Primary School Workshop Leader

As part of their holiday celebrations, the teachers at De la Voliere School organized workshops for their children. They . They needed many volunteers to lead the workshops. When I arrived, the organizers explained the program for the afternoon and what was expected of me. Throughout the afternoon, the children and their teachers moved from one room to another, where different activities were taking place.

My activity did not last as long as expected. I therefore had to think of new games in order to fill up the time allotted for my workshop. Over all, the games went well, but some classes were unruly. I tried to maintain order and calm, but not always successfully. Before this project, I had never worked with children, and I had never considered how hard it would be. I have always been a fairly impatient person and I realized that working with children, especially such young ones, requires a huge amount of patience. I saw really turbulent and troublesome children, and I saw both patient and exasperated teachers. I came to understand the very important role of teachers not just in academic education, but also in the socialization of children.

 Photo by Scott Ableman, Flickr

Honestly, I didn't really enjoy this activity. I realized that I probably don't have the right personality to work with school children. Nonetheless, I was able to develop my patience and my workshop leader skills. I also learned how to interact with children, how to capture their attention, and how to achieve order and calm in the classroom.

Working with Developpmentally Disabled

I had always wanted to work with the developmentally disabled. However, I had always feared contact with such people. As soon as I started working with them, I realized that they were funny, friendly, and pleasant. I became quite close to a couple of them and now consider them as friends. One guy always talks to me about sports, in particular hockey. Even though I'm not really very interested in hockey, I found it interesting to talk to him about it.

Spending time with these people really helped lift my spirits. They make you laugh and teach you many important life lessons. I really enjoyed myself working with them, whether it was playing badminton, swimming, doing crafts, drawing or special events (apple picking, Christmas party). They made me feel more at east with myself and more comfortable in the college. I always try to find the time to speak with them.

I think what I appreciated the most about this project was the human aspect. I loved spending time with them, because I accomplished something fundamentally good. Whether it was talking about sports with Chris or about women with Johnny, or teasing Michael and Darryl, or even catching up with Santos (the one who talks non-stop), I really had a great time. I'm totally envious of the coordinators (Rosie, James and Sylvain) who are amazing people working with other amazing people.