Made it through my first week of teaching after-school for the Guadalupe Center! *Phew*! Like I believe I mentioned before, I have a first grade class, with 19 students, all of whom have been very consistent in showing up. I am fortunate to have two high school tutors as well, who are a great help to me throughout the program. For those of you who know me, you would know that I studied Early Childhood Education for 2.5 years in college, so this whole experience is right up my alley.
I'm not too sure what made me switch my major, and I have been feeling conflicted about it this week as I made preparations, lesson plans, behavior charts, etc. I kept thinking to myself: I LOVE this stuff! Soo...that is a whole other issue that can be thought about more in depth at a later time.
Anyways. The focus of this program is not only homework help (because some of the student's parents cannot speak or read English, they cannot help their children with homework), but also to do activities to be supplemental to what was learned during the school day. The focus is reading comprehension. It's been really hard this week, because a lot of the children are behind. The books they have (that they probably checked out from the school library) are above their levels...the books I have at home that I can bring in are also above their level, I am finding)...I find them just looking at pictures, and if there is to many words on a page, it stresses them out. A lot of them are more on a kindergarten reading level than first grade. The books in the classroom I teach in are off limits, because they were purchased by the teacher and also she told me when I spoke with her that most of the books, again, are above their level.
But I've been working on reading to them out loud for now, and going over Who, What, Where, and having them make predictions...they seem to enjoy that, so I figure it's a good place to start. I want to get more books for them though , that they can actually read.
My kids are all pretty well-behaved with the exception of one child. He is sweet and means well, but has a big problem listening. It's frustrating because if students are talking or messing around, I wait for them to change their behavior and make a better choice before proceeding. This specific child makes me wait...a lot...and therefore makes the class wait as well. Today when we were playing outside, he wasn't listening, again. I started to feel very frustrated, but then he came up to me with a little flower and gave it to me and walked away. I'm a sucker for these kind of things, it was so sweet. It reminded me to be calm and more patient and put things into perspective: he's an energetic child, he's been in school all day, and now he has to be here for a few more hours. Later in the day, he hugged me, when he really should have been sitting down. I hugged him back then asked for him to sit down, and he said "keep hugging me! I'm so tired!"
I also have to change my perspective and realize I have NO idea what his life is like. What are things like in the home? Who does he live with? Where does he live? How is he treated? These things I do not know, and will probably never know. I have to remember this for all of my kids. And in fact, I should remember this about everyone I meet. I don't know people's stories, where they are coming from, what happened in their day...these children remind me of this every day.
I start at Pace and Gaudalupe Center next week. I am so excited. My whole life down here will basically be devoted to the children, the youth, the young people. I'm all about it. I'm all about trying to make a difference in their lives now, and hoping it will carry on with them throughout their whole lives. I had so many amazing people mentor and be there for me, encourage and support me throughout my life. I love the fact that I am now in a position where I can be that for someone else.
Hoping whoever is reading this is having a most beautiful day. Keep a smile on your face, and remember: don't judge people to quickly. You only see the tip of the iceberg.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Morning placements...
are FINALIZED!
After going around town, having meetings with people, and looking into different organizations, I have finally finalized what I will be doing with my time down here. Mind you, it can be subject to change, and if I feel called somewhere else, I can always adjust my placements. We have the flexibility to do that.
We went to a ton of locations, and there is SO much going on down here that I want to be part of. Such great agencies and tons of amazing programs. BUT, what I decided on is the Guadalupe Center Early Childhood Program, and PACE-which is an alternative school for girls who are at-risk of dropping out. They have to have some kind of mental issue, emotional trauma, some form of abuse, etc. to be enrolled. I will be mentoring and tutoring them, sitting in on counseling sessions, and I have taken it upon myself to start up a club volleyball team for the girls. My roommate Clarissa is also on board with this, and will be helping me start it up. And, obviously, we have the after school program, which started today. The main focus of the program is reading comprehension. Good thing-I love books. :) I have first graders and I love it. I am so excited about everything going on down here.
I also plan on still doing Coalition events/protests on the weekends or whenever they are. I support it 100% and love the work they are doing. But I don't want to take on to much and stress myself out. I want to pick a few things, and do them AMAZINGly, instead of doing tons of things, and only doing okay at them.
Anyways, I feel good. I'm happy. I'm excited. I'm ready to start my full schedule next week.
Yeee-haw. :)
After going around town, having meetings with people, and looking into different organizations, I have finally finalized what I will be doing with my time down here. Mind you, it can be subject to change, and if I feel called somewhere else, I can always adjust my placements. We have the flexibility to do that.
We went to a ton of locations, and there is SO much going on down here that I want to be part of. Such great agencies and tons of amazing programs. BUT, what I decided on is the Guadalupe Center Early Childhood Program, and PACE-which is an alternative school for girls who are at-risk of dropping out. They have to have some kind of mental issue, emotional trauma, some form of abuse, etc. to be enrolled. I will be mentoring and tutoring them, sitting in on counseling sessions, and I have taken it upon myself to start up a club volleyball team for the girls. My roommate Clarissa is also on board with this, and will be helping me start it up. And, obviously, we have the after school program, which started today. The main focus of the program is reading comprehension. Good thing-I love books. :) I have first graders and I love it. I am so excited about everything going on down here.
I also plan on still doing Coalition events/protests on the weekends or whenever they are. I support it 100% and love the work they are doing. But I don't want to take on to much and stress myself out. I want to pick a few things, and do them AMAZINGly, instead of doing tons of things, and only doing okay at them.
Anyways, I feel good. I'm happy. I'm excited. I'm ready to start my full schedule next week.
Yeee-haw. :)
My first protest :)
So there is this thing in Immokalee called the CIW (Coalition of Immokalee Workers). They do a ton of amazing work, and have been for years, fighting for workers rights, better wages, and better treatment for the farmworkers. Ultimately, for justice. There is an ally office at the Coalition, where my roommates and a lot of our friends here in Immokalee work. There is Interfaith Action, Just Harvest, and Student-Farmworker Alliance (SFA).
SFA had this great event this past weekend called the Encuentro. Groups of students and people came from all over the country, who have chapters of SFA at their schools, to meet together, hear more about the Coalition, network, and strategize.
We partook in a protest of Publix (chain of grocery stores popular in SW Florida), and Chipotle. It was amazing being amongst so many people passionate about social justice, and picketing right alongside with the farmworkers themselves. The purpose is for them to sign on to the Fair Food Campaign-in short, agreeing to pay 1 penny for per lb. of tomatoes they buy, all of which would go directly to the farmworkers,and support education between farmworkers of their own rights (right to fair wage, right to report abuse if any goes on in the fields,etc.) and to agree to stop buying from growers if abuse is going on in the fields. Basically. I think I got it right. But it is such amazing work being done, and the CIW has already gotten Burger King, Subway, Trader Joes, and Taco Bell to sign on over the past few years.
The manager of Publix talked with some of the leaders, and took the letter they had. The manager at Chipotle on the other hand....refused to speak with the people who peacefully walked in and wanted to talk, he yelled at them to get out and had a security guard at the door. After we drove an hour, he refused to speak with them. Unbelievable. Chipotle prides themselves on being food with integrity, but its' leaders have anything but integrity. They pride themselves on taking great care of their chickens and pigs...but have no concern for the farmworkers, for people. Profit takes precedence over people. It stinks because I do like Chipotle food, but after hearing about how they are treating the workers, it makes me sick. Literally, my stomach hurts.
I am so glad to be able to stand alongside with these passionate people, in the pursuit of justice.
More info on the CIW: http://www.ciw-online.org/
More info on SFA: http://www.sfalliance.org/
Educate yourselves.
SFA had this great event this past weekend called the Encuentro. Groups of students and people came from all over the country, who have chapters of SFA at their schools, to meet together, hear more about the Coalition, network, and strategize.
We partook in a protest of Publix (chain of grocery stores popular in SW Florida), and Chipotle. It was amazing being amongst so many people passionate about social justice, and picketing right alongside with the farmworkers themselves. The purpose is for them to sign on to the Fair Food Campaign-in short, agreeing to pay 1 penny for per lb. of tomatoes they buy, all of which would go directly to the farmworkers,and support education between farmworkers of their own rights (right to fair wage, right to report abuse if any goes on in the fields,etc.) and to agree to stop buying from growers if abuse is going on in the fields. Basically. I think I got it right. But it is such amazing work being done, and the CIW has already gotten Burger King, Subway, Trader Joes, and Taco Bell to sign on over the past few years.
The manager of Publix talked with some of the leaders, and took the letter they had. The manager at Chipotle on the other hand....refused to speak with the people who peacefully walked in and wanted to talk, he yelled at them to get out and had a security guard at the door. After we drove an hour, he refused to speak with them. Unbelievable. Chipotle prides themselves on being food with integrity, but its' leaders have anything but integrity. They pride themselves on taking great care of their chickens and pigs...but have no concern for the farmworkers, for people. Profit takes precedence over people. It stinks because I do like Chipotle food, but after hearing about how they are treating the workers, it makes me sick. Literally, my stomach hurts.
I am so glad to be able to stand alongside with these passionate people, in the pursuit of justice.
More info on the CIW: http://www.ciw-online.org/
More info on SFA: http://www.sfalliance.org/
Educate yourselves.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
New year, New me (and it's not even New Years!)
Woke up this morning a bit early to call Vera at the Guadalupe Center to see what time she wanted us to come in. Preparing for the After-School Program (which starts the 18th-so excited!) requires a ton of tasks be completed-assembling binders, filing papers, making copies, making name tags, sorting the radios, etc. etc. So Clarissa and I have been going in a few days now, to help with the office work. I woke up to a text from her, instead, telling me we weren't needed until the afternoon. Which was great, because I so was not ready to leave my bed (lazy, I know).
So I slept a bit more, then Clarissa woke me up to do a workout video with her. Now the lazy part of me wanted to stay in my bed, but the smarter, more motivated part of me said "Sure!" and shot out of bed to go workout. Now, we did this video a few days ago, and my thighs are STILL killing me from it (can you say out of shape?) but I'm really excited to try and make some changes this year. I want to workout more, eat healthier (which I so totally have been doing-tons of veggies and organic stuff!), and just become overall healthier-emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. I think coming to Immokalee is a great opportunity for that.
I'm somewhere new. Away from my old surroundings, old lifestyle. It's a chance to, honestly, start my life over...or at least turn the page into a new chapter. I, thankfully, live with a great group of girls who are on the same page in terms of being healthy, eating right, and being pysically active. So I'm thankful for that. Feeling better about myself will ultimately help me, but not only me, but the people I come across and interact with on a day to day basis.
The great thing about new beginnings is they can start whenever the heck we feel motivated to create them. It doesn't just need to be January 1st. Why not start right now? September 6th, 2012?! What's stopping you, other than yourself?
Some other things I wanted to share though, are things I've really been learning while being down here, away from everything and everyone I know....the importance of friendships, relationships with family, keeping in touch with people when you aren't seeing them...at the core, creating and maintaining good, strong, healthy relationships with people. If you don't, they will crumble. You know that friend you've been meaning to call lately, but have just been to busy? Call them. Don't wait. You may not even know the joy you can bring to a person simply by taking a minute to call (or even text) them, to let them know you are thinking about them. I took a walk yesterday around my neighborhood. And I called my grandma. And it was awesome. I spoke with her a few weeks ago when I moved down here, and honestly nothing ground breaking has really happened in between then, but I wanted to call her and we chatted for about 40 minutes. The joy it brought her, and the comfort it brought me to connect with family, was amazing.
Keeping in contact with Mom has been important, of course, as well as my sorority sisters (who let me just say have been AMAZING with keeping up with me, checking in on me, seeing how I've been and offering their support...I have felt so much love and empowerment from these girls, and I cannot express enough in words how thankful I am for them-not a day has gone by that I haven't heard from at least one sister, but most days more!). But honestly, keeping up with people has been priority for me. I've been trying so hard not to take relationships and people for granted-you never know when they can be gone.
Okay, I'm super tired. I started falling asleep hours ago. I have really been noticing and learning alot about Immokalee from the people here, and what I am surrounded with. It opens my eyes. Makes me appreciate things, my life, and privilege more. It's moving. It really is. And I'm going to blog about it tomorrow.
So stay tuned...
(And honestly, it means SO much to me that you are still reading this blog...I know a lot of it is rambling, but I hope it's interesting rambling at least...Thanks for hangin' in there, I promise you the "meat" of it all will come soon. :)
So I slept a bit more, then Clarissa woke me up to do a workout video with her. Now the lazy part of me wanted to stay in my bed, but the smarter, more motivated part of me said "Sure!" and shot out of bed to go workout. Now, we did this video a few days ago, and my thighs are STILL killing me from it (can you say out of shape?) but I'm really excited to try and make some changes this year. I want to workout more, eat healthier (which I so totally have been doing-tons of veggies and organic stuff!), and just become overall healthier-emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. I think coming to Immokalee is a great opportunity for that.
I'm somewhere new. Away from my old surroundings, old lifestyle. It's a chance to, honestly, start my life over...or at least turn the page into a new chapter. I, thankfully, live with a great group of girls who are on the same page in terms of being healthy, eating right, and being pysically active. So I'm thankful for that. Feeling better about myself will ultimately help me, but not only me, but the people I come across and interact with on a day to day basis.
The great thing about new beginnings is they can start whenever the heck we feel motivated to create them. It doesn't just need to be January 1st. Why not start right now? September 6th, 2012?! What's stopping you, other than yourself?
Some other things I wanted to share though, are things I've really been learning while being down here, away from everything and everyone I know....the importance of friendships, relationships with family, keeping in touch with people when you aren't seeing them...at the core, creating and maintaining good, strong, healthy relationships with people. If you don't, they will crumble. You know that friend you've been meaning to call lately, but have just been to busy? Call them. Don't wait. You may not even know the joy you can bring to a person simply by taking a minute to call (or even text) them, to let them know you are thinking about them. I took a walk yesterday around my neighborhood. And I called my grandma. And it was awesome. I spoke with her a few weeks ago when I moved down here, and honestly nothing ground breaking has really happened in between then, but I wanted to call her and we chatted for about 40 minutes. The joy it brought her, and the comfort it brought me to connect with family, was amazing.
Keeping in contact with Mom has been important, of course, as well as my sorority sisters (who let me just say have been AMAZING with keeping up with me, checking in on me, seeing how I've been and offering their support...I have felt so much love and empowerment from these girls, and I cannot express enough in words how thankful I am for them-not a day has gone by that I haven't heard from at least one sister, but most days more!). But honestly, keeping up with people has been priority for me. I've been trying so hard not to take relationships and people for granted-you never know when they can be gone.
Okay, I'm super tired. I started falling asleep hours ago. I have really been noticing and learning alot about Immokalee from the people here, and what I am surrounded with. It opens my eyes. Makes me appreciate things, my life, and privilege more. It's moving. It really is. And I'm going to blog about it tomorrow.
So stay tuned...
(And honestly, it means SO much to me that you are still reading this blog...I know a lot of it is rambling, but I hope it's interesting rambling at least...Thanks for hangin' in there, I promise you the "meat" of it all will come soon. :)
Sunday, September 2, 2012
After a brief hiatus...
Oh, shoot. It's been 9 days since I last blogged. Unacceptable. Haha, I apologize to those of you who check this on the regular and have not found any updates. I've been busy, sorta.
So LAST weekend, Clarissa's mom and cousin came down to bring the remainder of our stuff from Ohio. We spent the whole weekend with them, Friday in Fort Myers and Saturday-Sunday in Miami with Alejandro and Tania. Friday night we went to a club in Fort Myers called Montage (I think? Maybe?). They had Latin American music playing and people were dancing to it (not me, of course, haha) but it was fun to watch. We had a good time. Then we stayed in a hotel in Fort Myers. We went back to Immokalee briefly on Saturday to drop off our things (Clarissa and I met her family in Fort Myers the day before, so we hadn't been able to unload our bags yet). We also made a brief stop in Bonita Springs. We headed out to Miami, arriving there Saturday night...we stayed in a hotel that night, and brought Alejandro and Tania there to spend the night with us. We were going to go out, but this was during THE HURRICANE (dun dun dun). Our hotel was right on the ocean, and the TV kept scaring Clarissa and I out of our minds talking about the hurricane, winds, flooding, and TORNADOS (oh, joy, my FAVORITE!) We naturally were not used to this, being from Ohio. We don't get hurricanes there. We were in the RED ZONE, which meant TAKE ACTION...and naturally, we just kind of spent the night freaking out.
Needless to say, we survived. :)
Sunday we went to lunch at Bubba Gump. I had a burger. It was delicous. It was raining cats and dogs. Clarissa's mom and her cousin bought panchos. It was cute. We drove through some pretty heavy rain (aka HURRICANE WEATHER)...and dropped off Alejandro and Tania. Then we went back to Immokalee. Clarissa's family stayed and then left on Monday. They had been worried their flight might be cancelled due to the weather, but they made it.
This past week we continued on doing registrations for the after school program. We also put in a few long days volunteering at Guadalupe Center (where I most likely will be volunteering a few of my mornings for the whole year). I will hopefully be working with the kids there, but for now they needed a lot of office work help. I made copies, folded papers, put binders together, assembled boxes, and tons of other tasks. It's very rewarding, even though at times tedious, helping others out, taking some stress off them. A few days, we also did registration multiple times, morning and afternoon, so it's been a tiring week (only going to get better, of course, when our full-time placements begin.
This week we will probably be meeting with the various organizations around town we want to work with. A lot of you are probably thinking : "You've been here awhile now, Amanda. Why the heck hasn't your volunteering started yet?" Well, we are very fortunate to get to sort of, ease our way into things. We came down a few weeks earlier than needed, and have therefore been given time to get settled in, used to the environment, meet people, and get a feel for where we want to give our time. It's also given us weekends that aren't packed yet, to do some travelling (Fort Myers, Miami, etc.) It won't be so easy to do these things once we start our volunteering...So I'm thankful for how things are working out right now.
This weekend we went to Miami (again)! Clarissa and Alejandro were going to the J-Lo/Enrique Iglesias concert, so I came down to hang out with Tania. Saturday was also Tania's birthday, so we all got to celebrate with her. The weekend consisted of swimming and laying out, Cuban restaurant, and going out for Tania's birthday. Oh, and chocolate cake...duh! It was a pretty fun weekend, and we just got back...exhausted! We had to stop in Naples before coming home...Clarissa had to get new tires. So our first experience in Naples was in the Walmart Super Center. We had to wait for about 1 hr 45 min. So, we got some McDonalds. Big Mac's and chocolate milkshakes.....what? we were hungry.... we eat pretty healthy here in Immokalee, so when we go out to Miami, it's our time to splurge. Haha. And I bought a puzzle...because.... I like puzzles. And taking time for Amanda. Me. That's important. I've also been doing a lot of reading for fun lately. Thanks to our lovely Immokalee library-although I don't have a card for that yet..Clarissa does. I like reading. I haven't been able to do any of that in so, so long.
Ah, tomorrow is Labor Day so we don't have anything to do really. Though there was talk of having a cookout on the beach. That would be lovely. Considering we haven't been to the beach yet since arriving here...shame.
And, on an annoying note, my fingerprints got rejected so I have to go re-do them. Quickly. It's super stressful and annoying, and if you are a person who prays, say one for me. Please. Right now. Thank you.
Sigh. That might be it for now...if I forgot anything, I'll be sure to add more tomorrow or sometime this week.
Oh, I got an awesome tan in Miami this weekend. In September. :) Love bein' in Florida..
:)
So LAST weekend, Clarissa's mom and cousin came down to bring the remainder of our stuff from Ohio. We spent the whole weekend with them, Friday in Fort Myers and Saturday-Sunday in Miami with Alejandro and Tania. Friday night we went to a club in Fort Myers called Montage (I think? Maybe?). They had Latin American music playing and people were dancing to it (not me, of course, haha) but it was fun to watch. We had a good time. Then we stayed in a hotel in Fort Myers. We went back to Immokalee briefly on Saturday to drop off our things (Clarissa and I met her family in Fort Myers the day before, so we hadn't been able to unload our bags yet). We also made a brief stop in Bonita Springs. We headed out to Miami, arriving there Saturday night...we stayed in a hotel that night, and brought Alejandro and Tania there to spend the night with us. We were going to go out, but this was during THE HURRICANE (dun dun dun). Our hotel was right on the ocean, and the TV kept scaring Clarissa and I out of our minds talking about the hurricane, winds, flooding, and TORNADOS (oh, joy, my FAVORITE!) We naturally were not used to this, being from Ohio. We don't get hurricanes there. We were in the RED ZONE, which meant TAKE ACTION...and naturally, we just kind of spent the night freaking out.
Needless to say, we survived. :)
Sunday we went to lunch at Bubba Gump. I had a burger. It was delicous. It was raining cats and dogs. Clarissa's mom and her cousin bought panchos. It was cute. We drove through some pretty heavy rain (aka HURRICANE WEATHER)...and dropped off Alejandro and Tania. Then we went back to Immokalee. Clarissa's family stayed and then left on Monday. They had been worried their flight might be cancelled due to the weather, but they made it.
This past week we continued on doing registrations for the after school program. We also put in a few long days volunteering at Guadalupe Center (where I most likely will be volunteering a few of my mornings for the whole year). I will hopefully be working with the kids there, but for now they needed a lot of office work help. I made copies, folded papers, put binders together, assembled boxes, and tons of other tasks. It's very rewarding, even though at times tedious, helping others out, taking some stress off them. A few days, we also did registration multiple times, morning and afternoon, so it's been a tiring week (only going to get better, of course, when our full-time placements begin.
This week we will probably be meeting with the various organizations around town we want to work with. A lot of you are probably thinking : "You've been here awhile now, Amanda. Why the heck hasn't your volunteering started yet?" Well, we are very fortunate to get to sort of, ease our way into things. We came down a few weeks earlier than needed, and have therefore been given time to get settled in, used to the environment, meet people, and get a feel for where we want to give our time. It's also given us weekends that aren't packed yet, to do some travelling (Fort Myers, Miami, etc.) It won't be so easy to do these things once we start our volunteering...So I'm thankful for how things are working out right now.
This weekend we went to Miami (again)! Clarissa and Alejandro were going to the J-Lo/Enrique Iglesias concert, so I came down to hang out with Tania. Saturday was also Tania's birthday, so we all got to celebrate with her. The weekend consisted of swimming and laying out, Cuban restaurant, and going out for Tania's birthday. Oh, and chocolate cake...duh! It was a pretty fun weekend, and we just got back...exhausted! We had to stop in Naples before coming home...Clarissa had to get new tires. So our first experience in Naples was in the Walmart Super Center. We had to wait for about 1 hr 45 min. So, we got some McDonalds. Big Mac's and chocolate milkshakes.....what? we were hungry.... we eat pretty healthy here in Immokalee, so when we go out to Miami, it's our time to splurge. Haha. And I bought a puzzle...because.... I like puzzles. And taking time for Amanda. Me. That's important. I've also been doing a lot of reading for fun lately. Thanks to our lovely Immokalee library-although I don't have a card for that yet..Clarissa does. I like reading. I haven't been able to do any of that in so, so long.
Ah, tomorrow is Labor Day so we don't have anything to do really. Though there was talk of having a cookout on the beach. That would be lovely. Considering we haven't been to the beach yet since arriving here...shame.
And, on an annoying note, my fingerprints got rejected so I have to go re-do them. Quickly. It's super stressful and annoying, and if you are a person who prays, say one for me. Please. Right now. Thank you.
Sigh. That might be it for now...if I forgot anything, I'll be sure to add more tomorrow or sometime this week.
Oh, I got an awesome tan in Miami this weekend. In September. :) Love bein' in Florida..
:)
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