Today marks the last day of my VISTA journey. It has been quite the journey.
What started of as a smooth transition between being a summer intern and starting my VISTA role, morphed into realizing that I didn't have a team of three other people my age to run all sorts of programming; leaving me to wade through the forest of experience alone. Not that I was totally alone of course, there were people to help me along the way. To all those people, I say "Thank you." I could not have done it without you. You have helped me along the way, and for that, I am grateful.
The journey wasn't always easy...after all, what journey is? It had its ups and downs. There were successes and there were failures. It does not do well to dwell on the failures, though. What is important is to focus on what I did well and how I can use those positive experiences in my future career.
My biggest takeaway from this last year has probably been "Even if you find it difficult, find a way to do it anyway." I think that is going to be the tagline of my life. When I write a book of memoirs that will be the subtitle. Not as catchy as it could be, but that's why its the subtitle and not the title.
Its hard to believe that I've just summed up an entire year of working in just a few short paragraphs.
Today marks the last day of my first post college work experience. I have learned so much from this office and this program. It will stay with me forever.
I will of course be keeping up with this blog and writing about my post VISTA experiences.
Until Then!
Friday, August 16, 2013
Friday, August 9, 2013
Fair Troopers
Now that life has settled down some, I can relax and think about what I want to write. There is quite about to write about. I don't really know where to start.
I guess I could start with the most recent thing. The Wisconsin Valley Fair.
The Fair is a busy time for the 4-H office. There is so much happening and going on. The Fair is a great chance for 4-H youth to show off when they've been working on and learning about for the past year. Its an opportunity for them to start thinking about what they want to do next year.
In between all the elephant ears, cheese curds, and baked potatoes, I had a chance to walk around and look at some of the projects the youth had done. I saw many paintings and drawings that just looked absolutely beautiful. I saw foods that looked delicious. I saw welding projects what were far better than I could ever hope to achieve. I saw models that took all the patience in the world. I saw cows that looked so cared for. Sheep that were sheared nicely; pigs that looked comfortable. I saw horses that were pampered. I saw all the hard work that the 4-H youth put into their projects. I was impressed with it all.
So now I'm preparing for my last week as a VISTA. Over the next few days I will be reflecting about my time here and I will write about it next week.
Until Then!
I guess I could start with the most recent thing. The Wisconsin Valley Fair.
The Fair is a busy time for the 4-H office. There is so much happening and going on. The Fair is a great chance for 4-H youth to show off when they've been working on and learning about for the past year. Its an opportunity for them to start thinking about what they want to do next year.
In between all the elephant ears, cheese curds, and baked potatoes, I had a chance to walk around and look at some of the projects the youth had done. I saw many paintings and drawings that just looked absolutely beautiful. I saw foods that looked delicious. I saw welding projects what were far better than I could ever hope to achieve. I saw models that took all the patience in the world. I saw cows that looked so cared for. Sheep that were sheared nicely; pigs that looked comfortable. I saw horses that were pampered. I saw all the hard work that the 4-H youth put into their projects. I was impressed with it all.
So now I'm preparing for my last week as a VISTA. Over the next few days I will be reflecting about my time here and I will write about it next week.
Until Then!
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Fairfly
For some reason, the summer always starts to move faster on this side of July 4th. The Fair seems like its just a hop, skip, and a jump away.
In reality, it is. Next week Thursday we move the office down to the fairgrounds. After the Fair, I then only have a few weeks left until I move on to my next adventure. But more on that later....when I actually have a next adventure.
Here at the office, I've been keeping busy. At the JDC we did some knifty knitting. I got some more hats to take to the local hospital for newborns. Two of the youth there I had seen the last time I went there. The boy who was in such a bad mood last time, was quite chipper and talkative. He was also really helpful. He was helping one of the other boys who was having trouble with his knifty knitting. It was really great to see that kind of attitude from him. There is one girl there that I have seen the last three times I've gone. She said she will still be there next time I come...which is today. So I have been working hard on what I can do with them that I haven't done before. I think I've come up with a good idea. Instead of doing some sort of hands-on craft project with them. I'm going to teach them how to play one of my very favorite card games. The name of the game is Peanut. Its like a large multi-player game of Solitaire. Its a game that challenges concentration and speed. It gives up a chance to just talk while we play as well as giving them a game to teach their friends so they have something to do with their hands. I don't really know how well this game will be received, so I'm hoping it goes well. I'll have some back up games just in case.
Last week was the final week of my Community Connection program. Our last activity was a sort of test to see how much they had learned over the past few weeks. They were divided up into groups and given a simple story. Their task was to work as a group to put together a small play about the story. They were to act out the story as the story was read out loud. They did a very good job, I think. They definitely showed improved skills in teamwork, acting, and communication. I was very happy with the job they did. One of the groups had a really good lesson in team work. They knew the theory of working as a team, but the practice was a little lost on them. I think this shows me that we are done teaching them how to be a team, and we need to get them to act on being a team. Youth need more practice in working together and making some decisions on their own. These are important skills to have in the adult world.
One thing that the VISTA headquarters likes to do is present webinars on different topics to help VISTAs along the way. I listened in on one last week about resumes. I found it very informative and helpful. I will be making several changes to my resume as soon as I get a chance. This was perfect timing for me. Especially since I am only one month away from the end of my service term and am looking for the next big adventure. I knew job searching would be tough, but I never thought it would be this tough. I am, however, sticking with it. I am not giving up. I can't afford to give up.
Since I am only one month away from the end, I've started transitioning my things to the next VISTA. In the past the new VISTA and the old VISTA overlapped by few days, if any at all. This year the new VISTA is starting sooner. She will be starting the same we as the Fair. So that will be quite the experience for her. Really though, what better way is there to get an introduction into 4-H that spending a week at the Fair? The very thing that all 4-Hers work toward all year. We then will have two week of overlapping service. This will be nice because I can then train her in the way the office works and we can meet some connections in person and get some programs up and running right away.
As part of this transition, I am putting together a packet on how to run some of the social media sites that 4-H has. I hope she finds them useful.
Well, with the Fair coming up, I'll be quite busy!
Until Then!
In reality, it is. Next week Thursday we move the office down to the fairgrounds. After the Fair, I then only have a few weeks left until I move on to my next adventure. But more on that later....when I actually have a next adventure.
Here at the office, I've been keeping busy. At the JDC we did some knifty knitting. I got some more hats to take to the local hospital for newborns. Two of the youth there I had seen the last time I went there. The boy who was in such a bad mood last time, was quite chipper and talkative. He was also really helpful. He was helping one of the other boys who was having trouble with his knifty knitting. It was really great to see that kind of attitude from him. There is one girl there that I have seen the last three times I've gone. She said she will still be there next time I come...which is today. So I have been working hard on what I can do with them that I haven't done before. I think I've come up with a good idea. Instead of doing some sort of hands-on craft project with them. I'm going to teach them how to play one of my very favorite card games. The name of the game is Peanut. Its like a large multi-player game of Solitaire. Its a game that challenges concentration and speed. It gives up a chance to just talk while we play as well as giving them a game to teach their friends so they have something to do with their hands. I don't really know how well this game will be received, so I'm hoping it goes well. I'll have some back up games just in case.
Last week was the final week of my Community Connection program. Our last activity was a sort of test to see how much they had learned over the past few weeks. They were divided up into groups and given a simple story. Their task was to work as a group to put together a small play about the story. They were to act out the story as the story was read out loud. They did a very good job, I think. They definitely showed improved skills in teamwork, acting, and communication. I was very happy with the job they did. One of the groups had a really good lesson in team work. They knew the theory of working as a team, but the practice was a little lost on them. I think this shows me that we are done teaching them how to be a team, and we need to get them to act on being a team. Youth need more practice in working together and making some decisions on their own. These are important skills to have in the adult world.
One thing that the VISTA headquarters likes to do is present webinars on different topics to help VISTAs along the way. I listened in on one last week about resumes. I found it very informative and helpful. I will be making several changes to my resume as soon as I get a chance. This was perfect timing for me. Especially since I am only one month away from the end of my service term and am looking for the next big adventure. I knew job searching would be tough, but I never thought it would be this tough. I am, however, sticking with it. I am not giving up. I can't afford to give up.
Since I am only one month away from the end, I've started transitioning my things to the next VISTA. In the past the new VISTA and the old VISTA overlapped by few days, if any at all. This year the new VISTA is starting sooner. She will be starting the same we as the Fair. So that will be quite the experience for her. Really though, what better way is there to get an introduction into 4-H that spending a week at the Fair? The very thing that all 4-Hers work toward all year. We then will have two week of overlapping service. This will be nice because I can then train her in the way the office works and we can meet some connections in person and get some programs up and running right away.
As part of this transition, I am putting together a packet on how to run some of the social media sites that 4-H has. I hope she finds them useful.
Well, with the Fair coming up, I'll be quite busy!
Until Then!
Friday, June 28, 2013
Silent Garden
Earlier today I was talking to my Aunt, she pointed out that she was looking forward to my next post. Well Sandy, here's looking at you!
In other news, this past week has been busy, but fantastic.
This week at the JDC I worked with three very nice teenagers. One I had met with before, and the others were new to me. When I got there one of the boys was hiding in his room. when he came out he sat at the table and put his head down. I could tell he didn't want to be there so I hoped he was going to be willing to do my activity. That morning, when I got to the office I started preparing the Mexican Clay for use. Since it hasn't been used since last summer, it was a little dry. Its self-drying clay, but it was still usable. When I started getting the stuff out for clay, the boy with his head down perked up a bit and looked like this was something he really wanted to do. It turned out he enjoyed art class and working with clay. He was telling me about how he was looking forward to the ceramics class he would be taking in the fall. The rest of the group was great, they all had fun working with the clay and building their favorite animals. It was a good experience at the Shelter.
The same day I had my Community Connection program. This week I tied theater with gardening. We did some theater/forensics warm ups, played "10 Second Objects," Mirrors, and germinated some seeds. So maybe the seed germination isn't exactly theater related, but it was good to be able to give the youth something to take home. Next week we will be learning about the water cycle by playing the Water Cycle Game. I love the game, and I hope they do too!
The same evening we had the fourth session of the Summer Gardening Series. It went pretty well. The youth learned about soil and the different layers of soil. They also used old cds to make Deer Deflectors to take home with them. After that they has some dirt cake, and we sent them outside to harvest the radishes and lettuce in the garden. They seemed to really enjoy it.
As part of the VISTA term, I've been writing a series of articles for the local paper. Here is the latest one that was published! (If the link doesn't work it means that it cycled off the website. I don't believe there is any way to retrieve it...so read it soon!)
I have lots to get ready for next week! I think then I'll write about the class I'm taking right now too!
Until then!
In other news, this past week has been busy, but fantastic.
This week at the JDC I worked with three very nice teenagers. One I had met with before, and the others were new to me. When I got there one of the boys was hiding in his room. when he came out he sat at the table and put his head down. I could tell he didn't want to be there so I hoped he was going to be willing to do my activity. That morning, when I got to the office I started preparing the Mexican Clay for use. Since it hasn't been used since last summer, it was a little dry. Its self-drying clay, but it was still usable. When I started getting the stuff out for clay, the boy with his head down perked up a bit and looked like this was something he really wanted to do. It turned out he enjoyed art class and working with clay. He was telling me about how he was looking forward to the ceramics class he would be taking in the fall. The rest of the group was great, they all had fun working with the clay and building their favorite animals. It was a good experience at the Shelter.
The same day I had my Community Connection program. This week I tied theater with gardening. We did some theater/forensics warm ups, played "10 Second Objects," Mirrors, and germinated some seeds. So maybe the seed germination isn't exactly theater related, but it was good to be able to give the youth something to take home. Next week we will be learning about the water cycle by playing the Water Cycle Game. I love the game, and I hope they do too!
The same evening we had the fourth session of the Summer Gardening Series. It went pretty well. The youth learned about soil and the different layers of soil. They also used old cds to make Deer Deflectors to take home with them. After that they has some dirt cake, and we sent them outside to harvest the radishes and lettuce in the garden. They seemed to really enjoy it.
As part of the VISTA term, I've been writing a series of articles for the local paper. Here is the latest one that was published! (If the link doesn't work it means that it cycled off the website. I don't believe there is any way to retrieve it...so read it soon!)
I have lots to get ready for next week! I think then I'll write about the class I'm taking right now too!
Until then!
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
The Last Starcamper
Time sure does fly when you're having fun. It also flies when summer rolls around.
So far this summer, I've been keeping really busy with different programs.
Lets start with the Gardening Series. For the past three summers, the North Central Wisconsin Master Gardeners have partnered with 4-H to present a Summer Gardening Series for families who have little to no experience in gardening, or do not have a lot of space to work with for a garden. The Master Gardeners teach the adults, and 4-H does a lesson for the youth. After the lessons are done, everyone goes out to the garden to work together. This year, I was in charge of the youth portion. There are six sessions; so far, we've had three of them. Our first one, we discussed the basics of gardening and made ice cream cone seed starters. The following week, we talked about what to plant where in a garden and planted radish seeds to see which variety of radish would grow the fastest. This past week we talk about water. Since water is so important for the growth of plants, I felt it was important to talk about the water cycle and play the water cycle game.
The next session, the youth will learn about soil and conduct soil analysis experiments. So far the youth have been enjoying it. I think it is a fun way to learn about gardening.
I've gotten back into a regular schedule for the JDC. I'm now going every other Wednesday morning (every week if I can swing it). Last week I just had one girl, but she really enjoyed working on a baby hat with the Knifty Knitter. That hat, when it is finished, will be donated to the newborns at the hospital.
The Marathon County Leadership Coalition, the thing I did the focus groups for, has been put under the jurisdiction of the Marathon County Diversity Commission. At their last meeting, they decided that they will create an "Implementation Committee" to make sure that there are events and programs happening to encourage residents of Marathon County to become more involved and to make them more aware of things that happen around the area. If I stay in the area, that is something I would like to continue with on my own time.
Since summer has rolled around, it also means the start of the 4-H Summer Club program. For the past few summers we have partnered with the local School District and work with a program called Community Connection. This means that in the afternoon, at five locations, community partners come in and run programs with the K-4 youth. For the past three summers I was a 4-H intern, but since I am in a different role this year, I am not as involved. I have, however, helped out a little before the Summer VISTAs started for extra hands. This year their theme is Discovery Camp. This is a science based program where they will cover topics ranging from biology to astronomy. I am still involved with Community Connection, though. The Wisconsin Nutrition Education Program runs the school garden at one of the locations. I am running one of three rotations for them. There is one in the garden, one making crafts, and my rotation: a Theater/Gardening rotation. Our first week, last week, we talked about miming. This week we will cover expressions, warm-ups, and play a game of Garden Charades. The kids really seemed to enjoy it last week, so hopefully they will enjoy the upcoming weeks!
So far this summer has been more like "fall." Out of the first nine days of June, it has rained for seven of them. After last year's drought, we should be thankful for all the rain....but it has started causing problems for farmers. We were, however, grateful for the two days of beautiful weather we got for Junior Camp. The counselors were great, the kids had a blast, and the Y staff was incredibly helpful, as usual! It was all around, a great experience. Here are some pictures to go with it!
As the Fair gets ever closer and closer, I'm working harder to prepare for the 2nd Annual Wisconsin Valley Fair FUN RUN/Walk. This 2 mile run races around the fairgrounds. Proceeds from this run will be donated to Peyton's Promise.
Our YAC group did a great job last night working with one of the local 4-H clubs. They talked a little bit about YAC and what members do as part of it. They also did the "Putting Together the 4-H Puzzle" activity that I helped create at the conference at the Chula Vista Resort early in my service term. YAC did a good job, and I will miss working with them after I leave.
Well, I have many exciting project coming up, so hopefully they go well!
Until Then!
So far this summer, I've been keeping really busy with different programs.
Lets start with the Gardening Series. For the past three summers, the North Central Wisconsin Master Gardeners have partnered with 4-H to present a Summer Gardening Series for families who have little to no experience in gardening, or do not have a lot of space to work with for a garden. The Master Gardeners teach the adults, and 4-H does a lesson for the youth. After the lessons are done, everyone goes out to the garden to work together. This year, I was in charge of the youth portion. There are six sessions; so far, we've had three of them. Our first one, we discussed the basics of gardening and made ice cream cone seed starters. The following week, we talked about what to plant where in a garden and planted radish seeds to see which variety of radish would grow the fastest. This past week we talk about water. Since water is so important for the growth of plants, I felt it was important to talk about the water cycle and play the water cycle game.
The next session, the youth will learn about soil and conduct soil analysis experiments. So far the youth have been enjoying it. I think it is a fun way to learn about gardening.
I've gotten back into a regular schedule for the JDC. I'm now going every other Wednesday morning (every week if I can swing it). Last week I just had one girl, but she really enjoyed working on a baby hat with the Knifty Knitter. That hat, when it is finished, will be donated to the newborns at the hospital.
The Marathon County Leadership Coalition, the thing I did the focus groups for, has been put under the jurisdiction of the Marathon County Diversity Commission. At their last meeting, they decided that they will create an "Implementation Committee" to make sure that there are events and programs happening to encourage residents of Marathon County to become more involved and to make them more aware of things that happen around the area. If I stay in the area, that is something I would like to continue with on my own time.
Since summer has rolled around, it also means the start of the 4-H Summer Club program. For the past few summers we have partnered with the local School District and work with a program called Community Connection. This means that in the afternoon, at five locations, community partners come in and run programs with the K-4 youth. For the past three summers I was a 4-H intern, but since I am in a different role this year, I am not as involved. I have, however, helped out a little before the Summer VISTAs started for extra hands. This year their theme is Discovery Camp. This is a science based program where they will cover topics ranging from biology to astronomy. I am still involved with Community Connection, though. The Wisconsin Nutrition Education Program runs the school garden at one of the locations. I am running one of three rotations for them. There is one in the garden, one making crafts, and my rotation: a Theater/Gardening rotation. Our first week, last week, we talked about miming. This week we will cover expressions, warm-ups, and play a game of Garden Charades. The kids really seemed to enjoy it last week, so hopefully they will enjoy the upcoming weeks!
So far this summer has been more like "fall." Out of the first nine days of June, it has rained for seven of them. After last year's drought, we should be thankful for all the rain....but it has started causing problems for farmers. We were, however, grateful for the two days of beautiful weather we got for Junior Camp. The counselors were great, the kids had a blast, and the Y staff was incredibly helpful, as usual! It was all around, a great experience. Here are some pictures to go with it!
As the Fair gets ever closer and closer, I'm working harder to prepare for the 2nd Annual Wisconsin Valley Fair FUN RUN/Walk. This 2 mile run races around the fairgrounds. Proceeds from this run will be donated to Peyton's Promise.
Our YAC group did a great job last night working with one of the local 4-H clubs. They talked a little bit about YAC and what members do as part of it. They also did the "Putting Together the 4-H Puzzle" activity that I helped create at the conference at the Chula Vista Resort early in my service term. YAC did a good job, and I will miss working with them after I leave.
Well, I have many exciting project coming up, so hopefully they go well!
Until Then!
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Youth Trek: The Next Generation
This past week has been a whirlwind of activity. Between getting everything ready for this summer, and finishing up current programming, there are very few dull moments in this office.
On Tuesday I attended a workshop on Generations. This one was different from the one I had attended before. Although the information was the same, the difference was that this session was more about how to teach the "Generations" lesson. There were some tips on what to discuss and what to mention to the attendees. I did learn a few things though, which is always good.
- There are now five generations in the work place. This is the most there has ever been. Typically it has been only four generations. They feel this is because retirement age keeps going up, people are retiring later in life.
- A "cusper" is someone who was born right on the edge of two generations. They sometimes have trouble identifying with one generation or the other.
- A new term for Generation Y kids is "Trophy Kids." This actually made quite a bit of sense to me because what it means is that now everybody gets something for participating. It is no longer only the winners who get prizes, but now everyone does. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that, I'm just saying that it is a trait of that generation.
- Now, this next generation, Generation Z, will be interesting. So far some of their traits include technology and social networks, smaller families, longer span of education, diversity, the ability to multi-task well, they've been brought up influence by war, the Obama administration, bail outs and reality tv.
This was an interesting topic that I may have to research some more. The first place to look would be looking into the research of Howe and Strauss (Hopefully I have that spelled right). I believe they have done research dating all the way back to the 18th century. They introduced the idea of the "silent generation" cycling. According to them, every few generations is called the silent generation. They estimate Generation Z will be the next silent generation because of the technology they all have. There is less face to face interaction and more texting.
As part of this, we also took a quiz just to see the differences. See how well you do!
Fill in the blank:
1) Every minute, _______ hours of video is uploaded to YouTube
2) More video has been uploaded to YouTube in the last _______ months than all the footage aired by ABC, CBS, and NBC since 1948.
3) It would take ______ years to view every video on YouTube.
4) There are _______ articles available on Wikipedia in more than two hundred languages.
5) The average teenager sends ______ text messages each month.
6) More than ______ pieces of content (Web links, news, blog posts, are shared each week on Facebook.
7) Among large U.S. companies _______ percent have disciplined an employee for violating blog or message board policies.
Choices:
17
412.3
2272
2
1,000,000,000
13
13,000,000
Translate from internet lingo to standard English
1) TTYL = _______ _____ _________ _________
2) C U L8R = _______ _______ _________
3) Gtg, brb = ____ __ _____, ____ ________ _______
4) may b L8R = __________ ___________
5) IMO, u should = __ ____ ________, ____ _________
Multiple Choice
1) American Eagle is ______
a - Bird
b - Ship
c - Store
2) Fall Out Boy is a _____
a - Song
b - Band
c - Album
3) Texting is a form of _____
a - Eating
b - Communicating
c - Skipping
Complete the sentence
1 ) Watergate is....
2) An 8-Track is....
3) "I am woman, _____ ___ ______."
4) Who shot JR?
Comment for the right answers!
As for other upcoming events, the first of the six Gardening Series lessons is next Wednesday, so I'm getting ready for that. The youth are going to do plant seeds in ice cream cones. The idea behind this is that when they sprout, they will then be able to just plant the whole thing in the ground because the ice cream cone will dissolve. I hope that goes well!
Well, I just finished up my last class with my after school program. It was.....hectic. But hectic in a good way. We had a lot to do and there was a lot of excitement in the air. We gave out prizes for the community service challenge. Our top youth had 11 hours in five weeks. That's pretty impressive for fourth and fifth graders! Next week I will write a whole reflection piece on this program.
There is quite a bit going on, so I should get back to it.
Until Then!
On Tuesday I attended a workshop on Generations. This one was different from the one I had attended before. Although the information was the same, the difference was that this session was more about how to teach the "Generations" lesson. There were some tips on what to discuss and what to mention to the attendees. I did learn a few things though, which is always good.
- There are now five generations in the work place. This is the most there has ever been. Typically it has been only four generations. They feel this is because retirement age keeps going up, people are retiring later in life.
- A "cusper" is someone who was born right on the edge of two generations. They sometimes have trouble identifying with one generation or the other.
- A new term for Generation Y kids is "Trophy Kids." This actually made quite a bit of sense to me because what it means is that now everybody gets something for participating. It is no longer only the winners who get prizes, but now everyone does. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that, I'm just saying that it is a trait of that generation.
- Now, this next generation, Generation Z, will be interesting. So far some of their traits include technology and social networks, smaller families, longer span of education, diversity, the ability to multi-task well, they've been brought up influence by war, the Obama administration, bail outs and reality tv.
This was an interesting topic that I may have to research some more. The first place to look would be looking into the research of Howe and Strauss (Hopefully I have that spelled right). I believe they have done research dating all the way back to the 18th century. They introduced the idea of the "silent generation" cycling. According to them, every few generations is called the silent generation. They estimate Generation Z will be the next silent generation because of the technology they all have. There is less face to face interaction and more texting.
As part of this, we also took a quiz just to see the differences. See how well you do!
Fill in the blank:
1) Every minute, _______ hours of video is uploaded to YouTube
2) More video has been uploaded to YouTube in the last _______ months than all the footage aired by ABC, CBS, and NBC since 1948.
3) It would take ______ years to view every video on YouTube.
4) There are _______ articles available on Wikipedia in more than two hundred languages.
5) The average teenager sends ______ text messages each month.
6) More than ______ pieces of content (Web links, news, blog posts, are shared each week on Facebook.
7) Among large U.S. companies _______ percent have disciplined an employee for violating blog or message board policies.
Choices:
17
412.3
2272
2
1,000,000,000
13
13,000,000
Translate from internet lingo to standard English
1) TTYL = _______ _____ _________ _________
2) C U L8R = _______ _______ _________
3) Gtg, brb = ____ __ _____, ____ ________ _______
4) may b L8R = __________ ___________
5) IMO, u should = __ ____ ________, ____ _________
Multiple Choice
1) American Eagle is ______
a - Bird
b - Ship
c - Store
2) Fall Out Boy is a _____
a - Song
b - Band
c - Album
3) Texting is a form of _____
a - Eating
b - Communicating
c - Skipping
Complete the sentence
1 ) Watergate is....
2) An 8-Track is....
3) "I am woman, _____ ___ ______."
4) Who shot JR?
Comment for the right answers!
As for other upcoming events, the first of the six Gardening Series lessons is next Wednesday, so I'm getting ready for that. The youth are going to do plant seeds in ice cream cones. The idea behind this is that when they sprout, they will then be able to just plant the whole thing in the ground because the ice cream cone will dissolve. I hope that goes well!
Well, I just finished up my last class with my after school program. It was.....hectic. But hectic in a good way. We had a lot to do and there was a lot of excitement in the air. We gave out prizes for the community service challenge. Our top youth had 11 hours in five weeks. That's pretty impressive for fourth and fifth graders! Next week I will write a whole reflection piece on this program.
There is quite a bit going on, so I should get back to it.
Until Then!
Friday, May 10, 2013
After School Special...Sort of.
This week has been a busy week.
Each of the upcoming weeks will get progressively busier. I'm not complaining of course. If I'm busy that must mean I'm doing something right!
Last-last Thursday's after school program went very well indeed. We discussed photography and some elements that make a good picture. After a discussion with my supervisor, we decided that the girls should get an opportunity to exhibit their work in the fair. They were very excited about that. Here are the pictures they took.
They really had a lot of fun with this activity.
Then last week, we looked at arts and drawing. All of my girls were given the task of drawing "Community Service." It was up to them to interpret what that mean. It became quite clear to me that they were fairly dependent on specific instructions. This was a good challenge for them; it exercised their imaginations and their critical thinking skills. I think they got something out of it. These drawings and the photos they took (see above) will be entered in this year's Wisconsin Valley Fair. They were pretty excited about that when I told them.
Yesterday, we looked at "Home Environment." They made tie blankets and scarves to donate to the warming shelter that our area recently started. Although they all wanted to keep a scarf, I wouldn't let them because it is a good lesson in giving to others in a world where doing things for yourself is natural. None of them where too broken up about it. Here are some pictures of what they did.
Next week is our last week, and I have a little surprise for them. I think they will enjoy it.
As far as other programs are going, I'm just working on getting things ready for them; gathering supplies and writing lesson plans. Its keeping me pretty busy.
Each of the upcoming weeks will get progressively busier. I'm not complaining of course. If I'm busy that must mean I'm doing something right!
Last-last Thursday's after school program went very well indeed. We discussed photography and some elements that make a good picture. After a discussion with my supervisor, we decided that the girls should get an opportunity to exhibit their work in the fair. They were very excited about that. Here are the pictures they took.
They really had a lot of fun with this activity.
Then last week, we looked at arts and drawing. All of my girls were given the task of drawing "Community Service." It was up to them to interpret what that mean. It became quite clear to me that they were fairly dependent on specific instructions. This was a good challenge for them; it exercised their imaginations and their critical thinking skills. I think they got something out of it. These drawings and the photos they took (see above) will be entered in this year's Wisconsin Valley Fair. They were pretty excited about that when I told them.
Yesterday, we looked at "Home Environment." They made tie blankets and scarves to donate to the warming shelter that our area recently started. Although they all wanted to keep a scarf, I wouldn't let them because it is a good lesson in giving to others in a world where doing things for yourself is natural. None of them where too broken up about it. Here are some pictures of what they did.
Next week is our last week, and I have a little surprise for them. I think they will enjoy it.
As far as other programs are going, I'm just working on getting things ready for them; gathering supplies and writing lesson plans. Its keeping me pretty busy.
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