Memories

This past week at my service learning, I had fun observing the children. They were finished with their homework and so they went outside for play time. It was amazing to see them jumping around in the leaves and just having a good time being together. Sometimes I wish that friendships could go back to how they were when we were children. They seem like there's not as many strings attached and that they are free to just be who they are and have fun playing with friends. Also I saw some of the girls talking about who they liked and I just remembered back to when I was that age. They are just like me when I was young and when I teach I should remember that I can relate to these children more than I think. Even though years separate us, I have been through some of the things they are going through. I need to meet them on their level and try to relate the teaching to their lives.

Children

Throughout my life I have had many opportunities to travel to other countries and go into schools. Here I got to interact with the children and talk with them. At my service learning, I also get to interact with the children and talk to them about their lives. I have come to realize that children all over the world are very similar. They all have the same needs and the same desire to be loved and cherished. Talking with the children in my service learning, I discovered that many of them are having troubles at home. I also encountered this with the children around the world that I talked to. No matter where you go, children are in need of nurturing and acceptance and love. And I really want to be an agent of this love and acceptance. I think I have such an amazing opportunity to speak into the lives of children and I hope that I can do this to the best of my ability whether it is here in the United States or in another country.

Service Learning

For my next service learning experience I was very surprised. We started by talking about what each of the kids thought about fate and destiny. These were all 7th and 8th grade students and I was shocked by their answers. Some of them were very adamant about not believing in fate and supported their views with experiences they had in their lives. Others explained why they believed in fate and destiny because it went along with their religion or their parent's beliefs. Overall I was shocked because at their young age, they were already forming opinions about very controversial, difficult topics. It shows how these children all have a voice, and their voices are valid and important and that if we take the time to listen, we can learn from them.

Blog 6

For my prop regarding school culture I am bringing in a picture of my old lacrosse team as well as my lacrosse stick. I really feel like schools are just like sports teams. The teachers are coaches that guide and encourage the students or players on in their learning. They push them to be the best students (players) that they can be. Many times there are more than one coach and this is like the many teachers that make up a school. The coaches work together to help the teammates grow just like teachers should collaborate with each other and offer advice so that all students can grow and benefit. The athletic director is like the principal, in that he oversees the coaches and the overall playing(learning) going on. When the team wins the coaches win, just like how when students do well and succeed, teachers succeed because they know that what they are doing counts and has made a difference in the lives of the people around them. The lacrosse stick is one of the tools that coaches give their players to succeed and represents the tools that teachers give their students to do well. These tools are time, attention, positive encouragement, feedback, and the resources they need to learn.

Service learning 1st experience

I did not quite know what to expect when I first went to my service learning site a couple weeks ago. Walking in I thought that I would be sitting with one student helping them with homework for the entire time. But instead we first had snack and then I found myself sitting at a table with all African American seventh grade boys. This was a little out of my comfort zone because I want to teach young children. But I began talking to them and found them very funny and very respectful. They loved playing games with me and including me in their conversations. They did not have much homework to do so we played games the whole time. I loved being with these boys which really shocked me because I thought that I would dislike middle school tutoring and teaching. But now seeing how much fun and how much I loved hanging with them, I could see myself teaching middle school as well. Overall I loved my first experience and it was very different than what I thought it would be.