Kids in College: Journal 10 (Last day with students :'( )

Journal Entry #10

            The last day of Kids and College….  and it leaves me feeling empty inside. Working together with all of my classmates to bring such an amazing program to life. This program has been a huge part of my Randolph College experience this semester. After a long semester of planning and implementing these long lesson plans, it was nice seeing the whole class come together in the end.

            Working with the students was blessing, and it was sad to know that this would be the last time that I would be able to work with all of them Similar to what we had the students do at the beginning of the semester, we had the students fill out a Math Questionnaire once more. This time around, the questionnaire took a long time getting filled out, but during this time, I was to see some of the things that the students wrote. I walked around the classroom and noticed a group group of young ladies who were struggling to find their favorite thing about the program. Shortly after my arrival, two of the students had an ‘AHA” moment and they both wrote that I was their part of the program. As an educator, I would imagine that that is the greatest feeling in the world.

            It was fascinating to see what the other students had to say in their questionnaires. The students’ opinions of math have changed drastically.  When asked about what the loved the most about the math, the answers ranged from, when I have to count money, to when I play create video games. The improvement that I saw was staggering. The are grasping that math has applications which can be used in a person’s daily life. This program is wonderful for the kids and I hope that they continue to grow with their new co-teaching team.

            I developed great relationships with many of the students in the program and it is truly heartbreaking to have to see them go. I trust and believe that will behave and perform well with next semesters class, and I know that they will grow to love Math & Science eve more. Watching them develop better and more applicable skills in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math has been a wonderful experience for myself and my classmates.

            Although I came to Randolph with the intention of one day becoming a doctor, perhaps my calling is with teaching. This course opened my eyes to world that I create by inspiring todays youth, and tomorrows future. Due to this course, I intend to apply for admission into Randolph’s education program, and I look forward to working for a better world with everyone in the department.

            The Dunbar students helped me realize that one day, this may be the job for me. After Foundations of Education, I took this course t further educate myself and look to find interest in this field. After taking this class and mentoring the Dunbar students, I have come to learn more about myself, and more about the wonderful opportunity that education has given me. Who knows, maybe one day, this could lead to my hall of fame coaching career.

Kids in College is an amazing program, and I am glad that I was blessed with the opportunity to be a part of it.

Kids in College: Journal 9

Journal #9

 2^nd Co-Teaching Team

            Today’s lesson was simple, fun, and well thought out. The Team of Holden, Erin, Sam, and Tyler did a great job on the lesson. Holden introduced the game 24 and and nearly all of the co-teachers loved the activity because it was faceted around math, while also remaining fun.         

            Establishing an accurate time table was noticeably tough for the group, and they also struggled to find an efficient way to run the game to ensure that each student had a fair shot at winning. I suggested a bracket a bracket similar to that of one used for college basketball and their group went with it. After tweaking and adjusting their lesson plan, the group but we came up with the idea of the 24 cycling into the Kids in College (KIC) Legacy project well and efficiently. Ultimately, they designed the bracket so that once a student was eliminated from the competition, they would instantly be sent into the back room to begin the legacy project.

            As what seems to have become a trend with myself, Victoria, and Ty, we waited patiently in the back room for our first group of students to arrive and get started the legacy project. Once the students began to arrive, they arrived in bunches! At one point, we had 15 students drawing on one sheet of paper at the same time. I feel that we managed it well, and handled all of it in a quick and efficient manner.

            Once the students were in the back and completed their legacy project, Ty worked with them and used the balance to help the students better understand integers and prime numbers. All in all, the lesson flowed very well, and I believe that the students loved it more than we did.

Kids in College: Journal 8

Journal  #8

Co-Teaching Lesson

            My groups lesson took heavy preparation for each of us individually. My group mates and worked heavily to ensure that our lesson plan covered every major aspect of STEM. Each activity that we created focused on a different element, and they all their own unique twist. Science was taught through a short lecture at the beginning of the class, leading up to four amazing activities.  Technology and Math questions were incorporated into the Jeopardy game. Engineering was shown while the students made a Marble Run with my building activity that I spent hours the night before trying to perfect.

            While creating my activity, I had one goal in mind, to use the marble run, or “mouse trap,” to help the students understand and learn about basic physics, as well kinetic and potential energy.  I tried many different ideas, but I did not have enough of the materials to create the initial plan that I had in mind. As all great teachers learn to do, I had adapt to the materials that were available to me. After numerous failures, something finally clicked! I struck a gold mine in my head. The idea of a short, yet intriguing building competition. The kids loved it! It made me feel amazing on the inside.

            Overall, with our differing schedules, it was difficult to come together to discuss all of lessons in great detail. I did not know exactly what my peers were doing with their lessons, but I trusted in all of them to complete their individual lesson. We did meet prior the week before in front of the Skeller to create an outline of sorts for our lesson. After the initial discussion, I had clue what was going to happen with everyone else’s lesson plans.  Although our lesson came together, communication all sides could have been better.