Personal Narrative: Early Elementary And Special Education

Working with a team and helping others succeed has led me to partake as a volunteer at the after-school tutoring

One of my first volunteering positions growing up was at a local elementary school assisting children in core math and reading subjects. Not only did I help the students but I also helped the teacher with grading and developing new assignments. This experience gave me great insight into how one can effectively explain education materials to young children.

I have been a preschool teacher, teaching mixed age children from 18 months to 5 years, for over 10 years. I started as a work study employee, while attending the Community College of Philadelphia in 2006, to a part-time teaching assistant while attending Temple University in 2010. This led me to a lead-teacher position after graduation and then to a program coordinator. I have developed effective working relationships with children in the past years. This position has helped me improve my teamwork and interpersonal skills by cooperating with other teachers in planning teaching materials according to the Reggio Emilia approach and by sharing teaching resources. I decided that working with children, understanding and assisting in their education,

Assisted young children between the grades of preschool to 8th grade in their education. I decided to volunteer because the children of today will be the children of the future and the more smart and educated they are the better they will be in the future. Another reason I helped was because it is hard for young children to adapt to the lifestyle of constantly moving from one place to another. Since their parents are migrants it can have a negative impact on them and their education. I remember one little girl is from Florida but every summer her parents move up to Michigan to work in the fields, but once the harvest is over they move back to Florida. She was behind in school and with the help of teachers and myself we motivated and helped her out so she was able to catch up. I really enjoyed volunteering the past two summers ago at the summer migrant program. If I had another opportunity to help I

In August of 2008, I went to Eureka Community Nursery School. The very first day of school for me, now it would be as easy as counting to three.

My experiences working with children officially began in 2012 when I started working for One of A Kind Progressive Early Education. I worked with children of all ages, primarily toddlers and preschoolers. While working at One of A Kind, I assisted the lead teachers as much as possible. I helped develop daily routines of activities, lesson plans, nap, and toilet-training times that seemed most effective for the students. I worked with parents during pick up and drop off times to make sure they were happy with the schedule and care their child was receiving. I was in charge of maintaining a safe environment for the students at One of A Kind.

Like many people everyone wants to find their calling and figure out where they belong. My parents moved to the United States risking their lives on a boat from Haiti but soon separated while in america . My mom did a great job raising four kids on her own and I being the second child took part in raising my two younger siblings. In elementary school I struggled in many subjects but excelled in art, when I finally learned to read and went to middle school my grades were high enough to have honors reading and social study classes and even apa classes in highschool. I continued to excel in a lot of my classes, turns out I was smarter than I thought and all I need to do was learn to read and have people who took the time to teach me.

In my earliest years, I can recall one of our projects with my 1st grade teacher. It was very memorable for me, because we went all out for it. The project like most of us in that class remember was to write a story. The story was Flat Stanley. I was mostly ahead of my game in my early years. Then, there came my 5th grade year, The teacher i had in that class always got on me, for not paying attention. I almost got held back that year because i couldn’t focus. That year onward, was a struggle for me.

Every summer between 7th grade and my freshman year of college, I would volunteer at a local summer program. This consisted of helping the teachers come up with lesson plans, activities, and games to play. During my last two years, I gained more responsibilities as the “Head Leader in Training” and managed the other volunteers, while designating tasks and responsibilities. I continued working with and coming up with activities during undergrad through the organization Project Literacy. After going over the lessons with the students, we would have a group activity or play a variety of sports with them. Working with children

I started volunteering at Visually Impaired Preschool Services and Kentucky School for the Blind for a service in high school. I loved working with students there and that I wanted a job that I would love to going to everyday. I also feel that students with special needs are seriously underestimated and I want to help those students succeed.

I went to three different middle schools. The first middle school I went to was Baldwin Arts and Academics Magnet. This was probably the best middle school out of the three. I had the most and best friends. They were all different, and they loved and understood me. The two things I hated about Baldwin were the stairs and the miles our P.E. Coach would make us run. The teachers were sweet for the most part, and even though I didn't do well because I wasn't accustomed to magnet school, they helped me as much as they could. The transition from public school to magnet school proved too tough for me, so I had to go to another school.

Currently, I work with a group of children every day in an Out of School Care setting. These children range from kindergarten to grade seven and each bring their own set of needs to the group. As well I have volunteered as a co-leader for two and a half years with Girl Guides of Canada, leading girls ages nine to twelve through a program for badges and experiences, as in my work each of these girls brought their own set of needs but also brought expectations for what would be covered.

In addition to internships and supervised practice in the field, it is essential to acquire the ability to work with both troubled children as well as disabled children. I believe that volunteering at daycare centers as well as organizations that provide opportunities to assist disabled children, such as Children’s hospitals and charities. Volunteering and assisting children in these circumstances would be rewarding for both my qualifications for a job as a middle school counselor as well as quite rewarding for me, a change to help others in need and have an impact on their

Working with children is a very rewarding and sometime can be a testing experience. During My comprehensive hands-on experience in the childcare center I chose to work with the one year old classroom. Working with the one year olds were challenging but interesting.

I spent 18 years helping families and advocating for children and their families in my jobs as a Special Ed Coordinator and a Resource Teacher.