I want to start this post by saying that I am sorry it is a late post. I couldn't remember if it was my week, and then I didn't know exactly what to write about since we didn't have a normal class discussion on Tuesday.
As I talked with different people there were a variety of emotions from nervous to excitement. I think we were all unsure of what to expect. I can say that any idea of what I was expecting Beacon to be like, was not accurate. Driving up I didn't even think that it was an elementary school; it was more like a beautiful mansion of learning. The contemporary style was really appealing to me, I think the creativity helps children learn. It wasn't until we were waiting outside of the classroom with one shoe on that I started to get nervous.
My buddy was a girl and one of the first things she said to me was that she was from South Korea, which to me was very intriguing. I love kids and I love traveling, so I was ready to brainstorm. It never even crossed my mind that there might be a bit of a language barrier, or that she might not have had any idea of what I was saying. She was very polite and would smile and say "yeah" or "no" to most everything I said. It wasn't until we were about to leave that I realized maybe she didn't understand everything I was saying, but I think that's ok. I later found out that she has only been in the States for about a year, and that was very surprising to me. Her English was great, reminding me of our Development chapter in Psychology and how young children have a language device that, I think, is still used when you are a growing child to learn new languages quicker than an adult might. It was a learning experience for me, I was excited to get a kid genius and see what they were thinking, now I'm excited to see how my very own language genius is going to interoperate the book and I might even get to help her read it some, which I think in its self is a privilege.
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Yea Beacon Heights was a lot different than I expected to. The kids were all really interesting and different. They seemed to be fromm different backgrounds which was cool. The building was really nice. When we did the shoe game I was kinda surprised that I got a girl, but when I talked to her, she was really bright and seemed pretty cool. I thought we might not have anything in common but it turned out really well. That is way cool that your buddy can speak English already and she has only been here for a year. I think it will be really interesting to read this book with this class and get their perspective on it.
ReplyDeleteALthough I came late to Beacon Heights, I was still really impressed with what I saw going on in the classroom. I worked with Kira and her two little buddies who were both completely opposite personalities. While one was bursting with energy and very talkative, the other was more shy and reserved. When I saw the poster that these little kids had designed, I was amazed. It was so creative and they both were taking great care to color the letters in perfectly. One of the girls was very enthusiastic about the presentation while the other seemed a little nervous about presenting in front of a class. Once they started brainstorming though they both worked really well together and came up with great things to say to promote pennies for peace. I'm really happy that we went to Beacon Heights and got to interact with these little kids. I'm excited to have them read Three Cups of Tea so they know exactly who they are helping when they collect these pennies from their school.
ReplyDeleteHey guys! I'm so sorry that I'm posting this so late, and that it's not on the main page. I've tried everything I can, and even got people from our class to help me, but no one can figure it out! Anyway, I hope this works. Here's my blog post:
ReplyDeleteBeacon Heights
I absolutely loved going to Beacon Heights! The school was beautiful, and most of the students there seemed very enthusiastic and well-behaved. Today in Psychology some of us reflected and shared a little bit about our buddies. I was surprised to hear that each person's buddy was so much different from another's. Some people said that their buddy was very quiet and reserved while others said that their buddy was full of energy, or had a hard time focusing on the pennies for peace project. The thing that I was most surprised to hear was when both Kevin and Cassie stated that it seemed that both of their buddies were less willing to participate maybe because of the fact that their buddy was of the opposite sex. I found this interesting because it made me wonder whether the similarities or differences between the Westminster students and the Beacon Heights students affected the amount of team work that was involved. This actually seems to relate to psychology. So what I'm wondering, is if there is a correlation between the amount of common traits between the students and how focused the Beacon Heights students were during the project. My buddy for example, was a girl who had a lot in common with me. While we were making the poster, she was telling me how she loved to sing and dance. I was so excited because I really love to sing and dance too! After we had that little conversation, we began singing while we were making the poster. It was so much fun and I personally think that we had one of the best posters as well. So my question for you guys is: How much did you relate to your buddy? Did you work well with each other?
In response to Brittanee’s post/comment:
ReplyDeleteI could relate pretty well with the girl who chose my shoe. As mentioned in your post, my buddy was not super-interested in participating. I don’t think the fact that I am of the opposite sex really had anything to do with it. Mostly since she said she purposely chose a “boy’s shoe” because a boy was less likely to make her work as hard as a girl might. She was right, I had trouble motivating her since I could definitely sympathize with not wanting to do a presentation. She seemed pretty shy at first and was looking away while she talked to me, but after talking with her a while, she got more comfortable. I had no trouble relating to her because I was similar in fourth grade. I was always hated projects and resisted class presentations. Our poster wasn’t exactly glamorous, but it got the point across. And “good enough” was good enough for both of us.
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ReplyDeleteWhen the kids at Beacon Heights got up to pick up our shoes I stood right outside the door and I noticed that my shoes were the first ones to be picked and there were two shoes in there. I thought they would be the last ones because they are my favorite ones and they are like three years old and they are much very old shoes, but I can‘t throw them away they are so comfortable. Anyway, after the shoe picking I met my two little buddies one of them was very energetic and the other one was kind of distracted he kept on running away and he didn't wanted to do much. I asked his name like five times that's why I remember his name is Josh the other energetic one I forgot his name but I remember he is the kid with the long hair. To address Brittanee's question I would have to say that we related pretty well. They both are very smart and some people would say I was very smart myself at that age. Not anymore I get dumber with age. I didn't asked them about family because I know some of them have divorced parents and all that and I didn't want them to feel uncomfortable. I asked them about themselves and I liked them. They are very smart guys and I think our poster is the best because I drew all of it. I had them color the letters. I wanted them to do more but they were lazy little rascals, just kidding. I asked them to draw something but they couldn't one claimed he couldn't because he’s left-handed while the other one didn't think he could do it. We worked well together and we finished our project they promised they would read the book and most importantly they both thanked me for my time. I hope they do or did a good presentation because Josh lost the paper where I wrote what they were going to say.
ReplyDeleteI really liked meeting with the kids at Beacon Heights. I found that the kid i helped seemed to be a lot like me when it came to school. He wanted to get it done as fast as he could and move on. He was also very smart and was easy for me to work with. I am glad that I was able to help the kid with his project and have an impact on his education. I thought this was a great experience and i would deffinetely do it again.
ReplyDeleteI loved going to Beacon Heights, partially because I got to see how my old elementary had changed since I "graduated" from it. My memories of classmates at Beacon were really similar to what we saw when we visited. There were always a few of my classmates that were inhibited by language (like Samantha's buddy) and a large range of diversity in my class. When I was younger, though, I tended to gravitate towards the other kids that were the most like me. I was really glad to see that my two buddies (that Erin shared with me) were so obviously different, but told me that they were school friends. Even though I doubt they had playdates after school, it was nice to see that at least part of younger generation is becoming less inhibited by any differences they see in one another and are willing to become friends.
ReplyDeleteIt was such an interesting experience. The over all appearance of the school was crazy to me. I went to a nice elementary school but Beacon was amazing.
ReplyDeleteI also have previous experience with children at this age level and was sort of dreading working with these particular kids. I was definitely not expecting the kids I got to be so intelligent. Anthony was just completely ready to get the work done and learn more about what we were doing. Alex was a little tougher but he was still incredibly bright. I loved working with these kids.
I don't remember being like that at all when i was their age. Im sure i was curious but I just didn't expect them to know as much as they did. Over all it was a great experience for me and I think for everyone else too.
Before we went to Beacon Heights I was nervous and prayed to get a well behaved kid. I knew that a girl would pick my shoes because of the kind that I wore that day. When I saw Clowey, the first thing that I realized was that she was shy and did not talk very much. That is exactly how I am. When we started to work on the project, I had to make her talk by asking her questions about herself. She told me that she lives with her mother only, when I asked about her dad, she seemed indifferent about him. That gave me an idea about the observational journal for psychology where I discussed the issue of what type of attachment she may have with both parents. Overall, I had a great time with my buddy, plus that has motivated me to read The Three Cups of Tea so that I can have a good discussion about the book with Clowey on our next visit.
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