Event Report

My event report will detail when I volunteered at Holy Family School in Red Deer, Alberta. I helped assist in classroom activities for kindergarten students. I was able to participate in this for about 4 months, where I saw the students and teacher grow as a classroom, and witnessed how successful communication leads to progress. 

My experience as a student-assistant-teacher began by assisting kindergarten classes.

This experience was memorable due to the fact that it gave me first-hand experience into what it was like to be in the classroom. This experience was important to me because it solidified my decision in becoming a teacher. I had been slightly confused into what I had planned as a career, and had multiply routes to take. But in doing this volunteer project, I was able to see what the career of a teacher entailed, and what kind of responsibilities the job required. It opened my eyes to the work that must go in, and out of the classroom.

Each teacher I spoke to had a similar experience before they chose their career, in that they all were interested in child care. The deciding factor for me, came from working with the kindergarten class at Holy Family Elementary school. I witnessed how students learn and communicate with their peers and teacher in the class. This is where I began seeing how important these interactions are on the learning style for each particular student. I was able to see the students who learned best visually, as they would normally observe and then attempt to mimic. I witnessed the students who preferred learning hands-on, because they were the ones who were most often attempting to learn step by step. This is also where I learned the Importance of an honest, teacher to student relationship. I was able to see how this not only motivated the students, but also motivated the teacher to continue providing them with some kind of progress. It allowed for an atmosphere in the classroom that was conducive to learning and moving forward. The teacher would tailor a certain “station” depending on what was being taught that day. Each station would not only go through the different types of ways that her students learned best with, but also a different subject. She would rotate the subjects so as to prevent the student from learning one subject better than another subject. This method worked for her students, and although it was more work on her part, it saw very good results with her students.  In addition to witnessing how the teachers managed the classroom, I was also able to communicate with the students, and hear what they had to say. Being that it was kindergarten, nearly all the students were always excited to be a part of class, and looked forward to any new content. I asked in particular what they enjoyed and one reply that stuck with me was “I like how everything is new.” This stuck with me because, it reflected how the teacher always brought something interesting for the classroom. It gave the young students something to pique their curiosity and keep them questioning. To further the teacher’s relationship with the students, she would go around and have one on one conversations with each student. As she made her way around the classroom she would ask if they were struggling, and if they found the information for that day interesting. Although these seem like very general questions, they nearly always prompted a detailed response from the students. This feedback was then put into play the following day by the teacher. In addition to watching how the communication impacts the student, I also had the opportunity to watch and see how the teacher was able to address the students with academic issues. I was able to see how addressing the deficiencies of students allowed them to grow and succeed on their tests. Not only were they able to benefit the student individually, but the student would then contribute more to the class, and thus help the classroom progress as well. 

 I benefitted by being able to spectate and watch to see how successful student-teacher communication was conducted. By being more behind the scenes of the classroom, it gave me a first person perspective into what worked successfully in the classroom. I witnessed why these teachers had such excitement when they taught, and also understood why the students were always so interested in the content being taught. Seeing how well the students responded to praise and individual conversations motivated me to do the same when I had my own classroom. It motivated me even more to be able to give the students something to look forward to. I wanted to become the teacher that would be able to bring that excitement to the classroom. 

The ability to create an environment that is tailored to your career was also very appealing to me. I liked how the classrooms were decorated to suit each teacher, and how each student decorated their area with items that signified their uniqueness. This atmosphere is also what really drew me into education as a career. I liked how you were able to clearly see the identity of each student and teacher seep into their surrounds. The community that was created between teachers and students also really clicked with me, as it was something of a family. 

Due to my event taking place in a classroom I was unable to take photos of the students due to privacy reasons. Therefore the only photos I am able to add to this post will be artwork made by the students.