Day 8

I feel like the best things I'm gaining from this experience is the ability to be more patient and understanding. Anyone who knows me knows that I may not exactly be the MOST patient person in the world, but working with kids definitely makes you patient. And I think what goes hand in hand with that is becoming more understanding. I know that these kids are very smart and capable children, but sometimes there may be other things in their life that affect them, whether it's positive or negative. In the latter case, you definitely have to be patient and understanding. Even when a kid acts out, you definitely have to understand that their negative actions may not come out of pure defiance, but underlying issues that they struggle to deal with or just don't know how to handle otherwise. And of course when you stop recognizing that negative behavior, because they want some type of attention from you, they'll see that they need to change it to positive behavior in order to get that.

After school today I had a chance to sit in on a workshop for graduates who are now juniors and seniors in high school facing the looming process of college applications. It really cool. Some of them hadn't seen each other in a while and they were pretty excited. It reminded me of my classmates "back in those days." (LOL! Yea, I said it. What?!)

Sometimes I catch myself having these flashbacks. Someone will say something or look a certain way that just takes me back. It's amazing how I see so much of my classmates and I in these students. The 8th grade girls trying to be sneaky and I'm thinking, "Honey, me and my girls wrote the book!!" (Literally lol....we were the 1st girls to graduate!) ...By the way, I'm dying to say that to them lol...looking for my opportunity!

Going back to what I was saying about what I'm gaining from this experience: It's pretty amazing to see so many different teaching styles. I've had some awesome teachers myself, but I was never really paying attention to HOW they actually taught the class. From their classroom demeanor to how they actually teach the information, these teachers have got it going on! Pretty amazing to say the least.

Well we're halfway through the program and I'm taking everything in as best as I can. It'll be great to relax and review my blog in about 2 weeks when I'm not waking up at 6 am!

~Miss Haywood