Goals, Freeze Dance, and Lessons Learned

Today was a huge learning experience for us. We started out the day by asking the kids to write down their goals in their journals. We asked them to write down their goals for the summer program, their goals for school, their goals for sports/hobbies, and their goals for “life” (such as what they want to be when they grow up). The older kids started the activity right away, but as we expected the younger kids needed help. Some of the little ones did not know what goals were, and explaining the concept was an extremely interesting experience, because it made me realize that a lot of the words and concepts that we use frequently are actually pretty abstract. Nina, Braveen, and I had written down our goals on separate sheets of paper as an example for the kids. We found it hilarious that most of the kids knew their goals better than we knew our own (for me at least, the college experience has given those questions a new level of complexity rather than making them easier). After goal writing, we transitioned to a game of elbow-tag outside. The kids really seemed to enjoy the game, and it was a great way for them to expend some excess energy.

Right before Braveen brought the kids inside, I gave them a small talk about germs and the importance of washing their hands. I felt bad that the older kids had to listen to the talk (they obviously already knew about germs). In the future, we hope to separate the kids out by age and skill level in certain activities and academic subjects, but we’re still in the process of administering diagnostic tests to the children and gaining the information we need in order to establish those groups. But overall, the older kids have been extremely patient, and I have been deeply, deeply impressed by their ability to interact and maintain their composure with the younger ones.

After a bathroom break, I led an activity where the children worked to write their own stories, while Nina and Braveen administered the diagnostic tests. I quickly learned a valuable lesson. The size of our group increased to 39 today, which meant that many of the kids often needed (or wanted) my attention at the same time. It was terribly painful for me not to be able to give each child individual attention when they asked for it, but I realized that the only way any kids would benefit from the activity was for the class to stay on task with my attention directed towards one person at a time. After the reading, I led the kids in a game of Freeze Dance while Nina and Braveen continued the diagnostic tests. The kids loved the game, and it was absolutely wonderful to see their faces light up when the music came on. I had to be quick to start the music back up after freezing, because many of the children froze in strange poses with only one foot on the ground (Many of them even froze their mouths, so I sometimes heard tiny, mumbled calls of “Josh, unfreeze!” as the kids tried to talk through their teeth. It was pretty adorable). Nina and Braveen made significant progress with the diagnostics today, and I’m really excited to transition into more academically oriented activities in the upcoming days. I am confident that we will be much more effective after we get the kids divided up appropriately.

Today was challenging, but Nina, Braveen and I learned a great deal and we’re sure to learn more as the days progress. I’m excited to continue to build a relationship with the students and to develop with Nina and Braveen as a team.

-Josh