3 Leadership and Learning Communities

When I am supply teaching at Thames Valley District School Board, I have never visited a school where I do not recognize at least one student. I ensure I am involved in London’s community whether it be through my work at the Boys and Girls’ Club, volunteering as a tutor at The Learning Disabilities Association, or my volunteer work with the Children’s Aid Society. I connect with students inside and outside the classroom which helps me understand the school’s community before I begin supplying there and reach my students in different facets in their lives.

When student teaching, I have also made efforts to contribute to my school’s community. The above photo is from my Supporting Literacy placement where I joined a class during their literacy block to help a small group of students learn language and literacy. This is an activity where I had students read sentences and after reading a sentence correctly, they could take off the fortune cookie and I would read them their fortune. I got the idea from this activity by choosing to stay longer at my placement and spend time with my students during recess. At recess, they were playing a game where they would pretend to give each other fortunes.

If I got a long-term occasional teaching position, I would connect with my school’s community by starting a recreational club. I would base this club off student interests by spending time with my students during free time and outside instructional time. I value connecting with students in many different ways and responding to the community’s needs.