Blog Post #4- Abby Jiminian
For my past two service learning sessions I have been going to the BTU near Forest Hills. I have been working with the 5th grade group at the BTU. The 5th graders have been working on a research paper regarding natural disasters.
Working with the 5th grade has been an eye opening experience for me. In the two sessions I have had with these students I have learned so much from these children and realized that they are a very intelligent group of kids. I have also found myself being very interested in their project. Trying to engage myself in their projects has not been difficult at all. I have seen myself being able to adopt my needs to learning to others in a dynamic way which is very helpful. I like being a volunteer because I am not a teacher or parent in their eyes. Being able to help them but also get to know them and let the kids let loose for a little bit while they are working on the project at hand. I can definitely say that this whole process has been a learning process for me as much as it has been for them which is cool because it has kept me interested. It has been nice to have the kids look at you like a ''cool'' adult and a figure that they can work with and have fun with at the same time.
My experience with the student I worked with today was very positive. The student I worked with today was so far ahead in their research and was able to explain exactly what they wanted to get done today. That was valuable because I was able to keep them on track while aiding their understanding of sources and articles. I noticed that the student I was helping was able to read a few paragraphs and formulate the points that stood out to them into their own ideas which was huge. One big thing that has been encouraged is to help the students try to form their own sentences and to not copy. My student was already practicing this so helping them was rather easy. One helpful task I used while helping my student was asking them what stood out to them most in the paragraphs they read and if that answered the question they were researching. If so then I would ask them to create their own sentence and read it back to me. I was able to hear the student's voice and offer positive feedback. I noticed that every time I mentioned how much I loved the sentence written or how great their writing was it encouraged the student and made them smile. I personally think this was important because it was a form of encouragement for the student. This type of positive feedback can motivate a student to keep doing their work and to also be happy with their work. Positive feedback is important because I think it tells the student they are on the right track and what they are doing is right.
Working with the 5th grade has been an eye opening experience for me. In the two sessions I have had with these students I have learned so much from these children and realized that they are a very intelligent group of kids. I have also found myself being very interested in their project. Trying to engage myself in their projects has not been difficult at all. I have seen myself being able to adopt my needs to learning to others in a dynamic way which is very helpful. I like being a volunteer because I am not a teacher or parent in their eyes. Being able to help them but also get to know them and let the kids let loose for a little bit while they are working on the project at hand. I can definitely say that this whole process has been a learning process for me as much as it has been for them which is cool because it has kept me interested. It has been nice to have the kids look at you like a ''cool'' adult and a figure that they can work with and have fun with at the same time.
My experience with the student I worked with today was very positive. The student I worked with today was so far ahead in their research and was able to explain exactly what they wanted to get done today. That was valuable because I was able to keep them on track while aiding their understanding of sources and articles. I noticed that the student I was helping was able to read a few paragraphs and formulate the points that stood out to them into their own ideas which was huge. One big thing that has been encouraged is to help the students try to form their own sentences and to not copy. My student was already practicing this so helping them was rather easy. One helpful task I used while helping my student was asking them what stood out to them most in the paragraphs they read and if that answered the question they were researching. If so then I would ask them to create their own sentence and read it back to me. I was able to hear the student's voice and offer positive feedback. I noticed that every time I mentioned how much I loved the sentence written or how great their writing was it encouraged the student and made them smile. I personally think this was important because it was a form of encouragement for the student. This type of positive feedback can motivate a student to keep doing their work and to also be happy with their work. Positive feedback is important because I think it tells the student they are on the right track and what they are doing is right.
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