Wednesday, October 14, 2009

What an experience! (at St. Mary's)


I was a little nervous when initiating my interaction with the students. As I demonstrated some courage to approach the children and engage them the fear dissipated. I was able to pick their brains a little and ask them questions about themselves. They were welcoming and responsive. It was an opportunity to improve my ability to communicate with children. It was cool to see them construct pretend phones out of Lego like toys. I notice they started out with simple versions and then progressed into more complicated and sophisticated ones. It was also fun to hear them express their imagination and creativity by pretending to talk on them. I was able to make fun comments, encourage them, and give them ideas. It was nice to just be in their presence and experience the energy they carry with them. One girl wiped a mash potato like substance on me and I was able to be assertive with her and tell her that was unacceptable. She agreed to not behave like that again. It was a great time playing soccer with the kids. I was able to cheer them on and facilitate the game in a way that let everyone get a somewhat equal chance to participate. I was able to teach them how to spread out and emphasize passing. They picked up on it well and were very enthused. It brought me back to being a kid and enjoying physical activity with my peers. That is what I lived for at that age. I left feeling exhausted but it was a good feeling. It seemed like a whole other world in there. I am looking forward to going back.

1 comment:

  1. Great job on your first post. Yes, the first day at St. Mary's can be quite intimidating and scary, but I believe you and your group handled it well. You will soon learn that the more practice you get with teaching these students, the more comfortable you will become in front of them. Keep up the good work and practice and you will soon be on your way to becoming a great teacher.

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