Moving on to Junior Achievement...
Ahhh…Junior Achievement, how I love thee… I started volunteering with Junior Achievement
in 2011. A professor at National-Louis University , Colette Tracy, introduced me
to the organization. Junior Achievement
is an organization that teaches students about money, work, and starting
businesses. I am currently leading the 2nd
grade Our Community program.
My first teaching experience with Junior Achievement was the
most honest and rewarding experience I have had. During my first lesson, I remember wanting to
know if what I was teaching was being embedded into the students’ knowledge
bank. In my second visit, the class
practiced two different production types by making paper donuts.
During this lesson, the students were really excited, so I was nervous
that they were not retaining any of the information I was teaching them. Then on my third visit, I asked the students
if they remembered what we talked about last time I was there. This little 2nd grade girl raised
her hand and fanatically said, “unit production and assembly-line
production.” My heart immediately
melted. I was so excited that these
students retained the information I was presenting with all the commotion in the classroom the prior week. This experience continues to encourage me to
have my own classroom one day soon, and it taught me the importance of hands on learning. I was able to experience the influence teachers have on students and the feeling of gratification when I knew they learned what I taught.
Below is one of the letters I received from a 2nd grade student during one of my fall 2011 classes.
Below is one of the letters I received from a 2nd grade student during one of my fall 2011 classes.
Here are a few training videos of the 2nd grade
Our Community program that I lead.
If you are interested in finding a volunteer opportunity, I highly recommend volunteering with Junior
Achievement. Take a look at the
organizations website and decide if you are interested in joining.
Are you apart of any organizations that influences your
progress in becoming an educator? If so,
please share!