Choir Student Teacher
During my first practice teaching placement at St. Christopher Catholic School in Windsor, Ontario, I assisted as a choir student teacher. In this role, I supervised and facilitated practices and meetings during lunch hour every Wednesday. Engaging in co-curricular activities has taught me the importance and impact they have on not only the school community, but also on both student and teacher learning. I have learned that co-curricular activities such as choir, allows all students open opportunities, which may not be accessible to them outside of the school. The choir was beneficial to not only the students involved, but also other students and educators in the school who get to enjoy their hard work through performance. I learned through this experience that the choir emphasized and made visible the importance of the arts in the school community, something which can often go unnoticed. Furthermore, I learned that co-curricular activities create environments where students can take on leadership roles, developing and applying skill sets different from those which they apply in the classroom. As the school choir was open to all grades, this experience taught me the value of fostering connections with students of different grade levels, enhancing the sense of school community. Lastly, through this experience, I was able to see first hand the value in students from various grades coming together to support and learn from one another.
Early Years Education Carousel
At the University of Windsor’s Faculty of Education, I am enrolled in the Early Years Education Service Learning Course. As a student in this course, I have had the privilege of planning and hosting the annual Early Years Learning Carousel event. In doing so, I have learned to effectively fundraise and advertise for learning events in the community. As well, I have learned to effectively plan and execute educational activities for families with children ages 3-10. During my first year in this course, I supported upper year students in facilitating educational activities and had the opportunity to observe their activities and teaching styles. Doing so has allowed me to reflect on these experiences in order to enhance and inform our activities in the coming year. This event has most importantly taught me the importance of engaging families and parents in their children’s learning. I have learned parental involvement is central to early years students’ learning, and doing so enables students to build confidence and self-esteem. I have learned the importance of engaging the family in the learning process so that parents are able to share information about their families or child’s interests and culture. This event has taught me how parental involvement improves lines of communication between the parents and myself as an educator, and can improve relationships between parents and their children.
Most importantly, this event has taught me the significance of engaging families and parents in their children’s learning. I have learned parental involvement is central to early years students’ learning, and doing so enables students to build confidence and self-esteem. I have learned the importance of engaging the family in the learning process so that parents are able to share information about their families or child’s interests and culture. This event has taught me how parental involvement improves lines of communication between the parents and myself as an educator, and can improve relationships between parents and their children.
Cans for a Cause
During my first placement in Grade 3 at St. Christopher Catholic School, I had the opportunity to participate in “Cans for a Cause.” This event is hosted annually by the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, where non-perishable food and personal items are collected. These items are donated during the Christmas season, so that no Windsor Essex family goes without on Christmas. Grade 3 students collected these items over the month of December, and walked them to Devonshire mall to be donated. My teaching partner and I facilitated and assisted in organizing this event within our school, as well as utilized it as a significant learning opportunity.
The experience was both meaningful and relevant for students as it involved real world learning and collaborating to achieve a common goal of making a positive impact in their community. Learning arose from this event, as it resulted in various cross curricular lessons. I learned how to effectively tie events such as “Cans for a Cause” into mathematics with graphs, and the language arts. During cross curricular lessons, I discussed with my students global citizenship, and various sustainable development goals including zero hunger, sustainable communities, and partnerships for goals, when we collaborated with the other grade 3 class. As well, I learned the importance of and how to effectively facilitate discussions about being responsible citizens, and the power of coming together to engage in local initiatives safely. Participating in this event alongside my associate teacher taught me the importance of participating in local initiatives with my students, and how to effectively derive learning experiences from them. I value this experience and look forward to engaging in local initiatives with my future students.