Life Skills Room (Valleyview Secondary)
My volunteer work in the Life Skills Room was one of the greatest experiences I could receive. Working with diverse students allowed me to see the best ways these students learned. Much of the work was hands-on which not only gave me great, applicable skills that translate to teaching but also getting to work one-on-one with a student is a valuable experience. Being able to build professional student relationships was also a wonderful experience. Overall volunteering in the Life Skills Room contributed significantly to teaching and learning by practicing practical, personalized, differentiated support for students that helps them develop essential skills for life.
Respite Work
I volunteered time with a teen with ASD for several months doing 1 on 1 respite. Doing respite with a child with ASD intersects with teaching and learning. 1 on 1, tailored support provided insights into building those relationships and how to give meaningful differentiated instruction. Emotional regulation support definitely helps build confidence, self-esteem, which are valuable for engagement in activities. The relationship between respite care and education stresses the importance of holistic growth and learning, and fostering growth and development for children with ASD.
Food Bank
Volunteering at the food bank offered me a lot of insights that will inform my teaching practices. Witnessing the need and the scale of the food bank showed me firsthand realities of food insecurity within Kamloops. There are students who go home and may not have something to eat. How are we supposed to teach those students when such a basic need may not have been met yet. This really informed part of my philosophy, specifically “We need to take care of Maslow’s before we tackle Bloom’s”. A student needs those basic needs met first before I can really begin to teach them and learn through them. Ultimately, volunteering at the Food Bank strengthened my commitment to equity and social justice and has and will inform my teaching practices forever.