This post is a little bit late, but things have been crazy just preparing for the last two weeks of the semester! I was able to go to Norris Middle School on Wednesday the 18th. I went from 2:45-5:45 and it was a blast! The majority of the students are hispanic so it was challenging communicating to a lot of them, but I was able to get to know some of them. The site director, LD, is a really neat guy and those kids respect him a lot. When I went to Colorado this last weekend I was able to go to class with my sister two days. On Monday we were there from 7:30-4:30 and Tuesday 7:30-12:30. Unfortunately they were teacher days with no students so she was in meetings the whole time, and I helped her with classroom things. First I decorated with "kindness stockings" the children made and made the room a winter wonderland, then I just graded a lot of papers. It was good to get that experience and I really enjoyed helping her out with the classroom.

Campfire

I am at campfire five days a week!! Sometimes it can get stressful being there everyday but I do really enjoy it! The kids are so much fun to talk to and sometimes they say the cutest things! I love how everyday when it is time to clean up there are always a handful of kids who want to everything they can to help clean up! I think it is really cute how much they want to help.

CAMPfire

I have been consistantly going to campfire twice a week since September. Tomorrow is my last day, and last week I also went on Tues. and Thurs. I have seen changes in my interactions with the kids. They are more open and willing to try things and do different activities because I have been able to bond and gain their trust by being there. Because of this it has taught me a lot about the relationship aspect of teaching. The kids want to trust you and when they do they are more willing to accept help and guidance. It has been awesome to see this.

Campfire

I went to Campfire last week and had a really enjoyable time helping a little girl and boy with thier homework. I was able to talk to a few girls about their day and just find out how thery were doing.

ViSiT tO CaMpFiRe

Yesterday I was able to do another visit to campfire. While there I administered reading tests for the kids. They were given one minute to read off about 100 words. If they mis-pronounced them or skipped them I marked it. It was interesting to see the difference in reading ability between the kids. Some were at a totally different level than others. You can tell which students spend time outside of class to practice their reading.

Visit

Last week I was able to visit campfire twice. While there we were able to do many activities with the kids, but that wasn't my highlight. I was able to work with a student one-on-one with math homework that she was not able to complete. It was really fun to be able to explain something and have her understand and grasp the concepts. It was definitely a good experience.

This last week I went to the campfire headquarters Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. On Tuesday they had me sorting more pictures and slides. It was really fun- I got to see pictures from 1918 when they first started and it was so interesting! I was a little slow sorting the pictures because I got so distracted just looking at the pictures but I got the job done. On Wednesday I was there for about 5 hours and Ann, the volunteer director, had me put in data for keeping track of volunteer hours. Then Thursday I helped in the food bank sorting food that was donated and organizing it for them to make take home bags for the students. I really have been enjoying going to the campfire headquarters and getting a feel for everything. I'm hoping that when volleyball is over I will be able to help in the after school program at Norris Middle School.

Campfire Visit

I visited campfire mon. and it was alot of fun. I was able to help two little girls who were too shy to share what their story they read was about. I really enjoyed helping these two little girls and being there for them. I was also able to play a game with this little girl who didn't have anyone to play with which was also very fun=)
Mary~

Campfire Visit

At a recent visit to campfire the group I was helping with was able to do a very fun activity. Each student made their own "MySpace" of "facebook" page. It was actually an envelope that they decorated with something personal. The students wrote "e-mails" on little scraps of paper. Here is the catch-the emails had to be something positive or encouraging about another person. All the kids loved it! And it was so much fun to be able to get and give postive notes to eachother. It was a lot of fun for the kids (and me).

visit 1

I did my first campfire visit last Thursday, October 29th. Because it interferes with volleyball, I can't do the afterschool program, instead I went to the headquarters to help with anything they need. Michelle, one of the project coordinators, had me sort through pictures. They have a display at the Durham Museum next year to celebrate 90 years of service I think, so I had to organize pictures and slides into decade categories. It was really interesting because a lot of the pictures/slides were from the 1950's and 60's. I spent only an hour and a half there this time. I'm excited to go back tomorrow to help again!

Sarah Ross