Today was my last day at Beverly J. Martin (BJM) sadly. Reflecting on my time as a volunteer at the school has been emotional. My time with the kids will be unforgettable. I feel like I had a small impact on the kids time at the A+ program. Through spending time with some of them one-on-one homework or projects or playing a game with them in a group. I was delighted that some of them remembered my name. Most of the students recognize my face. It is especially heartwarming when I am on campus, and some of the kids who are at events with their parents know me and come up and say hi. I think I did an excellent job as a volunteer and I enjoyed my time at BJM. I loved how diverse the students and staff were and how the program truly allowed the students to explore through play or allowed them time to get work done. For my last day, I was in the gym with the kids. I spent my time with some kids playing basketball and spent my time speaking to one student who was sitting on the sidelines because she said she wasn’t feeling well. From spending time with a range of students from kindergarten through fifth grade, I noticed that I tend to like spending time with the younger kids than the older kids. I feel like this could be due to my interest in early childhood education. I also find it very entertaining to strike up a conversation with the younger kids because they say the funniest things. The older crowd is a bit more serious and is harder to speak to unless you know something related to Fortnite or L.O.L. dolls. I didn’t know much about either of those things before volunteering, but throughout my time at BJM I feel like the kids have taught me more than I have taught them! For that reason, I can say that I am thrilled that I am going into the field of education and I am very thankful for the Rose Scholar program for giving me this opportunity to live out my passion while at Cornell.

Today I was in the gym with the kids. My role was more of an assistant for the teacher that was in charge of the class. At first I mostly observed the kids playing two games called “vampires away” and “catch the bacon.” I found it interesting how during “catch the bacon” two students had to face off against each other to catch the “bacon” and win a point for their team. The students reacted differently towards the competition. Some of them got emotional from losing while others took the loss more easily and carried on with the game. I acted as a support system for the kids and cheered them on for their effort even if they lost. It was really nice to see students try their hardest and use strategies to capture the “bacon” and get the person to drop the “bacon” so that they can catch it and run to their side of the gym. After the played their games then it was time for free play. During free play I took the time to interact with different kids and either play with them or talk to them and keep them company. As someone who hopes to go into the field of education one day I value my time at Beverly J. Martin Elementary because it gives me the opportunity to spend time with kids that I wouldn’t otherwise have due to my busy schedule. Interacting with the kids doing athletic activities is my strong suit. I love to play sports and I love to play games with kids, so being placed in the gym was a good fit for me.

Today I worked with two students in common denominators. The students were very distracted and weren’t very motivated to do their work. This semester I’m taking two education classes that require fieldwork, and they have shifted my perspective on the way I few of my volunteer hours at Beverly J. Martin Elementary. One of our units was on motivation and how to get students interested in doing things that they otherwise wouldn’t do if they weren’t required to do it. A key element to motivation is that it is driven by interest. If the students are interested in the task at hand, then they are motivated to do, and if they are less enthusiastic, then they are less likely to be driven to do the job. So, as teachers, we have to answer the question of how do you get students to be motivated to do their work? Many approaches can be taken, but with the little experience I have, I did what I knew would get the kids to get their job done which was, to motivate them by letting them do something that they were interested in doing if they got their work done in time. I told them if they could get their job done sooner than we could play any game that they wanted to play with me. When they heard me say that they were more than willing to get their work done, the students would get distracted from their work every so often, but I would remind them of the fun activity that waits for them when the students finish their work, and they would go back to being focused on their work. Looking at education from the teachers perspective is interesting to me. I notice that there is a lot more that goes into teaching than lesson planning and being able to spit out information and asking the students to say it back to you. To be a teacher or at least a more well-rounded teacher, you have to be able to get on the students’ level and be able to understand whom you are teaching while also considering other factors that the students are juggling.

This fieldwork session one of the students asked me to read a comic book to her and her friends. The book was about a character who is new to roller derby. She is trying to fit into a new group of friends and trying to do new things to figure out what she likes and who she wants to be. Reading this book to the girls made me think how books nowadays are very inclusive and shut down gender norms. The girls reading these books believe that they too can also do roller derby now from reading about the character and learning from the story. I found that when I was in elementary school that books usually stuck to the gender norms. There were a few times where there were gender neutral books, and all of the students would go crazy over them, and the school would have a massive book club talking about what part they’re up to and what they thought would happen next in the story. I feel like authors now are more considerate and take into consideration the audience that is reaching out to create a connection. After all, it is a business and the more people you can reach out to the more money you make. With the book I read to the girls on Tuesday I think the author was trying to reach out to young girls and speak on their perspective. When an author is trying to make a book that is more specific to a particular audience I feel like the readers have a more significant connection to the story because it is more relatable. Whereas if you are trying to read a story that reaches out to a broader audience, it might be challenging to create a stronger connection to the readers.

While volunteering at Beverly J. Martin, I overheard a student ask his classmates, “do you have a crush on anyone in this room?” I was surprised to hear the kids talking about their this topic at such an early age. In my elementary school experience, my class was very close, and we never would think about liking each other because we were more like a family. I believe that the kids that were in this group were in fifth grade. In my school, they taught us about puberty in fifth grade. The lesson gave us a brief overview of what to expect for our gender while also learning about the other sex as well. I’m unsure if the students at BJM have had that lesson quite yet. Nowadays I feel like the kids are growing up way too fast. They have access to too many things and exposed to adult behavior at a very young age. I think this harms their development because the kids spend most of their time wanting to be like the older kids when that should enjoy their youth.

I started my first day of fieldwork for the semester today at Beverley J. Martin Elementary. This semester I attend the A+ program on Tuesdays from 3pm-4pm, and today I was assigned to the art room. I recognized some faces and saw some new ones, but moreover I met more of the A+ staff. I find it important to make connections and talk to people who have experience and learn from them. In the field of education you learn a lot as you go. Today I was in the art room and was surrounded by markers, crayons, fabric and paper. It has been awhile since I’ve been in a creative environment. I found it quite shocking that some of the students weren’t interested in the task at hand, and one student even said “I’m bored.” I tried my best to try to give them ideas, but struggled myself to come up with something creative to suggest. Today I learned the importance of creativity in the classroom. I’m so used to being in an academic environment where I’m absorbing an abundant amount of information, and I’m not really challenged to use my creativity. I hope that throughout my time at the school I will be able to increase my create skills.