Visit on December 5 3-4PM

This visit at BJM I had to help a few third graders with getting their math homework done. It was very simple multiplication but the 2 of the three students were having an easy time doing it. However, one of the students, Jayce, was having a tough time trying to figure out the problems. He was having trouble with the worksheet, and I could tell he was feeling pressured by those who knew how to do the problems. He was comparing himself to others, which would hurt his ability to do the work. I slowly made sure he stopped worrying about others and he eventually was able to finish the worksheet.

This situation is very applicable to college life, where we often look into how we compare to others, and what rank we are amongst our peers. We forget to value our own selves and allow our opinions of ourselves to be consumed by the thoughts of others. We must stop comparing ourselves to others as it only leads us to doubt ourselves and ruin our own confidence. Although I come to help students, I often learn many lessons from these young children that apply to my own life.

On 11/21/19 I went to BJM to volunteer and had to take care of 5 third graders.

This was a tough experience because two of them needed to get work done, but the other three were being very distracted. It was pretty difficult getting the other three to be quiet and still be able to help the other two students. I ended up having to trick the other 3 into studying and behaving so that I could help the other two with their work. I told the other three to play more quiet games, such as hangman, and kept them entertained.

From this experience, I learned the importance of keeping everyone involved regardless of what situation. It is important to always keep the entire group involved when in a group situation, so that no one can be detrimental to the group and is able to provide more to the group. When organizing a group, it is important to make sure everyone’s opinions are accounted for so that no one feels left out and so that the group is more cohesive.

This past week I worked with a student who was unwilling to do any work. I kept asking Elijah to work on his geography homework, but he wasn’t willing to. I knew he wanted to get the homework done before he went home, but he kept getting distracted and not wanting to do the work. He kept complaining that it was too difficult. However, I decided to slowly trick him into doing the homework.

In order to help him, I tricked him into doing problem by problem. I made them seem more interesting and more fun than they were. Little by little he became to have more fun and managed to get the homework done under 15 minutes. It was amazing how easily he could do the work once he became slightly interested.

From this I learned a wise lesson about doing boring things. It isn’t about focusing on what bores you, but focusing on the things that are fun. Instead of focusing on the uninteresting items, focus on what makes you happy and excited. Life becomes easy when we focus on things that make us happy!

Response to 11/14/19 visit to makeup for my week 3 absence.

This past week I tutored a fourth grader named Charlotte. She needed help with her spelling homework, but she was often becoming distracted while I helped her. At first it was frustrating because I wanted to see her finish the homework so that she could spend more time having fun at home. At the beginning of the session she said she enjoys being at home and I wanted to help her finish the homework.

While helping her, I understood something very important. At first I was forcing her to do work, in punishment type way. I soon realized that was the wrong way to go and then started giving her positive reinforcement instead. Every-time she did a problem, right or wrong, I would tell her she was doing a great job. It was evident that this helped as it eventually led her to finish her homework a lot faster.

From this short homework help, I learned something that not only applied to young children, but to everyone. It’s easy to punish or get on someone for not being too successful or productive. However, if we instead compliment each other for our work completed or our past successes, I am sure that we would all be able to live more efficient, happier lives. It boils down to just focusing in on the positives, rather than the negatives, which can help everyone. I am definitely going to begin to apply this to my own life. Rather than hone in on my mistakes, I am going to start to hone in on my positives and my successes. That way I can stay in a positive state of mind and be better prepped to conquer any issues that come my way.

Response to week 4 volunteering session – 11/12/19

Nihal Sidhu

In my second week of service scholars, I had to help tutor third graders with simple division and reading. This was a very valuable experience to me as it taught me how to use a students’ advantages to help them take away their disadvantages. While helping one student learn division, rather than have them learn it through methods of division, I taught them how to use multiplication to help them do division. They were very good at multiplication so it made their lives much easier to think of division as a method of multiplication rather than think of it as a whole new type of operation.

This experience was somewhat eye opening because sometimes I forget how much we as older students/adults can use our own advantages to mask up our disadvantages. Often as college students we tend to focus on the negatives or disadvantages we have and we allow it to bring us down. This short experience reminded me to focus more on the positives and advantages that I have, so that I can help solve my problems and disadvantages

This was from my week 2, October 10th Service session.

This post is in response to my BJM volunteering experience last week 10/3/19

Last week I got the opportunity to teach various third graders and fourth graders about simple mathematics concepts. To me these math concepts seemed elementary and very easy to understand. I was expected to teach one student, Jace, about the ones, tens, and hundred thousands places. At first I thought it was going to be very easy but soon to be a very difficult task. I was confused as to why he wouldn’t understand a concept that seemed so elementary to me and his fellow classmates, but I was determined to help.

What I learned from teaching him is that is is vital to tailor my teaching style to each and every student that I help. I constantly assumed that students learn and are expected to understand everything in a classroom setting, as we do in college. However, younger children need different teaching patterns, especially at such a young age, to be able to be successful. With Jace, I had to explain the numbers’ places in a more theory sense rather than a number sense, and he immediately understood it. I feel bad that I went into a volunteering area expecting everyone to learn the same, but after my first experience, I now know I need to alter my teaching style per student.

It was a true joy being able to see another student finally understand how to do a problem after struggling for a while. I have a greater sense of pride and purpose just by being able to help someone who is genuinely interested in learning more. I hope to see Jace today to see how far he as come along!