Week #1: Reflection

Week one of my senior project, Educating in Ecuador Preparation, was a challenging yet fun, and exhausting yet exhilarating learning experience. The week had its ups and downs, and there were certainly points where I wanted to sit down and stop. However, the feeling of utter reward after working with kids and being an impactful part of their day, outweighed the difficulties I encountered. The valuable life lessons I have learned from students and educators in a mere week are unmatched.

 After observing and helping a handful of teachers in both Hanover Street Elementary School and Lebanon Middle School, I have seen quite a variety of teaching styles. Teachers who offer more constructive feedback and try to push kids towards solutions when they are struggling or there is conflict are more times than not, successful. Gentle criticism, especially with younger elementary school-aged kids, was far more productive than abrasive yelling or critiquing. Little kids respond positively to suggestions as opposed to demands. I noticed that teachers or adults that used harsher tones or phrases had kids that did not respond in a positive manner. Whether the child retaliated even further in response to the adult, or became visually upset and emotionally distressed, yelling negative or mean words to try and correct the situation was almost never productive. 

I worked with numerous kids this week, from a diverse age range, and from a plethora of home situations. Many children come from tough family situations or unfortunate socioeconomic positions, which in turn affects their behavior, energy, and outlook on school. Keeping this in mind, I personally had to think a lot about why a kid may be acting the way they are. A kid has no control over where they live, their parents, whether or not they have food and many other important factors. I have again been reminded of how fortunate I am and how amazing and sheltered my childhood was. I have never known food or water insecurity, the issue of not having clean clothes, a consistent home, or parents that love me unconditionally. The same cannot be said for many of the kids I had the opportunity to work with this week. I have learned the importance of patience with children, as what many of them experience is entirely not their fault, nor do they have any control. I have also remembered why empathy and kindness are always crucial. Overall, this week was a lot of fun and I am pumped for week two! 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day Eleven

  Friday 05/19 @1:30 p.m. I think that kindergarteners are my new best friends. I received about 8 million hugs today, and as my new friends would say, I am all hugged out! I spent the morning helping some kids with their letters and spelling which was really fun but also exhausting. With this being my last day working in one of the schools, the amount of gratitude and appreciation I have for teachers is inexplicable; their patience and dedication are beyond impressive. The little dude I worked with today kept getting frustrated, as he was struggling to write his letters and spell some words. I was doing my best to help him and keep him motivated but it was significantly harder than I would have thought. Thankfully, the class’s spelling and writing block came to a close shortly after. As someone who isn’t the best at comforting little kids, I was glad to move on to something else as I didn’t feel fully equipped to try and help him with his work and keep the kid from getting so up...
Read more

Day Thirteen

  Monday 05/22 @7:15 p.m.  Raiders on three: one, two, three, Raiders! Today I helped coach a practice for the Lebanon Rec seventh and eighth-grade girls’ lacrosse team. They started with a jogging warm-up lap around the field, followed by some dynamic stretches. We then hopped into shuttles and worked on some basic passing. Afterward, we spent the bulk of practice working on clears from the goalie and getting the ball up the field. Those on attack were working on cutting towards and away from the ball to aid in the transition while those on defense were working on their ride and doubling the ball. I hopped in and helped in this drill and it was actually a lot of fun! The girls have gotten a lot better at making cleaner and smarter passes, thus their transition upfield was a lot better. It was slightly hard to keep them motivated at times, as this drill did require a lot of running, but overall they all try really hard and seem to care a lot about the sport and one another, ...
Read more

Day One

Monday 05/08 @12:45 p.m. Today I volunteered in Lebanon Middle School, my alma mater where I roamed the halls from fifth grade to eighth grade before coming to Proctor. I began by helping out with an eighth grade science class taught by Mrs. Davis, who was my advisor when I was in middle school. They are currently talking about weather patterns, the different forms of matter, and the changes in kinetic energy. I then went and helped Mr. Binaghi, my old gym teacher, in three classes. I was able to interact with fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth graders throughout these blocks, as we played four square volleyball. It was fun to help get kids involved in physical activity, especially the few that weren’t very keen on playing. Kids were laughing, getting some exercise, and having fun which was really great to see. Next, I sat in on a history/geography class taught by Mr. Hathorn, my teacher from when I was in seventh and eighth grade. I am not super keen on history but he talked a bit ab...
Read more