With my action project so far, I have actually been given the opportunity to attend Ranch Park Elementary School to help out in my friend’s mom’s third-grade class. I’ve volunteered at the school twice, spending about an hour and a half on each visit. I was able to play entertaining games with the kids and assist them with their coding during that time. At the end of the day, I also assisted the teacher with cleaning the classroom.
One success that I had was that I was able to play with the kids and have conversations with them because sometimes little kids can get scared of new people. To make this a success I was interacting with others by doing enjoyable activities like drawing. Another achievement was teaching the kids a game at the end of the day because I could check to see if I could explain information well. I knew I did an excellent job because they were following the rules and not cheating. Lastly, another success was reminding the students to clean up after themselves, so it would be less work for the teacher. This also taught them the importance of staying organized and clean which is a crucial part of everyday life.
A challenge I faced was helping the grade three class where their coding assignment because I had no idea how to work the system, so I couldn’t answer their questions. However, I overcame this by reading the instructions on the whiteboard and asking the teacher for clarification. Another obstacle I faced was understanding the students because sometimes they were too quiet. I overcame this by bending down near their desk, so I could hear them better. Another challenge I faced was when a student dropped their pencil box and their materials went everywhere. I overcame this by having the people near him help get his belongings from the ground. This showed the students that it is important to help one another.
For my next blog post, I will be going back to Hillcrest Middle School to help out in Mrs.Carston’s class because I haven’t been there for a while. Additionally, since I’ll be close to the end of my action project the next time I go, I’ll bring treats for the students as a goodbye gift.