Reflection 3: OBSERVE

One thing that I observed as I helped out and watched was how our presence affected the teachers (Ms. Nancy and Leslie). The benefit for the teacher was obvious. Ms. Nancy and Leslie were no longer torn in 20 separate ways. I heard Ms. Nancy declare numerous times how nice it was for her to just sit and observe rather than constantly giving her attention to all of the kids. I cannot imagine how much different the classroom would look when we were not around to play and help them during their free time. When there were less kids and a lot of us came that day, I felt like we kind of got in the way but otherwise, we were extremely beneficial to the two teachers in the Pre-KK classroom.

I learned a lot from observing the school-aged classroom. I watched a couple of the kids play the computer and they were surprisingly computer-literate. They knew how to maneuver all of the different games and seemed somewhat familiar with the keyboard. This surprised me because I was under the impression that these kids are of a low-socioeconomic status where they would not have easy access to computers. The YWCA and the school systems must be doing a good job of including technology in kids' learning. Also, as I talked with a couple of the girls there, I listened to how dysfunctional their families were. The girls would be frightened whenever their mom and sister would fight and they talked about how loud their house is. It was a good reminder of the differing family backgrounds that the kids in my classroom will have.

Reflection 2: INTERACT

I loved all of the children, but I spent the most time with a little girl named Trinity.

First of all, the students just loved having somebody younger and different to play with. Ms. Nancy and the other helper could only do so much. We could actually get down to their level and play with them. At one point, Trinity wanted me to get down on the ground and hop like a frog so I did. The other leaders there do not have as much energy as we do. Also, since there are only 2 teachers and about 20 kids normally, there is not enough leaders to go around to entertain all of the kids. Since we were there, we were able to fill that gap between leaders and students. Also, many of these kids just need somebody to love and care for them. I made sure to know all of the kids names by the time I went for the second time so I could really personalize my visits with them and make sure that the kids know that they're very special. Their teachers may tell them "good job" for writing their name out or matching colors with objects, but I am sure it also makes the kids feel good hearing encouragement from other sources. When I helped Trinity match her colors, I made sure to give them tons of praise and I could just see her face light up when she knew she was doing a good job. She would always come up to me throughout the day, "Lizzie, This is orange, this is orange!" One of my favorite things about Trinity is that she would always have a story to tell. I found that it was important for me to give her my undivided attention otherwise should would get this little sad face. Maybe Trinity does not have many people at home who give her attention and that is why she had so much to tell me whenever I would see her.

Disclaimer: To be honest, I did not spend the 4-6 hours with Trinity only just because there were so many other kids that needed attention throughout the day. I tried my hardest, however, to spend the most time with her so I could develop a more personal relationship with her.

Reflection 1: LEAD

For the lead portion of this project, I chose to give a brief lesson on instruments by reading a children's book, "My Family Plays Music," and by playing a song for the students on my guitar. I began by reading, "My Family Plays Music," which was a perfect book that I found in the library. It dealt with a little girl of an African American family and her story about all of the different instruments that her family can play. By reading this book, I was able to define what an instrument is and show the students a variety of different instruments that they can play. The students were engaged and listened very well because I told them I would show them my guitar if they listened-- it motivated them more than I expected it to! When I brought out my guitar, I told them you need to press down on the strings on the neck and strum on the strings at the bigger part of the guitar, and then I played If You're Happy and You Know it Clap Your Hands. Then, I had them form a line so they could each get a turn to play (strum) the same song-- they LOVED this! I sang and pressed down on the chords while they strummed the guitar and it seemed like they were actually playing the instrument. Lacey then suggested that they get their own instruments out that the preschool has available so we could all play together-- this was also a great success. Ms. Nancy even had the students keep the beat of the song and they actually sounded pretty good!

I learned a few things by teaching this lesson to the kids. First, I talked about instruments in the beginning of the lesson and Ms. Nancy had to interlude by asking, "What are instruments?" I was reminded that preschool kids have a much lower level of knowledge than I am used to and it helped me to better categorize where preschoolers are at in their learning. I also saw firsthand that positive reinforcement in order to motivate the students works wonders! I did not have one bit of trouble after I asked them to be quiet because I said I would let them play my guitar if they listened well. I am not sure how well that will translate for older kids, but it definitely worked for preschoolers! One last thing I learned is to be prepared for having extra time. The kids loved it so much that Ms. Nancy wanted me to play more songs but I had not had any more prepared that were not Christian songs (which are not allowed in that YWCA). If I would have been more prepared with other songs, I could have included more variety in the lesson than I already had.

Altogether, the lesson went better than I could have hoped. I had so much fun, that it almost made me want to teach preschool instead of high school-- almost.