I had the opportunity to volunteer at Bright Steps Playcare/Preschool.

I went where help was

needed at the school/play care. I met all of the students and teachers. In the mornings during arrival,
while students were getting dropped off, we did free play outside before it was time to start. I started
out playing with mind blocks and I helped them build different things. I also helped serve food and milk
during lunchtime. After lunch, I cleaned up and helped students stack chairs. We taught some students
how to sound out letters and then into words. I have a very enjoyable time spending time with the
students. I also helped prepare activities for preschool. I was given the task to cut out crayons, clouds,
and rainbow strips for a color activity with the preschoolers. I also cut out laminated shapes so that the
students would be able to do a shape-identifying activity. I cut out numbers for a counting activity for
students to count the amount of ice cream cones and beach balls on the paper. I also assisted in a color
sorting activity with colored beads. The preschoolers were told to match the color bead onto the
matching-colored paper plate. I helped guide students in the activity by telling them “Good work!” when
they were correct. When the students had put a colored bead onto the wrong paper plate, I told the
students to “try again” and proceeded to ask them what color the bead was and help them determine
where the bead should go.

I assisted the teachers with a color and shape activity. In this activity by helping the students
color only the circles on the paper. The paper had many different shapes on it, and they had to identify
and color only the circles. In this activity, I helped the students that started to color the other shapes
rather than the circles. I asked them “what shape is the circle?”, I had them point out all the circles on
the page. I also asked the students what every shape was to help identify which ones the circles were. I
also helped a student who had Autism during this specific activity. I helped him hold the crayon and
color only the circles. He needed help holding the crayon, so I had him hold onto the crayon while I
helped guide him. In this activity, I learned how to accommodate the students. As a future educator, I
had experience in accommodating students based on their needs. Some students may need activities
modified so they can participate based on their needs. This was helpful to experience as a future
educator because I learned how to modify and help students that need it.

I feel that this opportunity gave me experience in preparing lesson plans. I also received insight
from the teachers on how they get their students engaged in activities. They gave tips on how to keep
the students focused during an activity. I appreciated the insight because teachers know how keeping
their students focused during an activity is important. The teachers would give tips on how to go about
introducing a new lesson. They would read a book about color before their color sorting activity. This
opportunity gave me ideas for lesson plans and activities for when I am a teacher in the future. The
teachers demonstrated how they make activities fun and engaging for the students. It gave me insight
into how I will be working with future students. I learned that everyone is different and learns in
different ways. Some students are visual, auditory, and hands-on learners. Some students can have a
mix of learning styles. As I was assisting the students in the lessons and activities, I had the chance to
help them based on their learning styles. This was an important experience as a future educator because
I will be teaching students with different learning styles.

It also confirmed that every student learns at a different pace. Not every student is the same or
will learn in the same way. Every student is unique and comes from different background. This means
every student will start at a different pace. Teaching is a rewarding career to see students get excited
about learning and coming to school. Teachers get to see their students learn and grow. Teachers are
role models and positive influences on their students. This experience overall confirmed my passion for
teaching and learning. I am excited about the rest of my journey to becoming a future educator.