It has now been somewhere between four and five months since my last blog post. I kept telling myself that I would blog about certain teaching events that ended to be able to reflect on those experiences. I am not really sure if anyone is reading this blog, so for now I suppose I will just write things to remember myself. I started this blog as a way to record little snippets of things children said to me because they are hilarious sometimes. No one can argue with that except maybe someone that hates small children running around with never ending energy supplies, kind of like the energizer bunny. Anyway, I think it might be more useful to use this blog as a journal starting now to record my work/education experiences with children. Maybe I will start a twitter account to record random quotes. Or I can just turn my rarely used twitter account into that, and use it in addition to my stalking actors from The Office and the UVM Men's Basketball team.
To fill those of you in that do not know me personally (probably no one right now, but one day this blog will be famous...that's what usually happens, right?), I am an elementary education major. I am nearing my final semester of studies, which means student teaching! (More about that later)
For now I will try to focus on an afterschool program that I worked at for the duration of the school year. This was a fantastic part time job when I had classes, and luckily my boss was kind enough to give me more hours once I was done with the college school year that ended at the beginning of May. For the remaining of the elementary schoolers year, which lasts just long enough for them to get out of school when actual summer is beginning, I worked five days a week. I have been thinking about writing this blog post since June but never actually got around to it. Now that I am writing it, I am sure I do not remember as much as I would have two months ago. So it probably would have been better then. Oh well.
Working at the afterschool program made me think a lot about the kind of school I want to work at in the future. The program that I worked at took place at a Catholic school right near campus, which was super convenient for me. I should say that I am not Catholic, and do not know very much about Catholicism for that matter. I really only got this job because my friend had worked at the school the previous year and I heard about it through her. Luckily, we did not really do anything differently at the afterschool program than at any elementary school that I had previously worked at. No praying. No hail Marys. No communions. No Confessions. The main difference about this school was that I constantly came in contact with children whose parents obviously had a lot of money to spend on them. Of course this is a huge generalization and was not true for all of the students, but was still very evident. I had many children tell me about the technology that their parents had already supplied them with; things that I did not have until I went away to college. I think this is partly because of our changing culture in addition to the money that these children's families had, but I would like to think that a first grader has no need for a MacBook Pro, especially when this twenty-two year old only has a regular old MacBook. No Pro. Another moment that I remember clearly was when two girls told me they liked my shirt and asked me where I got it. When I told them that I had bought it at a thrift store, they did not understand what that was. They did not seem to understand the concept of used clothing. This is sad to me when there are children and parents in their own communities that are struggling to make ends meet. I know this is the case in most cities and towns in America, but either way, it still makes me sad. This is what makes me wonder whether I want to work at a school where there are a majority of struggling students, whether this struggle occurs because of a lack of money, English-speaking skills, or another of the many possible reasons, or at a school where children have no worry about where their next meal or clothing item is coming from. Of course, there are also many schools that sit somewhere in between these two extremes. I suppose in the end, when the time comes, I might not have a huge say in where I end up working. I'm sure I will apply to many jobs and just take whichever one wants me. This is scary but also exciting to think about. Who knows where I could end up in a few years!
Coming Up Next: Summer Camp Adventures!
Expect more details of my actual experiences since I am still in the midst of camp, about to begin the final week!
And after that: Student Teaching Adventures!
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