I can't believe this is it!! Working with Mrs. Crull's class and all the kiddos was such a blast. Naomi and I were able to help Mrs. Crull out a TON with her workload by organizing papers, grading papers, and keeping the kiddos distracted and engaged while she was administering reading placement test that are required by the state. |
Valentine's Day! | I'll keep this one short, but Naomi wanted the kids to all feel loved and show them that love doesn't just have to be romantic...you can love your friends too! So, we wrote each of the kid's names in the middle of a large heart that we cut out, and they worked on their adjectives as they wrote a kind, descriptive word on each student's heart in the class. It was truly heartwarming. |
Day three: Respect
This was honestly my favorite day by far. This specific group of kids is SUPER sweet, but they definitely struggle with having respect and being quiet while those in authority are talking/giving them directions. So, I wanted to teach them about the power of their words, and how else do you teach kids about respectful words then with toothpaste? I'll explain. I gave a kid a tube of toothpaste, a paper place, a toothpick, and a spoon. Then, I told them to squeeze the tube onto a plate. They were delighted to oblige, but then I told them to put it back. They tried everything--I even let all the kids give it a try--and no one could figure it out.
Then one little girl, Austyn couldn't help herself and blurted out, "Oh I get it! It's like your words! Once you say something mean, you can't take it back!" I'm not going to lie, this made me feel like a proud Mom. Then, the kids started discussing what they thought it meant, and Naomi and I just guided them in their conversation with prompting questions. This was by far my favorite day, and the kids really loved it too!
spending time with our new little friends has taught me so much about authority and being a person of integrity and patience.
**and Mrs. Crull has thanked us repeatedly for all the help. She finished her testing!!
This semester, Naomi Worth and I wanted to take on a project that was a bit more fluid and less deadline-based than our projects that we took on last semester. So, we put our heads together and decided we wanted to do a project that revolves around kids/child development/classrooms etc. The end project of our planning ended up being an idea we like to call adopt-a-teacher! Our goal is to take a group of kids or an entire classroom every week or so, teach them about emotional awareness or another skill, and give "our teacher" some time to catch up on grading and lesson plans.
Once we got out plan nailed down, we began to compile a list of activities that we could do with the kids in order to pitch our ideas to our selected teacher.
Here is the document with our ideas:
Once we got out plan nailed down, we began to compile a list of activities that we could do with the kids in order to pitch our ideas to our selected teacher.
Here is the document with our ideas:
Our first steps!
On Friday (January 21), Naomi and I went to NPE around 4 o'clock to meet with our teacher. We had reached out to Rebecca Crull who is a second grade teacher that I knew from my elementary days previously that week, and she was thrilled to meet up and hear our ideas! So, we gave her our presentation, and opened it up for her to add in ideas and critiques. She loved the idea and was thrilled to have some time and helpers to help her keep up with the whirlwind of second semester. The biggest change she presented to add to our plan is that instead of us taking the entire class, we could take little activity groups at different points in the day. Due to all of us having a lot of different ideas and visions, we decided that Naomi and I would come in on Friday (January 28) to just meet the kiddos and get a feel for their day and where we could add in activities. We are SO thrilled to get the chance to work with the best teacher in the New Palestine Elementary system, and I can't wait to post an update with an official game plan of what we are going to do!
Here's a picture of some of the kids in Mrs. Crull's 2nd Grade class that Naomi and I will be working with!
Here's a picture of some of the kids in Mrs. Crull's 2nd Grade class that Naomi and I will be working with!
Author
My name is Laura Estes, and I am a senior at New Palestine High School! I lead worship at a club, NP Life, at my high school. Some other interests I have are baking, singing, hanging out with friends, and watching movies. I plan to go on and pursue my bachelor's degree in nursing at UIndy next year.
Contact me with any questions:
[email protected]
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