Reflection 3:Leadership

            Interacting with the children at the YWCA was one of the best experiences that I have had working with children. It really encouraged me to continue working with kids. They helped me realize that they need people to help them and guide them. Many of the kids just felt like they wanted to talk to someone, and I was glad that many of them were comfortable interacting with us as well. Even when we lead the class, they were attentive and thankful for what we did.      

            For our lesson, Serena and I worked together to have some reading and interaction with the children. We read an Arthur book to them. I think the kids really enjoyed hearing the story and seeing the illustrations as well. After we read, we talked with them about things they did at camp, which is what the story was about. Very few of them had actually been to a camp. We also played charades with them and they really seemed to enjoy that. Afterwards, they colored some Arthur bookmarks which we provided. Then they read an Amelia Bedelia book to us.

            It was a great experience leading the class in an activity. It helped me get an idea of what it would be like when I am actually a teacher. The greatest part of it was getting a thank you and a hug from Jaylene, one of the little girls. She said she appreciated the book and the bookmarks. It felt good to know the kids also enjoyed having us there. There is no doubt that this will be an experience I will remember.

YWCA Reflection 2

All the kids at the YWCA were so fun to work with. It was hard to pick just one child to work with, especially because they all wanted to talk to you as well. However, I feel like I did interact more with a girl named Jaylene and a boy named Israel. They were both brilliant kids and were exciting to work with.

            Jaylene is eight years old. When I first met her, we talked about things she likes to do and her favorite subjects in school. She mentioned that she loved to read. When I asked her what her favorite book was, she said: “I don’t know, nobody has ever asked me that before.” She thought about the question very hard until she said she liked to read Disney princess books. When we started working together with the kids, I tried to work with Jaylene so that we could read together. I was only able to work with her one day. However, she was part of the group we read to as an activity. She is a very smart kid with a lot of potential.

            Israel is also eight years old. He is very energetic, loves sports, but is not very excited about school. He mentioned that he enjoyed math, but that was the only thing he was good at. Whenever I was Israel, he wanted to play games. We had fun together and at the same time we had time to talk. He was very comfortable opening up and talking about himself. I tried to not get too personal with him, but he just spoke his mind. One thing that impacted me the most about Israel, is that his father is not with him and his family. While at the YWCA, he really looks after his younger twin brothers, which showed that he has an extra responsibility.

            I really enjoyed working with all the kids. Jaylene and Israel are just two of the children who made an impact. I am thankful that they are in a place like the YWCA, where they have somewhere to go after school or on days they do not have school. They can still go there and engage their minds, use up their energy, and interact with other kids as well.

YWCA Reflection 1

From the first time we visited the YWCA, I knew it was a good place that served the community. The organization’s purpose was one thing that I really liked. They strive to empower women and eliminate racism. This is a good place for parents and single parents to take their children during the times they work or are not able to be with them.

            Working with the pre-school kids reminded me a lot of when I was in pre-school. This was especially important, because they are not just running a daycare; they are helping in educating the children. The staff worked really well with the kids and I think the kids enjoy being there. Although they seemed to get out of hand sometimes, the kids showed respect to the teacher when addressed.

            I really enjoyed working with the school-aged children as well. I have many nieces and nephews, so I know how to interact with them. One thing that I noticed is that they crave attention. They all want to be heard and seen, which is not always good. The kids were comfortable talking to me and sharing their stories. Sometimes they shared stuff without me asking them anything. This showed that they liked having someone to talk to and were comfortable doing it. I saw that these kids really deserve an adult’s attention. They are brilliant children. I noticed that they need help with reading and like when people read with them. This experience showed me that is important to have English teachers to work with kids and help them become better readers and better people.

Service Learning Project

I think this project would be a good way for me to start seeing what teaching is going to look like. This will help be more comfortable in a classroom where I am no longer the student. My main concern is whether or not I am going to be an effective teacher or tutor in this case. I still feel I am not prepared well enough to teach someone but I think this will help me get better. That was my only doubt when I heard about this project but now that I met some of the kids at the YWCA and interacted with a few of them, I'm sure it will be a great experience. It's important for me in order to get some experience as a teacher or leader. I hope that it will also benefit the students. The students I talked to said they really enjoy learning. When I asked one girl what her favorite book was, she said, "No one has ever asked me that before." That was just interesting to me because she said she enjoyed reading but maybe nobody helped her with her reading or took the time to talk to her about books. I know how important and beneficial it is for kids to read and I hope to encourage to become better readers and help them in any other way I can.

Blog 10

This chapter addresses some topics that I think I might struggle with as a teacher. From my experience as a student, I know how easy it is to make the teacher's job a nightmare. If students do not cooperate and participate in the class, then the teacher's lesson plans are ruined and the class is not the same. I remember being the shy kid, (I probably still am) who hardly raised his hand. My teachers would often persuade me to answer a question or share an idea. It just has not been the easiest thing for me to do.
Another thing that I worry about: How am I going to make sure my students engage in the lessons and actually put some effort into it? Will I be a good teacher? I just do not know? But like the weightlifter, I will have to try it myself. I know that students are not dying to read Shakespeare or write a research paper, but along the way they will acquire skills they will need later on in life. Students are different and change every year and it is their job to learn. However, it will be our job to make sure they are active and learning.

Blog 8

In my Instructional Technology class, we have been learning many different tools that would be useful in a classroom. Many of the tools that we learned to use were discussed in this chapter. We have been talking in both classes about how much technology is taking over and how important it is to know how to incorporate it in the classroom.
Why is it so important to use technology in schools? Kids are using technology more often now and it has become a major part of their lives. It is almost impossible for a young student to do something without using a tool of technology. So, why not allow them to learn with technology? It has many benefits. Like Alexis shared, many kids are "not the ones to talk in class." Blogging is one way to get students who are shy to still take part in a discussion. Podcasts are also a way to get these students to fell comfortable sharing and give them a voice.
There are many ways to incorporate these tools into lessons to make learning fun for students. The thing is to know how and when to use it and make sure that it is actually benefiting students.

Blog 7

As an ESL student in elementary school, I found this chapter very interesting. It made me think back to those classes to compare and contrast the styles of teaching. There were probably more similarities than differences.
I was in ESL classes from kindergarten to third grade. My first language is Spanish. Like Danling said, the teachers allowed us to use our native language to learn the concepts and at the same time helped us learn the English language. Using our native language to learn was definitely helpful because we did not really know how to communicate in English. I remember teachers telling us to try to talk in English when we thought we we were able to do it, but it was fine to speak in our native language. I think this is important because it allows students to feel comfortable in the classroom and gives them a voice instead of making them feel uneasy or embarrassed to speak another language.
When the teachers felt that the student was confident enough and fluent in English, they prepared the student to transition into an all English classroom. I finally got out of bilingual and ESL classes when I entered fourth grade. It was evident that those classes really did help me because at the end of that year, I was reading at a higher level than the students who had been in English classes the whole time. I am grateful for what my teachers did for me in the ESL classes and proud that I know more than one language. And I do not plan on stopping there.

Blog 6

This chapter reminded of the question,"What does it mean to understand something"? I think the chapter was effective in showing how students learn and the different terms for learning. I really liked the Roaf was not Bloopy' example. First of all, this would be a great activity to do with students. It would be a great way to associate meaning to words and practice their word identification skills. This example shows how we can give words meaning and also how we learn words. It ties in with the Context Plus chart. I really like this method. It is kind of like a KWL chart. Students write what they know about the words and what they think of when they see it, then they work to find the meaning of the word. The way we learn is interesting. Now we associate new things to familiar things in order to remember or learn them, like learning a new language.

Blog #5

This chapter has brought up many topics that future teachers must be aware of as they continue preparing themselves to teach. How will we be teaching our students? What does it mean for the students to understand the material? I like the Charlotte example that the author presented. I think that many teachers have a curriculum which they follow too strictly. This causes the teachers to rush through certain topics and does not allow the student to completely grasp the context. The kids in Charlotte learned and were interested when they sat in their groups and discussed a topic. When asked why they were interested more that day, one student said that he was able to remember it because he could feel it. "It has to do with emotion," he said. When teachers rush through assignments and expect kids to 'remember; and 'understand' something, do they really want them to understand it? Or is it just so they could take a test, score a C, and move on to the next topic? We have to make teaching something valuable and teach our students in a way that matters to them so they can be successful.

Blog #4

            It seems as though in many of the classes that I am taking there is this idea that as times are changing, so are our students. With the many changes in technology for example, a traditional classroom is boring for many kids. This chapter deals with how to capture the attention of our students in what they read.

            I have not read most of the books that were mentioned in the chapter, but I can still grasp the idea of the author. In my early education, I read books in school that I thought were difficult to read, but they were interesting because they made me think. I read The Giver in sixth grade and I thought it was the weirdest book, but it was different from reading textbooks, so it was fun. In seventh grade, I read The Outsiders, which was more interesting to read because I was able understand it more. My favorite class had to be my Topics in Literature class, which I took in high school. In it we read books from all over the world. I liked it because the stories were mostly non-fiction and showed us a different world. For example, A Long Way Gone is told by a boy from Sierra Leone who loses his family during a civil war and is forced to join a guerilla. IT really helped open our eyes to real life situations that we know are there, but we never talk about them. I think that as a teacher, it is important to know what students are interested in reading so that they actually learn something. I know that there are topics and books that we will have to teach, but I think we can also make those books enjoyable for the students. 

Assignment 2

This semester I am taking the instructional technology class, or Ed 295. In our class discussions we have talked about how technology has advanced so much and how much it will advance in the next years. Some of the technology we are learning about might even be outdated by the time we begin teaching. This chapter reminded me about our discussions in that class. I agree that in every field, there is always some learning that will have to be done. It does not matter if you already have your PhD in that field; there is still room for you to learn more. We live in a world where we want to make everything better. I think teachers should have this mindset too. It can be good to step away from what a traditional classroom looks like with chalkboards, books, and notebooks. If we can help students have a better learning experience by integrating technology, then we should do it. 

Assignment 1

            As a student, I have felt the same way Derek and his classmates felt about school. I would always say, “Why do I need this class if I am never going to use it in life?” I felt the same way about the state tests that we were required to take. I usually freak out whenever I take a tests and I feel I do not do as well as I would like because of that. So I felt that it was unfair that those tests determined so much. However, I can see why they are required and I understand that they do have some benefits.

            When I think about myself as a teacher, I do not see myself as a teacher who just teaches students how to pass a test. I feel like that is what many schools are focusing on, such as the Florida school. I think that is the worst possible way to run a school and teach kids. I know that my teachers helped us pass those tests, but they did while keeping us interested and being personal. Teaching about the test was just in the background. I believe they were effective. At my high school, there were better ACT scores each year. I think that when school focus more on actually teaching and impacting kids, passing those test will come automatically.