As part of UBC’s Bachelor of Education program, the Community Field Experience (CFE) is an opportunity for teacher candidates to explore teaching and learning in alternative environments.  Despite only being the first week of the  CFE, my time working alongside Surrey School District’s Community-Schools Partnership (C-SP) department has been an invaluable learning experience. I am fortunate to be working with a group of C-SP Coordinators and UBC Teacher Candidates to develop the curriculum for a new after-school programming initiative. They were very appreciative to have the support of teachers fresh out of the classroom to design lessons that will fit their program goals and themes. During this development process, I have had to opportunity to use my experiences in the classroom and refine my lesson planning skills.

During our first week with C-SP, we also visited several schools to experience and participate in existing programs Surrey School District has to offer. These programs provide targeted intervention for students identified as vulnerable or at-risk. I enjoyed interacting with, handing out breakfast/snacks to, and playing active games with kids from Pre-K to Grade 6 (for the record, “Everybody’s It” tag is a ton of fun if you need a gym activity to add to a TTOC Toolkit!). What I found most intriguing about my visits to these sites was the diversity of the programs across different schools. Each program was run slightly differently and it was evident that the needs of the students were at the forefront of the programs’ design and execution. As a classroom teacher, this approach is imperative since students’ dispositions, backgrounds, experiences, and moods vary from class-to-class, even moment-to-moment.

Overall, it has been interesting to see the work that goes into program design and implementation and I am excited to continue this process throughout the remainder of the CFE. As a detail-oriented individual, I am beginning to see how this work could potentially fit into my career path. I am eager to see what the next two weeks of the CFE practicum have to contribute to my teaching practice.