My last week at PALS was amazing! I had the chance to plan my own lessons and teach them to the students. I had two favourites; a class called ‘The Body’ and a Cooking class. In ‘The Body’ the students are learning about senses and the parts of our body that we use for taste, smell, sight, touch and sound. My job was to introduce the eye and the different parts of it. We talked about the pupil and the iris and how the pupil changes size depending on the amount of light that is in the room. I loved seeing the groups interest in the new words they were hearing and the excitement when we pulled out mirrors and took a look at the parts of our eye that we can see.

I really felt that this week I had a chance to connect with many of the students and had just settled into a relationship with them. I had the opportunity to learn from a students about claymation and some interesting videos I could watch to see more.

The most important thing that I learned during this practicum was to cherish and accept the good moments when they come. To hold onto those when things get tough and when a student has a bad day and remember that it will all go up again. I have been given a great opportunity to truly see how building a community surrounded by trust and caring makes for a great place to work, learn, and teach. I am thrilled to have spent 3 weeks with the amazing teachers and students at PALS and will, I think, always reflect back on this experience and to what I have learned.