Welcome to my E-portfolio and year long inquiry project!
My name is Amanda Younger and I’m a Teacher Candidate in the Personalized Learning and Technology (PLTech) cohort of the UBC Bachelor of Education Program.
I can’t believe that this is my last year of school, it’s been a 5 year journey to get to this point, I have spent the last 5 years at Kwantlen Polytechnic University studying geography and taking the prerequisite courses for teacher training. At KPU I’ve take courses in not only geography and education, I’ve studied a variety of subjects including, math and calculus, biology, chemistry, history, psychology, programming, English and Interdisciplinary Expressive Arts (IDEA). I know that the variety of courses I’ve taken will help me create engaging activities for all of the material that I will get to teach as an elementary school teacher.
I recently completed my practicum in a grade 4/5 class in Langley, BC. I had a wonderful experience and worked with a fabulous group of students. I was able to build relationships with my students and become part of the school community during my practicum. I enjoyed creating activities that engaged the students and allowed them to take healthy risks. I saw growth in my students as they expanded their thinking and engaged deeply with the topics the class was working on. I feel that it is the relationships that I built with my students that allowed me to create activities and lessons that engaged my students and the more I connected with my students the better my lessons were tailored to the individuals in the class.
I’m lucky that I’ve had the opportunity to spend lots of time with elementary school age kids. I’ve spent the last 7 years teaching ballet for Surrey Parks and Recreation, this was my first experience working with children and helped me to figure out that not only do I enjoy working with children I might actually be good at it. I also teach dance in a private studio working first with competitive dancers before beginning a program for students with special needs, my Special Stars program has taught me a lot about not just teaching but also about living. My students have taught me about true joy, and never giving up. I look forward to seeing my students every week, they run in excited to dance and to see me. Performing with my Special Stars at the 2014 year end recital was magical! I have never ever seen an audience that was more enthusiastic and had never heard that loud of cheers for a group of students.
Besides teaching dance, I have spent almost every summer since the age of 15 leading day camps either with the city of Surrey, or private daycare centres. I have worked with children from many walks of life in this role and love what I have done in camp programs. As well I have spent several years doing before and after school care during the school year. It was a group of children I worked with one summer in Vancouver that helped me decide that teaching was for me, those children and the staff team I worked with that summer truly changed my life!
Besides working with children I have also done some research in the field of geography and presented 3 times at the WDCAG conference. My research has been focused on either helping children or the local community. One project focused on mapping the donors for SOS Children’s Village BC, while the other project focused on mapping local food with in 200 km of my home. Doing that project I learned that many of my favourite foods were local foods.
My hobbies include dance (ballet, highland, jazz, lyrical and musical theatre), skiing, hiking and kayaking as well as most water sports. I also enjoy spending time with friends and family, as well as a good book and a cup of tea. I have recently begun to explore web design creating this page and one with my practicum class. I enjoy spending time on the BC Coast, paddling, fishing and spending time near the water. I’m defiantly happiest when I’m busy and thrive off adventures of any size! I’ve never outgrown my love of children’s books which will help me in my newest adventure in becoming an elementary school teacher.
My name is Amanda Younger and I’m a Teacher Candidate in the Personalized Learning and Technology (PLTech) cohort of the UBC Bachelor of Education Program.
I can’t believe that this is my last year of school, it’s been a 5 year journey to get to this point, I have spent the last 5 years at Kwantlen Polytechnic University studying geography and taking the prerequisite courses for teacher training. At KPU I’ve take courses in not only geography and education, I’ve studied a variety of subjects including, math and calculus, biology, chemistry, history, psychology, programming, English and Interdisciplinary Expressive Arts (IDEA). I know that the variety of courses I’ve taken will help me create engaging activities for all of the material that I will get to teach as an elementary school teacher.
I recently completed my practicum in a grade 4/5 class in Langley, BC. I had a wonderful experience and worked with a fabulous group of students. I was able to build relationships with my students and become part of the school community during my practicum. I enjoyed creating activities that engaged the students and allowed them to take healthy risks. I saw growth in my students as they expanded their thinking and engaged deeply with the topics the class was working on. I feel that it is the relationships that I built with my students that allowed me to create activities and lessons that engaged my students and the more I connected with my students the better my lessons were tailored to the individuals in the class.
I’m lucky that I’ve had the opportunity to spend lots of time with elementary school age kids. I’ve spent the last 7 years teaching ballet for Surrey Parks and Recreation, this was my first experience working with children and helped me to figure out that not only do I enjoy working with children I might actually be good at it. I also teach dance in a private studio working first with competitive dancers before beginning a program for students with special needs, my Special Stars program has taught me a lot about not just teaching but also about living. My students have taught me about true joy, and never giving up. I look forward to seeing my students every week, they run in excited to dance and to see me. Performing with my Special Stars at the 2014 year end recital was magical! I have never ever seen an audience that was more enthusiastic and had never heard that loud of cheers for a group of students.
Besides teaching dance, I have spent almost every summer since the age of 15 leading day camps either with the city of Surrey, or private daycare centres. I have worked with children from many walks of life in this role and love what I have done in camp programs. As well I have spent several years doing before and after school care during the school year. It was a group of children I worked with one summer in Vancouver that helped me decide that teaching was for me, those children and the staff team I worked with that summer truly changed my life!
Besides working with children I have also done some research in the field of geography and presented 3 times at the WDCAG conference. My research has been focused on either helping children or the local community. One project focused on mapping the donors for SOS Children’s Village BC, while the other project focused on mapping local food with in 200 km of my home. Doing that project I learned that many of my favourite foods were local foods.
My hobbies include dance (ballet, highland, jazz, lyrical and musical theatre), skiing, hiking and kayaking as well as most water sports. I also enjoy spending time with friends and family, as well as a good book and a cup of tea. I have recently begun to explore web design creating this page and one with my practicum class. I enjoy spending time on the BC Coast, paddling, fishing and spending time near the water. I’m defiantly happiest when I’m busy and thrive off adventures of any size! I’ve never outgrown my love of children’s books which will help me in my newest adventure in becoming an elementary school teacher.