Saturday, May 23, 2009

Going into today I was extremely excited for some manual labor. I find that sometimes it gets really easy to sit back and become lackadaisical, and so I almost find rest and peace through helping others through physical work. I was very excited to get involved at Norris Square - to get outside and help the community. Little did I know how much work we would be doing! :-) 20 PBU girls (and Patrick) completely weeded an overrun little garden. My allergy medicine took a little while to begin working, but once it did I was golden. There were lots of prickly bushes that we had to pull out, and there was not a pair of gloves amongst the 20 of us. So as all good future teachers do, we improvised and pulled out the prickers with brown bags. It took hours, but I am so pleased with the result. And I even have scratches on my arms to prove my hard work. :-)
The children's carnival unfortunately had a poor turnout which was a bit of a disappointment. Not that we didn't have fun together, but but I would have liked to see more kids. We had a can toss in which the kids had to knock down a pyramid of cans, a three-legged race (which no one did), and a water balloon toss which was a big success. There were a couple little girls who just jumped right in, and they were a lot of fun. I can't believe how open and willing these children are, and I wonder if their openness hurts them in the long run.
Then the Puerto Rican meal...amazing! They showed us the traditional Puerto Rican dance - the Bamba. I was so impressed with how fast they moved.
I've been thinking about the speakers that we've been having, and I think that they've honestly just really helped me understand what these children are dealing with in their personal lives. I really appreciate the pointers that they've been giving us about disciplining but also loving the students. The only thing is that it's not necessarily practical to do in two weeks; these children need an investor and to build relationships, and I CANNOT do that in just two weeks - I can only remember a spattering of names! I'm still wrestling with the urban setting and whether or not this is something I want to pursue. My philosophy of education and interaction doesn't work as well in this environment simply because of the nature of the students in this setting. I feel as though they are much harder to control (not that I'm power hungry) than a suburban setting, and control is necessary in an interactive environment.