You can see how tired I am in my eyes. It's a good tired though. It's a gratifying and satisfying tired that makes me know that I have worked hard and put in all my effort this week. I have been working long hours, and hanging out with kids means I always try my best to be more energetic than my normal self. All of it just means that I feel good about the week and am ready for a restful weekend. As you know, some kids don't have much of a filter before they speak. In first grade, a little dude asked me if I had a black eye, because there were some pretty hefty dark circles around my eyes. Then all the kids started sticking their faces in my face to see my so-called black eye. Also, another girl asked me if I had "pink eye" because my eyes were slightly red from being tired. It was kind of hysterical.
Volunteering and teaching at AEMS every day this week gave me a lot of opportunities to observe teachers that I look up to, as well as a lot of opportunities to teach both in a formal classroom setting, and an informal setting of gymnastics and Mandarin class. All of these opportunities have taught me a lot about being a teacher. Though it may seem blatantly obvious, teaching is REALLY hard! I have said this in blogs throughout the week, but it's hard to teach a group of students whose minds work in different ways and at different speeds. Some are extremely quick to pick up and master concepts, others take more time to become familiar with the material. Some can sit still and focus, while others get antsy and need to move around. Some get distracted easily, others are distractions for their classmates. The challenge is that it is hard to provide the necessary individual attention that every student needs. Education is far from a "one size fits all" kind of thing. That was a long-winded explanation leading up to an important lesson I learned about being a good teacher, which is that you have to take the time and make the effort to get to know the students, instead of just throwing information at them. Not only does this build a better sense of trust, it also makes the student know that they are special, cared for, and supported. Also, knowing all your students and their varied learning styles is helpful when it comes to finding a compromise in the style with which you teach, and also finding external support for students who need it. Through teaching, I have picked up some techniques that match the needs of the students I'm teaching, but I think there is an infinite amount of things to learn in terms of being a teacher and there is always room for improvement. Also, teaching is way beyond just knowing the facts, it is equally as important, if not more important, to know HOW to teach that material.
Overall, I loved what I was doing this week. When I think about the week as a whole, I feel only happy and hopeful emotions. When I reflect more deeply on the smaller aspects of each day, I definitely faced some challenges and frustrations when working with or teaching the kids, but those feel like they are kind of drowned out by the good things. I am also growing to see those challenges as more of opportunities for growth. I know how short senior project is, so I want to make the most of this time to grow as much as I can in the field of work that I eventually want to be in. With all the gymnastics forms in place, I taught 5 gymnastics classes this week. I only taught 2 instead of 3 Mandarin classes though, because Share Day meant no Mandarin on Friday morning with the 4th graders. That said, teaching all the classes that I did was very enjoyable. As I watch back the videos from the gymnastics and Mandarin classes, there are a lot of smiles and laughter, which makes me happy. As I sift through the countless photos I took during the day in the classrooms and see all the smiling faces, it makes me happy. I also got nicknamed a "master baby maker" and the "princess of gymnastics," so I'd say it's going pretty well.
Everything went as expected this week as far as volunteering in classrooms and Mandarin classes go. Gymnastics sort of went as expected in that I expected it to go kind of unexpectedly. This was the first week that I was teaching gymnastics classes of really young kids. I made plans for all the classes, but as I mentioned in a lot of posts, I ended up winging it and improvising for a large chunk of many classes. I am still in the process of getting to know all the students, and I don't know, when planning, what will work for them and what won't. In terms of timing and what I was actually supposed to be doing though, everything went as planned. I unexpectedly found myself in a calligraphy workshop during share day, where I was working with kids significantly older than the ones I usually/planned to work with. It was a good unexpected though, because I got to meet some older kids and get experience with different students.
I will benefit from this week's activities because I have picked up a greater understanding of how to be a good teacher, and I have acquired little methods and tricks when it comes to teaching. For example, kids get fidgety after about a half hour of sitting still (at most!), so it's good to get up and "do a wiggle" or get outside for an activity, even if just briefly. I also have a much greater admiration for teachers and the difficult but astoundingly critical work that they do in a child's life, which leaves me with a much greater sense of gratitude for all the teachers that put up with me from kindergarten to my senior year of high school. They are largely the reason why I am where I am today, and several of them have inspired me to want to teach when I'm older.
This week I worked more towards my goals of helping children increase skill in gymnastics, as well as strength and flexibility. While we have only had one lesson for each group (and 2 lessons for the Thursday group), I have actually seen improvement in a significant number of the students. There are a few videos on my blog of students trying a skill at the beginning of class and then showing great improvement in the attempt at the end of class. Also, with the lesson at Andover Hub, over the course of 4-5 weeks, that student has gone from barely being able to stand on her hands with her feet on the wall, to hitting straight handstands without a wall from standing. I stretch with my kids every day and we do little bits of conditioning, but they get stronger and more flexible through doing gymnastics itself too. I'm excited to see what next week brings.
You can see how tired I am in my eyes. It's a good tired though. It's a gratifying and satisfying tired that makes me know that I have worked hard and put in all my effort this week. I have been working long hours, and hanging out with kids means I always try my best to be more energetic than my normal self. All of it just means that I feel good about the week and am ready for a restful weekend. As you know, some kids don't have much of a filter before they speak. In first grade, a little dude asked me if I had a black eye, because there were some pretty hefty dark circles around my eyes. Then all the kids started sticking their faces in my face to see my so-called black eye. Also, another girl asked me if I had "pink eye" because my eyes were slightly red from being tired. It was kind of hysterical.
Volunteering and teaching at AEMS every day this week gave me a lot of opportunities to observe teachers that I look up to, as well as a lot of opportunities to teach both in a formal classroom setting, and an informal setting of gymnastics and Mandarin class. All of these opportunities have taught me a lot about being a teacher. Though it may seem blatantly obvious, teaching is REALLY hard! I have said this in blogs throughout the week, but it's hard to teach a group of students whose minds work in different ways and at different speeds. Some are extremely quick to pick up and master concepts, others take more time to become familiar with the material. Some can sit still and focus, while others get antsy and need to move around. Some get distracted easily, others are distractions for their classmates. The challenge is that it is hard to provide the necessary individual attention that every student needs. Education is far from a "one size fits all" kind of thing. That was a long-winded explanation leading up to an important lesson I learned about being a good teacher, which is that you have to take the time and make the effort to get to know the students, instead of just throwing information at them. Not only does this build a better sense of trust, it also makes the student know that they are special, cared for, and supported. Also, knowing all your students and their varied learning styles is helpful when it comes to finding a compromise in the style with which you teach, and also finding external support for students who need it. Through teaching, I have picked up some techniques that match the needs of the students I'm teaching, but I think there is an infinite amount of things to learn in terms of being a teacher and there is always room for improvement. Also, teaching is way beyond just knowing the facts, it is equally as important, if not more important, to know HOW to teach that material.
Everything went as expected this week as far as volunteering in classrooms and Mandarin classes go. Gymnastics sort of went as expected in that I expected it to go kind of unexpectedly. This was the first week that I was teaching gymnastics classes of really young kids. I made plans for all the classes, but as I mentioned in a lot of posts, I ended up winging it and improvising for a large chunk of many classes. I am still in the process of getting to know all the students, and I don't know, when planning, what will work for them and what won't. In terms of timing and what I was actually supposed to be doing though, everything went as planned. I unexpectedly found myself in a calligraphy workshop during share day, where I was working with kids significantly older than the ones I usually/planned to work with. It was a good unexpected though, because I got to meet some older kids and get experience with different students.
I will benefit from this week's activities because I have picked up a greater understanding of how to be a good teacher, and I have acquired little methods and tricks when it comes to teaching. For example, kids get fidgety after about a half hour of sitting still (at most!), so it's good to get up and "do a wiggle" or get outside for an activity, even if just briefly. I also have a much greater admiration for teachers and the difficult but astoundingly critical work that they do in a child's life, which leaves me with a much greater sense of gratitude for all the teachers that put up with me from kindergarten to my senior year of high school. They are largely the reason why I am where I am today, and several of them have inspired me to want to teach when I'm older.
This week I worked more towards my goals of helping children increase skill in gymnastics, as well as strength and flexibility. While we have only had one lesson for each group (and 2 lessons for the Thursday group), I have actually seen improvement in a significant number of the students. There are a few videos on my blog of students trying a skill at the beginning of class and then showing great improvement in the attempt at the end of class. Also, with the lesson at Andover Hub, over the course of 4-5 weeks, that student has gone from barely being able to stand on her hands with her feet on the wall, to hitting straight handstands without a wall from standing. I stretch with my kids every day and we do little bits of conditioning, but they get stronger and more flexible through doing gymnastics itself too. I'm excited to see what next week brings.
You should feel proud to be doing so much "reflecting" in your reflection today. Your enthusiasm and passion for being with the kids really comes through. I'm grateful for your opportunity to do this, and proud of how you are really doing the deep dive into balancing the formal versus informal, internal versus external, planned versus spontaneous, fun versus serious, and individualized versus group-oriented aspects of being with the kids. Well done! Keep up the great work...in addition to the indispensable and invaluable experience you are gaining at AEMS, the kids are getting some precious and affirming opportunties to engage with someone who really cares about their well-being and development. All good!
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