It's all over!!
This was a really fun experience. In the beginning my original idea was to create a phone case that could charge the phone through a built-in solar panel, until it was pointed out that it had already been made. That's when this idea came into play. Ms. Payne, my mentor, has taught me a lot over the years of working with her, and this year that includes, "Learning the kids' learning styles and will keep their minds open to new ideas." I got to spend a lot of time with the kids throughout these 8 weeks. They're incredible and way smarter than some may assume. They are so entirely capable of new things it's actually somewhat inspiring. Pretty much what I did was I went in every Friday at 8 in the morning and helped with whatever Ms. Payne needed, which sometimes included picking songs I thought would engage the kids. After Adoration, reminder that this is a Christian school I tutored at, I would help with math. Ms. Payne had the kids with the most trouble understanding the lesson and focusing, sit in the front so that it was easy for me to stay in a general area. I had to go to each of the struggling individuals and make sure they were staying on task, counting right, correcting their sometimes backwards numbers, and overall helping them focus. After math they would have a bit of indoor free time where I would play games, do puzzles, and read with the students. Sometimes if Ms. Payne's TA is gone I would have to practice leadership skills and walk them to different buildings or monitor their lunch times. I also might stay a little extra during the day and help her grade work, or file papers. Again, I have even gone on a field trip with the, creating yet another great bonding experience with me and the kids. Some may ask, "How can you spend that much time with a bunch of annoying little kids?" Well, I have been babysitting for about 6 years, and have worked in a couple different nurseries off and on since I was 9. This was such an enjoyable project that I have committed to helping a few teachers in their classrooms until they get out of school. And not to mention, that cool opportunity of getting to tutor a couple kids (for money) outside of this school project. Tutoring over these past 8 weeks has really expanded my education. I know what it's like to work with students who really have trouble to comprehend something and how I, as a tutor, need to act and carry myself in order for them to not get shut down. You have to exhibit patience and not act arrogant or that you are better than them for knowing more. I felt like I have made a difference in this classroom because after some of the struggling students had received some one on one help, they came back with amazingly improved grades on their paper, which of course brought a big smile to my face. Since I was a kid one of my dream jobs was to be a teacher, and if my criminal justice plan doesn't go so well, I think I have my backup.
Friday, May 20, 2016
Monday, May 9, 2016
My Anecdote
It has been an entertaining experience...
Well my project has been interesting. It has given me some opportunities to get to observe younger kids and what they do and/or don't like, how they learn, and what drives their learning experience. When I was younger I always wanted to be a Kindergarten teacher. I love working with little kids and seeing what interests them. When I was in middle school, I went to Bethel, and as my elective I was a teacher's aide for Ms. Payne; my mentor. It was an easy in and she loves when I help her.
Although not the best picture, this is the classroom setting I have been working in for the past month. That is Ms. Payne (if she knew I was taking the picture she would've moved).I absolutely love working in this classroom. The kids are amazing and super talented. Who knew?
If my future career plans for some reason don't happen to work the way I want it to, I think one of my backup jobs would be a Kindergarten or Preschool teacher.
The picture at the bottom is at a choir and dance performance that I went to to support the kids. Those are some of the students I have worked with while doing this project.
Well my project has been interesting. It has given me some opportunities to get to observe younger kids and what they do and/or don't like, how they learn, and what drives their learning experience. When I was younger I always wanted to be a Kindergarten teacher. I love working with little kids and seeing what interests them. When I was in middle school, I went to Bethel, and as my elective I was a teacher's aide for Ms. Payne; my mentor. It was an easy in and she loves when I help her.
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If my future career plans for some reason don't happen to work the way I want it to, I think one of my backup jobs would be a Kindergarten or Preschool teacher.
The picture at the bottom is at a choir and dance performance that I went to to support the kids. Those are some of the students I have worked with while doing this project.
Saturday, May 7, 2016
Persuasion
Find Ways to Engage the Kids
For those of you who have been following my blog, you know that it is about creating a way for high school students to volunteer their own time to go into elementary level classrooms to tudor the kids on what they struggle with. For example, I am helping in math and reading. It is pretty much whatever the teacher thinks needs to be worked on. I am here to tell you that the best possible way someone can tudor a kid, is to find a passion of theirs, and use it. This creates an excitement within the child and opens up their minds to receive learning. Not every person in a class of 25 kids will just want to sit there and listen to the teacher talk about why adding 2 + 2 gives you 4. People are different and they have their own ways of learning things. If you decide to tutor some students, ask the teacher if you can come in at their recess as well as the subject you will be teaching, and really spend time to get to know the children personally. It might shock you how some of them will be so similar and, yet, so different. I, for one, learn easily through music and hands-on activities, whereas one of my friends learns best through lectures. Finding that passion in a kid might be exactly what you need to obtain their attention and keep them engaged and wanting to learn.
For those of you who have been following my blog, you know that it is about creating a way for high school students to volunteer their own time to go into elementary level classrooms to tudor the kids on what they struggle with. For example, I am helping in math and reading. It is pretty much whatever the teacher thinks needs to be worked on. I am here to tell you that the best possible way someone can tudor a kid, is to find a passion of theirs, and use it. This creates an excitement within the child and opens up their minds to receive learning. Not every person in a class of 25 kids will just want to sit there and listen to the teacher talk about why adding 2 + 2 gives you 4. People are different and they have their own ways of learning things. If you decide to tutor some students, ask the teacher if you can come in at their recess as well as the subject you will be teaching, and really spend time to get to know the children personally. It might shock you how some of them will be so similar and, yet, so different. I, for one, learn easily through music and hands-on activities, whereas one of my friends learns best through lectures. Finding that passion in a kid might be exactly what you need to obtain their attention and keep them engaged and wanting to learn.
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Reflection
Well so far...
I'm not really sure. I mean, I guess you could say it's going alright. To be completely honest, this project hasn't gone exactly as planned. I thought it was going to be easy to fit it all into my schedule and do what needed to be done. Well, life happens, plans change.
So last Friday was supposed to be my second benchmark, which it still was, but I hadn't done what was expected for that week. I thought I was going in to tutor some struggling students but the teacher had something else already planned for that day. They went on a field trip to a fire station. She asked if I would be able to go with them to act as a chaperone and it would also give me a chance to get to know the students more on a personal level rather than just one of the class. When we went the firemen that were supposed to conduct the tour weren't able to be there due to a bad car accident. So again, I had planned on going in to really work with the kids, but it was still a really fun experience. The students showed me some things they love and I got to know how a couple of kids could be engaged in certain teachings.
My mentor, Ms. Payne, is so amazing. She is really working with me on this project and giving me some good ideas so far. She had me play a spelling game with the kids to engage their brains, and it definitely worked. I had to say their spelling words in a random order or some random words that rhymed with it and if they got it right they would stay there, but if they got it wrong they were out. The kids seemed to love it and it gave me a couple more ideas on how to really captivate their minds in school.
I think if there was something I needed to change, it would be timing. I meet with Ms. Payne every Friday from about 8:00-11:00 a.m. I am definitely not a morning person, so sometimes it is not very motivating to know I have to go and get my brain moving in order to help other kids. With the blog posts being due every Friday, I get a little distracted after coming home from the tutoring and end up forgetting about posting until a couple days later. I'm working on fixing that though. As far as the comments go, I will be making sure to add a bit more information to my posts. Hope this one will be better.
I was out doing un-school related things and my neighbor approached me. For who knows what reason, we started talking about this project and how I'm working on a tutoring program. He thought it was a great idea. He has a daughter in fifth grade who has had some hard times learning and also believes in year-round school, so he said that if I was up for it, he would pay me to tutor his daughter a little bit during the summer! Who knew this project would come to things like that?
I'm not really sure. I mean, I guess you could say it's going alright. To be completely honest, this project hasn't gone exactly as planned. I thought it was going to be easy to fit it all into my schedule and do what needed to be done. Well, life happens, plans change.
So last Friday was supposed to be my second benchmark, which it still was, but I hadn't done what was expected for that week. I thought I was going in to tutor some struggling students but the teacher had something else already planned for that day. They went on a field trip to a fire station. She asked if I would be able to go with them to act as a chaperone and it would also give me a chance to get to know the students more on a personal level rather than just one of the class. When we went the firemen that were supposed to conduct the tour weren't able to be there due to a bad car accident. So again, I had planned on going in to really work with the kids, but it was still a really fun experience. The students showed me some things they love and I got to know how a couple of kids could be engaged in certain teachings.
My mentor, Ms. Payne, is so amazing. She is really working with me on this project and giving me some good ideas so far. She had me play a spelling game with the kids to engage their brains, and it definitely worked. I had to say their spelling words in a random order or some random words that rhymed with it and if they got it right they would stay there, but if they got it wrong they were out. The kids seemed to love it and it gave me a couple more ideas on how to really captivate their minds in school.
I think if there was something I needed to change, it would be timing. I meet with Ms. Payne every Friday from about 8:00-11:00 a.m. I am definitely not a morning person, so sometimes it is not very motivating to know I have to go and get my brain moving in order to help other kids. With the blog posts being due every Friday, I get a little distracted after coming home from the tutoring and end up forgetting about posting until a couple days later. I'm working on fixing that though. As far as the comments go, I will be making sure to add a bit more information to my posts. Hope this one will be better.
I was out doing un-school related things and my neighbor approached me. For who knows what reason, we started talking about this project and how I'm working on a tutoring program. He thought it was a great idea. He has a daughter in fifth grade who has had some hard times learning and also believes in year-round school, so he said that if I was up for it, he would pay me to tutor his daughter a little bit during the summer! Who knew this project would come to things like that?
Monday, April 18, 2016
A Little About My Mentor
The name of my mentor is Ms. Nina Payne and she has been a Kindergarten teacher at Bethel Christian School since 1991. I have worked in her classroom as a teacher's aide for two years now. She is such an outstanding person and a great role model for everyone. A little about her background; she is originally from Oahu, Hawaii, loves to scratch peoples' backs, and is obsessed with anything purple. Ms. Payne will be guiding me throughout this drawn out process of tutoring kids and making learning fun.
Samaira: So what do you think about my project?
Ms. Payne: I think it is a great idea. I have plenty of students that are struggling in math and reading and I could for sure use your help.
Samaira: Is there anything I should know about tutoring the kids and helping them want to learn?
Ms. Payne: Well, when kids are having a hard time learning something new, the generic way of teaching, such as lectures or plain instruction, may not really explain what they are doing, and they might not truly learn it. A few ways for young students to really be engaged and want to learn more could be through music, dancing, fun rhymes, or hands-on examples.
Samaira: How would you feel about high school students volunteering their time to come tutor students in the classrooms?
Ms. Payne: Overall I think it would be a great idea for high school students to help out, but legally it might be more of a process than what it seems like. For me, or any teacher, to be able to step out of the classroom and leave the tutor in charge would take getting them finger printed, put into our school volunteer system, and having their records looked at. Now with you (Samaira) having gone through our school and have been working with me for two years already, it is easier for me to just let you come in and volunteer, but if it were just any high school student, I don't know that I could just leave them with any of my students.
Samaira: So what do you think about my project?
Ms. Payne: I think it is a great idea. I have plenty of students that are struggling in math and reading and I could for sure use your help.
Samaira: Is there anything I should know about tutoring the kids and helping them want to learn?
Ms. Payne: Well, when kids are having a hard time learning something new, the generic way of teaching, such as lectures or plain instruction, may not really explain what they are doing, and they might not truly learn it. A few ways for young students to really be engaged and want to learn more could be through music, dancing, fun rhymes, or hands-on examples.
Samaira: How would you feel about high school students volunteering their time to come tutor students in the classrooms?
Ms. Payne: Overall I think it would be a great idea for high school students to help out, but legally it might be more of a process than what it seems like. For me, or any teacher, to be able to step out of the classroom and leave the tutor in charge would take getting them finger printed, put into our school volunteer system, and having their records looked at. Now with you (Samaira) having gone through our school and have been working with me for two years already, it is easier for me to just let you come in and volunteer, but if it were just any high school student, I don't know that I could just leave them with any of my students.
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
My First Blog
My goal for this project is to create a system for Kindergarten teachers to have access to high school students that volunteer their time to tudor the students in math and reading during school hours. The volunteer tudors will create fun and interesting ways for Kindergartners to be engaged in new ways of learning.
I happened to be talking to one of my previous teachers from middle school when she had mentioned a need for some of her students to obtain help with some subjects they were struggling with. Those subjects happened to be two of the most commonly challenging or unenjoyable subjects, so it strikes an idea that maybe I could come up with a way for teachers to get help while the kids learn and stay engaged with some fun.
To achieve my goal I plan to meet with a teacher and find out her exact needs, and gain awareness of the main struggles of her students in math and reading. I will then create ways to engage the students in learning games based on the areas of challenge and maintain a safe, light-hearted environment. This type of environment will give them a desire to learn more and open their minds up to receive and retain the new information. I want to make a volunteering program for the high school students to offer their time to tudor Kindergarteners in classrooms as needed.
My first chosen benchmark will be April 15. By this date I should have already met with the teacher I will be working with to create a game plan of exactly how and when everything will happen. By April 22, I will have spent a couple hours in the classroom working to tudor young students in math and reading and assess their needs. My last benchmark will be May 6, when I will have implemented my student-teacher volunteer directory and have success with the "Learn to Love Learning" techniques.
My mentor will be a previous teacher of mine who teaches a Kindergarten class at Bethel Christian School named Ms. Payne. I have worked with her before, so I know she will be an amazing mentor, and she was all for my project.
The possible obstacles I might face when executing my project would be things like not coming up with enough diverse techniques to use to help the kids learn or not getting a sufficient amount of high school students to donate their time. Ways I could overcome these hurdles are thinking of different ways to teach the kids ahead of time, and promoting this volunteering experience to many teens so that they will want to help out.
I happened to be talking to one of my previous teachers from middle school when she had mentioned a need for some of her students to obtain help with some subjects they were struggling with. Those subjects happened to be two of the most commonly challenging or unenjoyable subjects, so it strikes an idea that maybe I could come up with a way for teachers to get help while the kids learn and stay engaged with some fun.
To achieve my goal I plan to meet with a teacher and find out her exact needs, and gain awareness of the main struggles of her students in math and reading. I will then create ways to engage the students in learning games based on the areas of challenge and maintain a safe, light-hearted environment. This type of environment will give them a desire to learn more and open their minds up to receive and retain the new information. I want to make a volunteering program for the high school students to offer their time to tudor Kindergarteners in classrooms as needed.
My first chosen benchmark will be April 15. By this date I should have already met with the teacher I will be working with to create a game plan of exactly how and when everything will happen. By April 22, I will have spent a couple hours in the classroom working to tudor young students in math and reading and assess their needs. My last benchmark will be May 6, when I will have implemented my student-teacher volunteer directory and have success with the "Learn to Love Learning" techniques.
My mentor will be a previous teacher of mine who teaches a Kindergarten class at Bethel Christian School named Ms. Payne. I have worked with her before, so I know she will be an amazing mentor, and she was all for my project.
The possible obstacles I might face when executing my project would be things like not coming up with enough diverse techniques to use to help the kids learn or not getting a sufficient amount of high school students to donate their time. Ways I could overcome these hurdles are thinking of different ways to teach the kids ahead of time, and promoting this volunteering experience to many teens so that they will want to help out.
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