Volunteer Experience
Through volunteer experiences, I have realized that there is need in my community. I learned that in some cases, school, or girl guides, can be an escape from the unstable lives that children may be living. After a few months of volunteering in my local elementary school and Girl Guide group, I formed strong relationships with the children I was working with. They expected my presence once a week. Being a part of this routine was transformational for me and helped me realize that I want to be this person for so many more children. While I do want to inspire children to imagine and create, more importantly I wish to be a friend and role model to my future students.
In my last two years of high school, I volunteered in a kindergarten/grade one classroom. In that class, I shadowed the most inspirational teacher. She made it her priority to create an inclusive classroom. Whenever the children would sing a song, she taught them to sing in Sashishalhem, Croatian, and French. She practiced and taught inclusion in the most effective ways. Watching the face of each child light up when they see the rest of their class sang in their own language was truly incredible. Instances like these have inspired me to make inclusive education a priority in my classroom.
Lifeguarding, girl guide leading, and assistant teaching children in my community has prepared me for a career in education. My career in lifeguarding has taught me how to be confident in uncomfortable situations. I believe this confidence will help me with teacher efficacy in the future, allowing me to be sure about what and how I am educating children. My experience with leading girl guides provided me with knowledge on how to mentor. One of the most important things that I taught my group of girl guides was about taking risks, and that through these challenges, you will always have people behind you to support and cheer you on. Experiences like these will be beneficial for creating a positive and family-like classroom environment for my future students to flourish in.
Athletic Experience
I have always been really involved in almost every sport that my small town had to offer. During elementary and high school, I played on the soccer team and volleyball team. I was also a member of our local swim club. My parents always prioritized mine and my siblings sports which I am very grateful for. Being on the school soccer team from grade 7-12 really made an impact on my life. I learned vital teamwork skills through communicating both on and off the field. On the swim team, my experience was slightly more individual. We didn’t participate in many competitions because of how small and rural my hometown is. In the pool, I learned to compete against myself. I did this by aiming every practice to beat my own previous swim times. I think team sports can be so beneficial for developing children’s leadership, communication, and resilience qualities.
Aligning Resources
Here are a few videos that align with my teaching philosophy:
Teaching Philosophy
My philosophy of teaching is embedded in inclusive education. At the beginning of second year, I stumbled upon a video called ‘Transforming Inclusive Education’ by Shelley Moore. In the video, she used a bowling analogy to describe how right now, some teachers are bowling and hitting single pins down to try and accommodate diverse students’ needs. Instead, teachers should be bowling to hit every pin down at the same time so that every learners’ needs are being met in the same classroom and through the same pedagogy. This really struck me and made me wonder how taking diverse students out of the classroom to learn is so backwards to what the overarching goal of education is: to set children up for success. When children are isolated from their classmates to learn in a separate room, they aren’t learning how to collaborate and work through things as a community. This is the foundation of my teaching philosophy. To expand, I believe that every child belongs (and should feel like they belong) in my classroom, no matter their abilities, ethnicity, gender, or anything. It is my job to create this space for future generations to work towards living in a world where people can feel comfortable and confident in their own skin.
I am also very interested in inquiry-based learning. I first learned about the idea of inquiry learning from Instagram. @Inquiryteacher popped up in my feed and I was intrigued by the materials she was using. I looked further into her account and discovered that she was a co-author of a book called Inquiry Mindset. I bought the book and read it over the span of this past semester. After reading the first few chapters, I was so inspired and knew that I wanted to learn more about how I can follow and inquiry-based model in my future classroom. Inquiry-based classrooms breed children with strong problem-solving skills, teamwork experience, and natural curiosity drive. I am very eager to learn more about the application of inquiry in the classroom in my future practicum and practice.
Grade 3 Art Lesson Plan
This lesson plan is designed for grade 3 students.
Grade 5 Volleyball Mini-Unit Plan
This is a unit plan that I designed with two peers. It contains 4 lessons, 4 assessment tools, 2 Universal Design for Learning Inclusive Episodes, and 1 systematic task analysis. The lessons cover passing, setting and bumping, underhand serving, and spiking.
Story Drama Lesson Plan: The Magic Beads
I created this lesson plan with two colleagues for EDCI 305A: Drama: A Medium for Learning. It is based on the book written by Susin Neilsen-Ferlund The Magic Beads. The lesson explores anxiety and mental health in children through a collection of activities such as miming, tableaus, writing in role, and much more. This plan with grade 3/4 curricular outcomes in mind.
Academics
ASL 100A: American Sign Language I
ASTR 102: Exploring the Cosmos
CSC 100: Elementary Computing
EDCI 250: Elementary Field Experience Seminar I
EDCI 302: Literacy and Language
EDCI 303: Historical and Philosophical Foundations of Canadian Education
EDCI 305A: Drama Education: A Medium for Learning I
ENGL 135: Academic Reading and Writing
ENGL 146: Contemporary Literature
EPHE 141: Human Anatomy
EPHE 310: Physical Education: General Classroom Teaching I
HSTR 230A: Canada to Confederation
HSTR 230B: Canada: Confederation to Present
MATH 161: Math for Elementary School Teachers I
MATH 162: Math for Elementary School Teachers II