I did my community service at Calvary Baptist Daycare and Preschool.

I
have worked at their summer club in the past and thought this was a good place
to work with kids. At Calvary I worked with the lead teacher in the preschool rooms
doing various tasks like helping clean toys and rooms, preparing art activities,
spending time with kids and getting to know the parents.
My time working with the kids and staff at Calvary has made me feel a lot
more comfortable in that kind of setting. Talking with parents and providing a safe
environment for their kids to come to everyday. Learning how to work in this
setting has taught me how to interact and have great communication with
parents. My personally favorite part was helping the lead teachers with prepping
art projects that the kids would love to do. I love art, at my job in the Yankton
School District working as a paraprofessional. Art is my favorite thing to do with
my kiddos. You get to see their personalities come out and watch them grow from
the beginning of the year to the end. I get to do this same thing working with the
kids at the daycare.
As a future education teacher I feel providing a safe space for kids to learn
and grow is a great experience to have. Creating an environment where parents
feel safe to leave their kids and see how the kids love to come in and make friends
everyday. That is the feeling I want my future families and kids to feel every time
they come to my classroom. I am not a parent but working with classes and young
kids the past few years, i think it is very important for parents to feel like they can
leave their kids somewhere they love to go to.
Another part that I loved probably more than art was spending time with
those kids. When I worked there the past few summers I was able to see many
kids grow from babies to 4 year olds in preschool. This has helped my growth as a
teacher because I get to learn from every experience I have interacting with kids.
I also have had some great advice given to me by the director that used to be a
kindergarten teacher as well. Talking and collaborating with your peer teachers is
a part of teaching that is important because you need to be on the same page in
many ways. Creating a friendship with teachers in your grade level is also
important because they are always a helping hand when you get burnt out or need
help with kids.
One of the tasks I also got to be a part of at Calvary was working and
helping the new preschool teacher get her room together. This has taught me
professional development by learning with each classroom's needs when you are
just starting. She taught me all about the curriculum they use for handwriting, the
normal behaviors that 3 and 4 year old kids have. She gave great advice about
how to hold your ground at the beginning of the year and do not let kids walk all
over you. Seeing how all the teachers learn in school is put in action makes
becoming a teacher myself very exciting.
At the end of this community service work I learned that working with
others in a kind and friendly way is how you get through your days as a teacher.
Learning to communicate with parents and discipline kids is a great development
skill I learned. Keeping a clean and safe environment for kids to come and learn is
a must as a teacher of all grades. Kids sometimes come from places that are not
safe or where they are the ‘parental figure’ to others in the household. When they
come to my future classroom they are safe and can be just a child. As a teacher
that is a very important part I want to provide in my classroom. Welcome kids and
parents into a friendly, loving, safe environment so that they can learn and love
school.
I would say my main take away from working at Calvary is as a future
teacher communication is a huge thing to help with everybody's growth, teamwork
with staff and co teachers is needed to succeed, and managing time is important
to get tasks done efficiently. I will take this learning experience to my future
classroom and always look for ways to improve and learn.