Spring Trek IV: The Voyage to YAC

As Spring gets closer and closer, I see my calendar filling up pretty quickly.  All of my weekends are pretty much full.  Now, not all of it is work stuff, I have fun planned in there too.  I can't, however, help but start to feel stressed about the programs I have coming up.

Its not stress from not being prepared.  I've had plenty of time to get ready for these, but this is just stress and nerves I get before anything I do.  I would get it every summer right before Summer Clubs and Day Camps.  I'm always prepared for them, but since I don't know the kids I'll be working with, there is always that little apprehension sitting in the back of my mind... playing Devil's Advocate....

BUT I must work through that, and once more unto the breach, dear friends...

My afterschool program is right around the corner.  The sessions start on April 8th, but since mine is a Thursday class, I won't start until April 11th.  That is just two weeks away! I feel like I have so much to do still, but really I don't.  I've written my outline for the whole course. I've written a skeleton lesson plan for each day. I've made a list of materials I will need for all the projects and activities.  The only thing I have left to do is pick out which icebreakers I will be doing with the youth.  I'm actually really excited for this.  I'm making sure to keep really good notes so this is something that can be continued in the future.  Maybe we'll get some Afterschool program interns or something. That would be cool.

For the Summer Gardening Series, I'm working on the youth portion. I've got an outline all ready.  Next I have to do the lesson plants, and put together a list of supplies.  That should be easy enough.  Just a little time consuming.  I also have to figure out how long my sessions are so I can plan accordingly.  The hardest part of this gardening series is that the youth in it have ranged from ages three to twelve.  So there is definitely a learning gap.  I've had to try to find activities that both younger and older youth can get into to.  Sometimes that can be particularly difficult.  I think however, I have found some activities that will be engaging for all; they are hands on, simple enough for a kindergartner to do, yet complex enough for an older youth to have something to think through. .... if that makes sense.

I'm on a new campaign to make YAC a stronger group.  I'm working on getting the word out there. As I was cleaning out a file drawer yesterday, I came across some surveys that were sent out to general leaders last year.  I found a suggestion on one of them that I really like, and as far as I can tell was never put into action. So I will be working on making displays, handouts, and brochures advertising what YAC is and encouraging youth to participate.  I've gotten a few suggestions from my YAC members of people they think might be interested in this.  I'm going to send them a person invitation to our next meeting.  Hopefully that turns into something! I'm also going to challenge each of my YAC kids to bring at least one friend to the meeting. I'm trying to boost it. I hope I am successful in my endeavor.

Hmm... what else has been going on. YAC did make some Easter baskets to deliver to the local hospital for youth who are stuck in there during this holiday.  I hope we made the day of some of them! Here is a picture!

I think its pretty exciting!

Some of my other projects didn't pan out so well.  That is ok, live and learn.

Well I think that is about all. I guess I'll go back to my 4-H work now.

Until then!

Sleeper

Well this week has been kind of quiet.  I've done a lot of desk work, which is good.  ... In otherwords, theres not much to tell...so this will be short.

Our YAC bowling ended up getting cancelled because not enough people signed up for it.  So maybe we'll try that again in May when our next family focus goes out.  I don't want to give up on it.  I think its a great opportunity for some inter-club bonding.

PreFair Music, Drama, and Dance also went well.  I'm excited to see the performances at the Fair.

I finished the Carbon Cycle Game that I was putting together for the Community Resource Development Agent.  She was quite happy I finished it.  Now we just need to find an opportunity to play it.

I've printed out some forms for my lesson plans so that I can do it with pencil and paper, then I will type it up.  Sometimes my thought process works better if I'm writing rather than typing.

So all thats left is putting together the YAC agenda for the next meeting!

Until Then!

Planet of the Carbons

You know that feeling you where you come up with a clever way to start out something you are writing, and then you are like, wait a minute.... Then find that you had already done that a few months before? Yup....just experienced that.

Oh well. Life moves on.

As does the work week. So lets see whats been going on.

Well I've been continuing to work on my curriculum.  I'm at the point for both of them where I have the outline done, and I just need to start working on the individual lesson plans.  After that I have to start gathering supplies.

One of the lessons I'm doing for the Summer Gardening Series is on the Water Cycle.  I felt this was important to teach because water is such an important part of gardening and growing plants. The game we have to go along with is a great example of how water molecules move and of how much they are used in our environment.  Our Dairy Agent mentioned that she thought she had played a similar game with carbon instead of water. So I was looking online and I found a Carbon Cycle game.  I'm working with our Community Resource Development Educator to work on putting the kit for the game together.  So far, I've made the sides of the dice.  I just have to cut up the cardboard and put them all together now.

I think I might do that this week and next just to get it out of the way so I can focus more on the lesson planning. Either way, cool things will happen, I think.

Well, time to get back to it.  I'll let you know how the YAC bowling goes this weekend. So far we have a small intimate group.

Until then!

All Quiet on the 4-H Front

Now that it is March, it is time to start thinking about summer.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of summer, but some of my favorite 4-H events happen in summer, so I'm looking forward to it for that sole reason.

One thing that I've started thinking about is the Summer Gardening Series.  This is something that is put on by the Master Gardener Volunteers, but I'm going to help out by writing the curriculum and helping teach the portion for the youth.  The Summer Gardening Series is geared toward families who want to learn more about managing their own garden at home.  Involving the whole family is a great way to create family together time, and teaching kids something they can use in their future.  The way it is set up is that there will be a brief introduction at the beginning of each session, then the adults would go into a more in depth lesson while the youth go into a lesson with a hands-on activity.  The rest of the time is spent with the adults working on tending the garden that we have outside our building.  I'm working on trying to make sure that the youth curriculum coincides with what the adults are learning so they are on the same page. The first session is in May so I have some time to think about this some more too, and flesh out any details.

Even sooner than that, though, I have my afterschool program starting in April.  As I've been working on the curriculum for that I've actually organized it in a different way than before.  Most of the content is the same, but the structure has changed.  Unfortunately, I don't have any cool pictures of the white board all covered in marker because I didn't have access to a white board when I was working on it.  The next step with that is getting together a rough outline of what each session at each level would cover, then meeting with my supervisor to discuss it.  This is to make sure I'm headed in the right direction with it.  I'm certainly willing to make changes to it if need be.  Plus, I'm sure I'll make changes to it once I've actually done the run through with it.

Lets see....what else is going on.  The YAC Bowling is a go.  Hopefully people show up for it.  I've advertised free food and door prizes.  What more could they want?

Oh, I know that All Quiet on the Western Front isn't a cheesy science fiction film, but I felt that it fit for this quiet week.  It's been quiet.  Busy, but quiet.