Sunday, February 21, 2016

Writing Center

First
For this activity, I hope to be a positive influence on WIHI student's writing. I am being a writing tutor for wihi kids, and I'm helping them improve.  Some difficulties I ran into at first were that I was a little unconfident in myself when giving advice because this was a new thing for me, but I solved this by realizing the importance of being a confident teacher for the students. For the future, I hope to improve by finding a better way to be confident about my advice, because It'll make them more confident in their writing once it's been improved.

Middle:
I was successful in achieving my goals. I am now a much more confident tutor, and I was able to get students to feel much more confident in their writing. Some difficulties I ran into were not knowing exactly what the standard that they are being held to for their writing was, since I did many of the assignments such a long time ago, and it's difficult to work backwards to help. I hope to improve on this by asking teachers who send their students to me to work on giving me a rubric or an example paper.

Final:
During this activity, I helped tutor people in their writing. I interacted with others through finding out what they needed help with, engaging in discussion about their writing, and offering suggestions to improve. I was doing service and advanced objectives 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8. I was increasing my awareness of areas for growth in teaching, undertaking a new challenge as I had never participated in this type of volunteering before, I worked collaboratively with my tutorees to reach as many people as possible, I engaged in issues of global importance by helping kids learn, and considered ethical implications by considering what I was learning and helping people learn. I developed new ways to teach writing. I had hoped to help make an improvement on student's lives in school, and I was very successful, I got to watch them become more confident, and even had a teacher thank me for my work with a student. Some difficulties I ran into were that some of my explanations were too complicated or didn't make sense to other people, which I fixed by learning from them what they needed . I learned that thinking creatively is helpful when explaining them. The students helped me think about my learning this time by helping me realize how to improve to engage them and figure out what they need. This activity benefitted others by helping them do better in school and improve their confidence in writing.  Next time to improve, I will try to be perceptive to their needs from the beginning. I can apply the collaboration and thinking outside the box I learned to every situation in life, from college to a job to a regular day. The knowledege of how to be flexible can be applied to life in general, when things don't go as planned. And learning to tutor is a valuable skill as well.

Total: 4-service

WIHI Silent Auction

During this activity, I helped set up and run the WIHI silent auction. I interacted with others through consultation and planning in order to become organized. I was doing service and advanced objectives 3, 4, and 5, by working collaboratively with others on a self planned and initiated activity. and I showed perseverance and commitment by regularly coming to meetings and helping with planning. I had hoped to help create and run an event that was smooth and successful, and I was very successful in achieving my goals. We raised $1800 dollars and people had a great time. Some difficulties I ran into were organizational, and we resolved them by thinking creatively and brainstorming with others. I learned that sometimes its okay to ask for help on more difficult things and that lots of time, talking it out will bring a great solution, such as when we were about to waste a lot of food but donated it instead. No one really helped me think about my learning this time other than myself. I realized how great it can be if we help each other out. This activity benefitted others by helping not only put on a successful event, but raise money for the senior class.  Next time to improve, I will try to make sure my communication with others was done before hand so I can be more on top of things. I can apply the collaboration and thinking outside the box I learned to every situation in life, from college to a job to a regular day.

Total hours: 4- Service

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Ann Arbor Hands On Museum

9/24 and 10/11
For this activity, I hope to be a positive influence on kid's outlook on science. I worked as an activities facilitator at the hands on museum.  Some difficulties I ran into were that I was a little unable to connect with the kids through science, but I solved this by making science more fun and playful so they learned. For the future, I hope to improve by finding a better way to explain the science behind the activities without being boring.
Final:
During this activity, I helped teach kids about Science at the Hands on Museum, through activities like a floating puck and cool reactions. I interacted with others through learning what I had to teach, and then engaging families and competitors in conversation, while teaching and helping them become interested in science concepts at an early age in a fun way. I was doing service and advanced objectives 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, and 8. I was increasing my awareness of areas for growth in teaching, undertaking a new challenge as I had never participated in this type of volunteering before, I worked collaboratively with my leader to reach as many people as possible, I engaged in issues of global importance by helping kids learn, and considered ethical implications by considering what I was learning and helping people learn. I developed new ways to engage with younger kids to teach and helpthem have fun. I had hoped to help spark an interest in science, and I was very successful, I got to watch kids' eyes light up as they understood a new concept, and also helped them apply it in a fun way. Some difficulties I ran into were that some kids were finding it hard to concentrate or care about science and just wanted to play, which I solved by turning the concept into a game for them so they learned while being interested. I learned that thinking creatively is helpful when someone is untinterested. The kids helped me think about my learning this time by helping me realize how to improve to engage them. This activity benefitted others by helping not only put on a successful event, but sparking an interest in science, which will help them in life..  Next time to improve, I will try to be more flexible from the beginning so I can reach more people. I can apply the collaboration and thinking outside the box I learned to every situation in life, from college to a job to a regular day. The knowledege of how to be flexible can be applied to life in general, when things don't go as planned.

Total: 11- Service