11/13/09

Well as most of you know, today was my last day. I did not want to have to do this on my last day, but I had to sit one kid in time out for using curse words. I've had issues with her a lot of times so I thought I would make one last attempt to talk some sense into her. I had her take a look at her brother and asked her if she wanted him to grow up to say those words. I have actually had the same issues with him too. She answered no. My response to that was that her brother looks up to her and if she didn't want him to curse, maybe she should stop doing so.

Also, before we got anything started, the kids presented me with a huge piece of white cardboard saying good luck with everything. They also signed their names on it. I received a card from my co-workers as part of their appreciation for everything that I have done to help them out. Afterwards, we allowed all the kids to challenge me to any game in the game room. If they won, they received three tootsie rolls. It has been fun and I can honestly say that I will miss this place when I am not able to come down. I will continue to volunteer.

11/11/09

It was a semi-eventful day yesterday. I had to sit several kids down in time out for different reasons. A couple of them decided to, again, use the filler words for cussing. It is a little unsettling for me that after sitting the kids down all this time for the same reason, they still do not understand how that is a problem. I hope that after I am done with this internship that someone will come along and make them understand. During my science experiment, one of the kids was talking constantly and acting like a clown. I gave him several warnings telling him to be quiet, but he would not listen so I sat him down. At about 6:30 when it was time for the kids to leave, I saw one of the kids throw a ball at the other. I told him to either sit down for five minutes then or pay his time when he comes back. He chose to go ahead and leave.

My science experiment did not end the way I thought it was going to end. I did the sponge float experiment with them. The sponge is supposed to sink all the way to the bottom of the sink or bowl at the first attempt. At the second attempt, you have to dip the sponge all the way down in the water, squeeze it, and then let it go. When you let it go it is supposed to stay in between the surface of the water and the bottom of the bowl or sink. I think the problem was that I did not have the right kind of sponge. Here is the link to the webpage for those of you who would like more information:

http://www.kids-science-experiments.com/spongefloat.html

Also, my supervisor filled out my final evaluation for me. I received all 4s and 5s. When we met together at the end of the day, he asked me if I would be interested in helping with their summer educational program for the kids. I told him I am all for it if I do not already have a job lined up after I graduate. I am looking, at this point, to try and find a job at another Boys and Girls Club in our area. We talked about the possibilities there. I am looking forward tio my last day on the job which is tomorrow.

11/09/09

Today was a fairly easy-going day. I did not have to sit any of the kids down. However, that does not mean that my co-workers did not sit any of them down. One of the kids got sat down by my supervisor for some unknown reason. I helped my supervisor in the gym with Triple Play where we played a couple of different tag games such as freeze tag and another one that I do not know the name of.

Although I did not have anyone turn up for the full time in Power Hour, I did have eight kids attend my science experiment. I did the jumping coin experiment with them. You fill up a bowl with cold water, take a glass coke bottle (or Yoohoo bottle like I did) and a coin that is wider that the top of the bottle and place them in the water to chill, place the coin on the top of the bottle, and then wrap your hands around the bottle and see what happens. Here is the link in which I got the information from:

http://www.kids-science-experiments.com/magiccoin.html

11/06/09

Well today was pretty eventful to start off with. I had to sit a few kids down for cussing. As one of them was following me out the door, he decided to say some mean things to the other kids so I sat him down for 15 minutes. I also heard one of the kids use the term child molester after talking to me. I decided to sit him down too. I explained to him what that term means and he seemed surorised. He said that he was unaware of that. I told him, therefore, that I do not appreciate being called that.

I also learned today that the same kid is having problems at home. His mother, a drug addict with three kids that all have different fathers, is splitting up with his father. She also wants nothing to do with the kid. He does not understand why his mother will not come around anymore. I just do not understand what would lead a mother to disown her son like that. He is a very bright kid who deserves all the best things that life has to offer.

11/04/09

There were not as many kids here today due to the drug prevention program that we are holding after school now. Therefore, not a lot happened. I was unable to prepare a science experiment for today because I have been occupied with other school work. I will try to get one together for Friday. I found a new website to get my experiments from because I was running out of things to do from the other one:

http://www.kids-science-experiments.com/

I am thinking about doing the jumping coin experiment if my supervisor can come up with the materials. I also held Power Hour, but I only had one kid with me. She had a science project to do, but I was unable to help her with learning the information because I have not learned any of that stuff for years. I checked for grammar issues though. That was about the best I could do. It was a fun day for the most part.

11/02/09

I was quite pleased with how well everything went today. I was finally able to go into the art class today and have the kids do the project we were planning for them about a month or so ago. That was to have them help me write a song by writing one sentence about a problem that they are facing or that the world faces. They were also asked to draw me while I played my guitar and sung for them. They all did very well on their drawings. Some of them finished early and were allowed to do whatever else they wanted that pertains to art. A few of them either drew a picture or made snowflakes for me. I did not even ask them to. They just did.

Afterwards, I ran the Power Hour program and did a science experiment with the kids. Here is a link to the experiment that I did:

http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/experiments/floatingeggs.html

I had about ten kids for the experiment and three of them stayed and worked on their homework. The rest of the day was, yet again, spent entering data into the Kidtrax system in order to track their attendance.

10/30/09

Friday was somewhat eventful. I had a problem, yet again with one of the kids saying cuss words. He ended up leaving right after I had told him to sit down in time out, but he will have to pay his time when he comes back. I also sat one of the kids down later on for making some rude comments to one of his peers. I gave him several warnings to be nice to the other kid, but he refused to listen.

As it was getting closer to the evening, some of the kids began either to tell racist jokes or make racist comments towards each other. At one point, one of them called another a cracker. I thought that she said something else so I let that one go, but later on I found out that I was wrong. That goes to show that I am not perfect. I try as hard as I can. As far as the racist jokes, I had to allow my supervisor to handle it because I was not trained to deal with a situation like that. We held a meeting with the kids and one of their parents and addressed each individual situation and mentioned that there is zero tolerance for that type of behavior. I am not sure what the punishment will be, but I imagine that they will be suspended.

My thoughts are that they are good kids, but they do not know any better about making racist comments and jokes. They are influenced mostly by their possibly deadbeat parents and their friends that they hang out with at school. I am not saying that all of them have bad parents and hang out with the wrong crowd, but I believe that there are a select few of them that do. Some of them do not have any structure at home and live in households where the parenting styles are permissive. Their parents let them walk around town and just do whatever they want and be friends with whoever they want.