Project Reflections
| Date | Place | Reflections |
| 10/1/05 | Harvest Festival | This was a fun experience. I had a lot of fun making the luminary because this is not something I get to do much of in my own time. I also had a lot of fun helping a child carve a pumpkin because even though the carving was not the best, he liked it and had a lot of fun poking at it. |
| 10/15/05 | Group Meetings | The group meetings have been successful thus far and we are cooperating to fill in the blanks where its needed. |
| 10/15/05 | Research | I spent some time researching the day of the dead, looking for craft ideas, decorations, history and food. It is interesting to know that the arrival of the deceased begins with children (little angels) on the 1st of November and the adults on the 2nd. I found the recipe I would like to use of pan de muertos, a traditional bread made for the celebration. |
| 10/17/05 | Group Meeting | We accomplished a lot during this meeting and figured out who needs help with what. Everyone in the group has been very good about being prepared and willing to help. |
| 10/19/05 | Group Meeting | This was a lot of fun. We got together and made a piñata for the celebration and we all had fun making the mess. |
| 10/27/05 | Classroom Observation | This was my first time volunteering in an elementary classroom because of the lack of time I have had over the past few years. It is something I have always wanted to do and was thankful to have the opportunity in this class to do it. Being that this was the first day, I observed more than participated because I wanted to get a feel for the routine the kids have so that I could know more about the timing and what the kids are used to for activities. This enabled me to think about the amount of time and type of activity I could do with them. |
| 10/30/05 | Final Group Meeting | Another fun experience with my group members. We made another mess, this time cutting tissue paper and glueing it on the piñata. Thanks to Aldo we all learned how they are made and I wouldn't mind making one for my nephews someday. |
| 11/1/05 | Day of the Dead Display | I used the information I had collected previously and combined the most important aspects to create a brief message about the importance of the holiday. I learned a lot through out this whole project and I am thankful to have had such a great group of people to work with. Everyone was willing to put in time and work whichever way they could. |
| 11/2/05 | Pan de Muertos | The official bread of the dead is what I chose to make for the potluck. I have never made bread in my life but I do like to bake. This was a long process though and much harder with my 9 month old nephew reaching his hand in the bowl and wanting to be held the whole time but it worked out. I did not like the taste of the final product and I knew that I probably would not but I was told it came out well. I tend to cook a lot of things I don't like. |
| 11/2/05 | Day of the Dead Set-up and Celebration | The set-up was another good experience with my group members and others who stayed to help. Everyone worked hard to get things ready before the rest of the class came in. The celebration turned out great. I was very happy with the work I had put in to have it come out so well because sometimes I underestimate my capability but it turned out better than I expected. Of course, I could not have done it without my group members. |
| 11/3/05 | 2nd Classroom Observation | This week was a little more comfortable for me and I was able to get more information about how I could integrate my curriculum into the regular daily schedule and theme they currently have. The teacher allowed me to take a look at the science curriculum book in order for me to see what skills are being used and what the learning expectations are for the activities and I was able to come up with my own idea for an activity and also include some of those learning expectations as well as planning a time to carry out my curriculum. This made me feel much better about this project because now I have a good foundation to begin with. |
| 11/9/05 | Diwali Celebration and Meena Observation | I arrived at 4:30 to help with the set-up of the celebration. I had originally planned to be a part of the activities but ended up doing the technical work which worked out fine for me as well. I actually learned a lot about the equipment I had used only once before which is nice because it added something different to my current areas of learning. I also took this time to informally observe Meena which is amazing. The transformation this child is going through with the support she has had is very obvious in the short time she has been here. I also found out she is fascinated by glitter and had a lot of fun. She was very careful about putting the glue inside the lines on the pre-printed Rangoli sheet. Her coordination while doing that was excellent. She has opened up so much since the first time we first met her. From here I would like to research a little about adoption, possibly orphanages in India and learn more about the changes that she has gone through moving from there to here including the natural environment both outdoors and at home. |
| 11/10/05 | 3rd Classroom Observation | This visit to the school I was able to view the Veteran's Day assembly which makes me reflect on the time I spent in assemblies through school. I was able to feel like a kid again which for me, makes it easier to observe children and get a better understanding of what they might be thinking. Next week will be an irregular schedule for the Kindergartners due to conferences but I will still be there to help in the classroom and possibly get to know children from other classes because they will be combined. |
| 11/17/05 | 4th Classroom Observation | This was a very informal class due to conferences this week but I enjoyed working with all of the different kids and visiting the book fair. |
| 11/20/05 | Curriculum Write-Up | This was the day I sat down and did the final research for my activity and wrote up the materials I needed as well as looked at EALR's on the web to make sure that I was following guidelines and including learning requirements in my project. |
| 11/23/05 | Curriculum Test and Observation | I didn't use my exact activity but I did other activities to look at where my nephews are as far as hand-eye coordination, whether or not they would be safe using sharp objects like toothpicks and their interest level in what I gave them to do. It seemed to be a success. We made ornaments. I gave them my giant container of scissors with glitter, glue and other small pieces. I also asked them about how they would like the idea of planting things and watching them grow and they seemed to be interested. |
| 12/1/05 | Project Day #1 | This was the first day of my project for half of the class. It seemed a little chaotic to me but I had compliments that it went well. To read more about it, visit my curriculum page. |
| 12/2/05 | Project Day #2 Canceled | Because of the snow, I was unable to finish my project with the second half of the class at this time so I decided to put together a book with all of my curriculum resources and my planning and added some pictures of what I did do in the classroom the previous day. I will save this to use when I have my own classroom in the future as a resource. |
