Marjorie Moriole Early Childhood Education Scholarship

As a young aftercare teacher, it was my joy to make school more exciting for my students. When I worked at an enrichment program near Atlanta, I had sixteen 2nd and 3rd graders. Every day, I would create a new activity to help them understand the curriculum better. I'd come dressed as a historical figure and let them ask me questions; other days I took them to the park and had them reenact what we learned. I would also give them mini plastic animals and have them tell a story about what they learned from the lesson. In all I did, I made sure I was involving each student in the lesson, and I loved that they could relate the lesson to their own lives. There were also times that I would play math and English bingo or have them reiterate a lesson. As a teacher, I realized the classroom is not about me but about us. It is about a family learning and growing together, and I have found that diligence, goal setting, and kindness produced impactful and lasting outcomes in my classroom.  Getting to know my students was also beneficial when it came to engaging my class. One year, I created a book with one of my students who loved to write and wanted to be an author. That was her safe space and happy place. I not only admired her love for writing but also put in the work and came up with a creative way to show her that I cared about her dreams and was willing to help her get there. There was another school year where I created a class book with my students because it was exciting for them and educational at the same time. I've learned that listening to my students and planning activities that they liked (mostly educational activities) made them want to stay in aftercare.  Lastly, I maintained a positive, cheerful, and enthusiastic demeanor. Body language is crucial when it comes to a child's development. It is especially important because my students learned more from my expression than from my speech. One day, one of my students came up to me and told me that they usually play teacher at home with their imaginary students, and they would act like me. They said it was so fun because they were able to lead a classroom with imaginary students with so much joy! Those moments filled my heart because I could see the impact that I had on my students. I would eventually give them my old lesson plans so they could continue playing, but it was amazing to see how greatly your body language can impact a child.