After finishing my hours at the Landing, i feel that i made a good impact through the program. When i left i wasn't relived to finally be done, and actually told Jessie the head staff to call me whenever she needed some extra help. Then once i left Jessie gave me a hug and told me to contact her if i ever wanted a job at the Landing. I thought that was very sweet of her, and it meant a lot to me because i knew i had done the best i could while i was there. However when i left i didn't tell any of the kids because i was nervous and didn't want to disappoint them or have them ask me a whole bunch of questions. But eventually they will realize I'm not coming on my usual Wednesdays. I do plan on going back to the Landing maybe once or twice a month to visit the kids and staff to make sure i keep that bond with them.
Its interesting to think about when i first arrived at the Landing and felt extremely awkward and out of my element to know when i know the majority of kids on a first name bases and personal levels. I really appreciate all the staff at the Landing because you can tell they really love what they do. They inspire me to reach out for great things in my future. I also learned a lot from the kids and had many good experiences that i will cherish. Each one of those kids have really opened my eyes, and i hope to later see them grow and see what they become!
Also, this experience has made me realize i love working with kids, helping them out with school work or just simply playing/interacting with them. One day i hope to become a elementary school teacher and this had made me realize what grade i might possibly teach, and that is 2nd grade. One last thing i wanted to share was "Appreciation" that i want to use with my students one day. I think appreciation is really important because it forces kids to see the good in everybody and thank them in a non-awkward traditional way. It makes everyone feel as if they are special and well liked by everyone.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
#5 October 28,2009
This week was my last visit to the Landing Community Center. Once i got their i did the usual playing with the kids. During snack time one of the little girls named Hilary asked me if i danced at Boise State. When i said yes she told me she saw me perform last Thursday at the volleyball game and that her mom is one of the volleyball coaches. She was so excited to talk about her mom and went on by saying how her mom bought her the jacket she was wearing in Hawaii when Boise State travelled their for a game.
Then for the first group activity i went to "Get Go" to help some of the kids with their homework. During the whole activity i helped a 2nd grader named Brett with his homework. It was extremely easy and i enjoyed helping him out giving him different strategies to use with word choice and sounding out each word. The next group activity i helped out in was "Girl Talk" which is a place where the girls of all grades get together to learn about how to have a healthy friendship with their classmates. During the activity the girls had to write a poem using the words friendship, loyalty, service, kindness, and respect. It was funny because the half the girls didn't even know of remember what most of those words meant and kept asking me what they meant. When i read a few of their poems it was humerus because they didn't make much sense and used out of context. But i think that by learning about these things at a young age is important so they can have a better perspective once they are older and dealing with girl drama.
Then for the first group activity i went to "Get Go" to help some of the kids with their homework. During the whole activity i helped a 2nd grader named Brett with his homework. It was extremely easy and i enjoyed helping him out giving him different strategies to use with word choice and sounding out each word. The next group activity i helped out in was "Girl Talk" which is a place where the girls of all grades get together to learn about how to have a healthy friendship with their classmates. During the activity the girls had to write a poem using the words friendship, loyalty, service, kindness, and respect. It was funny because the half the girls didn't even know of remember what most of those words meant and kept asking me what they meant. When i read a few of their poems it was humerus because they didn't make much sense and used out of context. But i think that by learning about these things at a young age is important so they can have a better perspective once they are older and dealing with girl drama.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
#4 October 21,2009
This week at the Landing Community center was parents week. Because Halloween is right around the corner it had a Halloween theme designed to it. When i first arrived to the Landing I decorated the place with decorations and crafts that the kids had previously made. Then we did activities as we would do each week only shortening them. There was play time, snack, appreciation, and then only broke off into one group.
I went with the "Get Go" group this week which is a group designated for the kids to finish their homework and get help with it. During this time i had helped a few kids and was surprised by myself to have to actually think about some of their homework. A girl named Olivia who is a 2nd grader had a homework assignment to unscrabble words. When i was helping her i noticed i was trying to make it harder than it actually was. Then there was a boy named Kyle who is a 5th grader that had math homework. He was doing fractions and relating fractions to the measurements on a ruler, and i found myself struggling with it more then he did. It's astonishing to see things i remember and don't remember from elementary school. One day i remember asking a few of the kids if they were learning a second language. And all the 5th graders or 6th graders said they were learning a little bit of Spanish. Which i think is very smart for the kids considering i didn't learn a second language until i reached high school.
After the group meetings the parents slowly started showing up. I was nervous at first to have to interact with the parents of these kids i have grown to know. I was mainly responsible for making sure everyone had a Halloween cupcake to make, apple cider, a game to play, and taking pictures throughout the rest of the night. One of the dads asked me what child was mine, and i awkwardly responded saying i was a volunteer from Boise State. He actually turned out to be in the athletic department of Boise State and we talked about my involvement on the dance team. So this definitely made for an interesting conversation. The rest of family night was very fun being introduced to the kids parents and playing games with them, taking pictures of and with them, and just enjoying myself. It was interesting to see the kids parents and how they interact with each other. Some of the kids parents didn't come for family night because of work or something, and i thought those kids would be disappointed all night, but they were actually fine and interacted with everyone.
I went with the "Get Go" group this week which is a group designated for the kids to finish their homework and get help with it. During this time i had helped a few kids and was surprised by myself to have to actually think about some of their homework. A girl named Olivia who is a 2nd grader had a homework assignment to unscrabble words. When i was helping her i noticed i was trying to make it harder than it actually was. Then there was a boy named Kyle who is a 5th grader that had math homework. He was doing fractions and relating fractions to the measurements on a ruler, and i found myself struggling with it more then he did. It's astonishing to see things i remember and don't remember from elementary school. One day i remember asking a few of the kids if they were learning a second language. And all the 5th graders or 6th graders said they were learning a little bit of Spanish. Which i think is very smart for the kids considering i didn't learn a second language until i reached high school.
After the group meetings the parents slowly started showing up. I was nervous at first to have to interact with the parents of these kids i have grown to know. I was mainly responsible for making sure everyone had a Halloween cupcake to make, apple cider, a game to play, and taking pictures throughout the rest of the night. One of the dads asked me what child was mine, and i awkwardly responded saying i was a volunteer from Boise State. He actually turned out to be in the athletic department of Boise State and we talked about my involvement on the dance team. So this definitely made for an interesting conversation. The rest of family night was very fun being introduced to the kids parents and playing games with them, taking pictures of and with them, and just enjoying myself. It was interesting to see the kids parents and how they interact with each other. Some of the kids parents didn't come for family night because of work or something, and i thought those kids would be disappointed all night, but they were actually fine and interacted with everyone.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
#3 October 8, 2009
This week i went to the Landing on a Thursday instead of a Wednesday. I got to work with a few different staff members and saw unfamiliar new faces from the kids. When the kids first stared arriving there was a group of 4 or 5 little girls who just got their school pictures back and were showing each other. I went over to see them and they all crowded around me wanting to show me their pictures. Then one of the staff members informed me that they will all be gone for about 5-10min so i would be in there by myself with the kids. Which was completely fine, so i just played with all the kids.
During play time i spent most of my time in the four square area. I didn't know how to play so the kids taught me and made up their own ridiculous rules that i just went along with. Then after snack time, there was appreciation. There were two little girls who appreciated me for being a volunteer and actually used my name. I was impressed because i forgot my name tag that week so they new my name out of memorization from the week before. After appreciation, we split off into groups, and i went with one of the staff to play touch football and cheer. I was in charge of getting all the girls in this activity to come up with a cheer to show at the end of the activity. On our way out one little girl named Becky ran off crying hiding from everyone. I went over to ask what was wrong and she started saying how none of her friends like her anymore and how their not nice to her.
Then she went off talking about her home life and how when she gets home from school she just gets yelled at by her mom and dad and that her and her older brother don't get along. I wasn't sure how to react to this because it was very shocking, so i told her that tomorrow is a new day and to stay positive and keep her head up and convinced her to come join the cheerleading group to interact with some of her friends. Then once she did get interacting with those girls she started being more social, and probably forgot what she had even got upset about in the first place.
During play time i spent most of my time in the four square area. I didn't know how to play so the kids taught me and made up their own ridiculous rules that i just went along with. Then after snack time, there was appreciation. There were two little girls who appreciated me for being a volunteer and actually used my name. I was impressed because i forgot my name tag that week so they new my name out of memorization from the week before. After appreciation, we split off into groups, and i went with one of the staff to play touch football and cheer. I was in charge of getting all the girls in this activity to come up with a cheer to show at the end of the activity. On our way out one little girl named Becky ran off crying hiding from everyone. I went over to ask what was wrong and she started saying how none of her friends like her anymore and how their not nice to her.
Then she went off talking about her home life and how when she gets home from school she just gets yelled at by her mom and dad and that her and her older brother don't get along. I wasn't sure how to react to this because it was very shocking, so i told her that tomorrow is a new day and to stay positive and keep her head up and convinced her to come join the cheerleading group to interact with some of her friends. Then once she did get interacting with those girls she started being more social, and probably forgot what she had even got upset about in the first place.
#2 September 30, 2009
This time at the Landing Community Center, it was much like the last one. I played Lego's with a boy named Sam and watched as some kids joined us and went off to do their own thing. Then it was announcements, and Jesse wasn't there so Jon lead them. We did appreciation and I got appreciated by more than a few little girls for sitting by them during snack or playing with them. I found it pleasant because they appreciate someone for sitting by them. Then we went off into our first activity which was game boards.
I played Clue with the boy i mentioned earlier, Sam and three other children. During the game i was supposed to help them figure out how to play and basically guide them through the game. Sam wanted to do it his way, so that caused confrontation between Sam and the other children playing as well as Sam and I. By the end of the game all the other kids left because Sam wasn't being coorapitive and i felt responsible to stay there so i could watch over Sam and make sure he didn't go over the top.
Later during the second activity i went to the arts and crafts group. The activity was to create a piece of work out of colored ripped up construction paper by gluing them on a paper. Usually during the second activity the kids parents will sporadically show up to take them home. During this time once of the little girls mom showed up to take her home, but the little girl begged her mom to stay for the rest of the activity so she could finish her art. Her mom told her they needed to leave or she would miss ballet class but the little girl got her way and stayed with her friends. Its surprising to me that she wanted to skip ballet class to finish making a construction paper art work, but then again all i wanted to do when i was her age was go to my ballet class.
I played Clue with the boy i mentioned earlier, Sam and three other children. During the game i was supposed to help them figure out how to play and basically guide them through the game. Sam wanted to do it his way, so that caused confrontation between Sam and the other children playing as well as Sam and I. By the end of the game all the other kids left because Sam wasn't being coorapitive and i felt responsible to stay there so i could watch over Sam and make sure he didn't go over the top.
Later during the second activity i went to the arts and crafts group. The activity was to create a piece of work out of colored ripped up construction paper by gluing them on a paper. Usually during the second activity the kids parents will sporadically show up to take them home. During this time once of the little girls mom showed up to take her home, but the little girl begged her mom to stay for the rest of the activity so she could finish her art. Her mom told her they needed to leave or she would miss ballet class but the little girl got her way and stayed with her friends. Its surprising to me that she wanted to skip ballet class to finish making a construction paper art work, but then again all i wanted to do when i was her age was go to my ballet class.
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