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MY EXPERIENCES

Babysitting

2010 - Present

I got my babysitting course when I was 12 years old and I have been babysitting ever since. I have taken care of multiple children at a time and their ages vary from 6 months to 10 years old. I feel that babysitting has definitely played a role in why I want to become a teacher and I love watching the children I look after grow up into some amazing individuals. Babysitting is very rewarding as the parents of the children trust me with taking care of their child. I teach them about manners and responsibility and I feel the children benefit from those lessons from someone other than parents or guardians. Children make me happy and I enjoy putting a smile on their little faces!

Daycare Worker

November 2013 - February 2014

When I was in grade 11 at Greenall Highschool we had the opportunity to take a "Work Experience" class. I took the class of course because it seemed very interesting to me. The first month of the class consisted of completing courses that tested our safety and ability with being in a work place. We had to complete WHIMIS as well as come up with a research essay about a job that interested us. I chose teaching of course and I expanded on my knowledge of teaching as well as reffered to other sources of information. After completing the first month or so, we were told that we now have to find a job. It was only for 3 months and it was unpaid. The closest job I could find to teaching (that would allow me to work there without any required courses and such) was a Daycare worker. I worked at the Emerald Park Daycare in White City and I loved my time there. It was every afternoon 1-5 from Monday to Friday. It still amazes me that my school offered that program to us! It was so much fun and working there determined my career path for me - teaching! My roles working there was to clean up after snack time, read the children books, supervise the kids when they had free time as well as clean anything that needed to be cleaned. There were 30 kids in the room that I was in (separated by age). I was in the room with the 3 and 4 year olds! I enjoyed being able to look after the kids and I got to know some of them personally after I was done working there. For example, the little boy in the picture above was a boy that attended the Daycare and I babysit him now! I recommend, to ane who thinks about being an Elementary School teacher to work at a Daycare! 

Coaching

2014 - Present

I coach the sport I love - Softball! I have been playing the sport itself for 10 years and I look forward to each season when it starts up again. I started coaching a couple years ago. I waitress at Boston Pizza and one day I had a family come in. I noticed that the two young girls were both wearing Softball jackets with our Softball Communities team logo on it. I then asked the girls how long they have been playing on that team for and I proceeded to tell them how long I have been, too! Their father was their coach, and asked me what position I played. I told him I was a pitcher, and he was thrilled by that! He asked me if I would be interersted in coaching his daughters as well as the rest of the team some basic skills of pitching and in a couple other position areas! It has been such a great opportunity and I am coaching them again this year! I feel that this has also reassured me of my career path as I am around children approximately the same age that I will be involved with when I start teaching - which is 8-10 year olds! It has definitely put my patience to the test as I have to start from scratch with all of the basic skills. It has better prepared me for what I have to expect in my future - which is teaching young children something that you already know so well. I know to be understanding and supportive and to keep in mind that they will eventually understand and comprehend whatever it is I may be teaching them. It helps with the ENTIRE teaching aspect as I am teaching these girls - school related or not, I am still teaching them. It is great to work on these skills and to be able to practice them before starting my career!

ECS 100 Field Placement (Pilot Butte School)

1st Year in Education Program - Second Semester (2016)

This, by far, his been extremely beneficial  to my learning and teaching practices. Not only did it help my reassurance of my career path, but it was so much fun and I learnt so much! I was placed in a grade 3 classroom at Pilot Butte Elementary School. The homeroom teacher was named Camille Chorneyko, and she was such a pleasure to observe. She showed us so many different techniques to use in the classroom and they vary from how to handle situations in the classroom to different tools to demonstrate a lesson - whether that be on the computer or hands on! Being able to be placed in the classroom definitely brought back so many memories and of course refreshed my memory on what they are learning. I attended the school every Tuesday afternoon for 2 months, which limited my chances of being able to see other subjects. I got to observe Science, Social Studies, Health and Phys-Ed, which was awesome! There are a couple other subjects I would have liked to observe but being able to observe what I did was such a privilege. Who would have thought that in your first year of Education you would already be in the classroom? It was definitely strange but amazing being called "Miss Stamm" rather than "Mackenzie" because it made me feel like an actual teacher! The kids were amazing and quite the characters - their personalities were precious! They all had different interests and passions which was great to be able to talk about something different with every child. Not only did I learn from Mrs. Chorneyko, but the children taught me so much, too! I was able to see didfferent way of getting the students' attention, organization of school work, the set up of the classroom, etc. 

 

To get more into the subject areas and what I observed, one of my favorite subjects that I got to observe was Science. They learnt about man made/ natural structures.Mrs. Chorneyko would ask them questions about their opinion related to the topic and they came up with so many ideas! They were asked to build a sturdy structure with some of the supplies they had in their desks. Then once they felt their structure was strong enough, Mr. Smith (my field partner) would come around and test the structure with a water bottle filled with water. Most of the structures stayed standing once the water bottle was placed on top!

I had the privilege of being able to work with the beautiful, entertaining, trustworthy, smart and adorable autistic students in the classroom. I am a fan of inclusion so it was great to see these three students involved in lessons! There were times where they had one-on-one time with a special assistant but most of the time they were just as involved as any other student! They hold a program at Pilot Butte Elementary called Life Skills. Life Skills includes every grade level but specifically for special needs students. In this program once a month the special needs students have a chance to explore the world outside of school. These experiences happen once a month and they do things like going grocery shopping in Regina, going to a public restaurant, going to the movie theatre, bowling, etc. I feel that this is very essential to a child's learning and they should do something like this with not only the special needs students but the other students as well. In Life Skills they have the capability to bond with their teachers and classmates and it shows them that "life skills" are important and essential to life too, not just school and what the curriculum tells you to teach and what you're expected to know by a certain grade level. Here is an example of one of the Life Skills activities we got to explore: Dying easter eggs for Easter! They got to explore their artistic talents and they had fun while doing it!

Mrs. Chorneyko gave me the opportunity of being able to respond to the students' journals. Their journals were started at the beginning of the year and it is basically just a place for the students to be able to ask the teacher questions and for the students' to answer questions - can be school related but they try not to base it around school. The students express their feelings about the things they like and don't like and they share memories of their childhood. The journals also show each students' writing progress and it is so great to see! Here is an example of a journal I was able to read and reply to. 

Being in the school with the students' was so memorable and it made my first year of University so much fun! I am happy I was given the opportunity to explore my future!

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