
At Northwood, I have involved myself in helping with the upcoming Talent Show. I played a big part in creating scenery for the themed show. Here is the Star Wars themed backdrop:
I also helped run the Track Day for Northwood at Sandwich Secondary on April 27th 2017 and the Eco Club from November 2017 – April 2018.
Being involved in the schools I’ve taught in has been important in developing my relationships with the students, as extra-curriculars provide somewhat informal environments for students and teachers to get to know each other outside of the teaching and learning experience.