blog reflection

In doing my volunteer hours at the boys and girls club I got to interact with the children and got to see what they see. To communicate with the children was really hard because they get so distracted so fast. I would talk to them and sometimes they would just walk away from me or I would tell them to start to clean up because its almost time to go and they wouldn’t listen. All the children were so creative; they would get really artsy with paper. Their imagination was also very different I remember they had me going around trying to find a ghost.

The things I gained from the capstone experience personally is that children need more care and its hard for some of them to make friends. There was bullying going on at the boys and girls club. The children also were mixed in grades so the older kids would only hangout with kids their age and the younger kids would only hang out with kids their age. Also the older kids want to be treated different than all the younger children.

Some challenges I faced was when I witnessed bullying among the children. I had to step in and have the two girls talk it out. When they talked it out they became friend again I just had to take a girl back inside because she was crying. Also when the children would get hurt I would be the one that would help them out and make sure they felt better. I also helped the children when they needed help with their homework. Over all my experience at the boys and girls club was fun I met lots of energetic and fun children.

 

march 15

On march 15 I completed my last 3 hours so in total I have 25 hours completed. On my last day it was a Friday and I got to have free play with the children. They all had a choice to watch a movie or play outside. Half of they went to go play outside and the other half went in the cafeteria to watch the ninja turtles.   

march 4

on march 4 I completed 3 more hours at the boys and girls club. It was a Monday so that means its homework day. All the students have homework and need to do it right when they get to the boys and girls club if not they won’t be able to play. It was hard to keep the students focused on their homework because they would sit by their friends so sooner or later they were separated from their friends so they can finish their homework. When they are finally done they have to run a mile then they are able to have free play.

feb 22

On February 22 at the boys and girls club I did 3 more hours. I played a game of dodge ball. Whenever they play this game they get very competitive and they play really rough. That causes someone to get hurt or get in a fight. In saying that a girl got hurt she got hit on her arm really hard and started to cry. So I went with her to go get a ice pack. The young girl was sad but I changed her mood by talking to her and she was telling me how she was going to Disneyland.    

feb 8

February 8 I volunteered again at the boys and girls club. I got to play with the children all day since its Friday they don’t have any homework. Today some of the children just came back from outdoor ed so they got to share their experience. They said that they were scared and missed their family but over all they had fun. I also cleaned up after the children because they made a big mess from the arts and crafts they make.

feb 4

On Feb. 4 I did 3 hours and this was on a Friday. On Friday the children have free time. They are able to do any sports or arts and crafts. Well a few girls from this after school program were trying to make me believe that there was a ghost at the school. They had me make them a box so they can please the ghost. They would place flowers, grass, and rocks to make him happy. After that they would try to investigate where he would live. After that it was time for the children to leave as the girls leave they left the box outside. This day was very fun and weird.

hours for feb1

I forgot to do my blogs but i did 3 hours in Feb. 1  and in these 3hours i helped out the children with there homework. Many of them had lots of difficult time concentrating with there work. So of them would have to switch seats because they sat next to there friends and wouldn’t get there work done. I would mostly help them with their English homework. Then they would go and take a run to get them moving.then we would do activites like arts and crafts or go outside and play sports.

courage

when i was younger i was really insecure about myself and i lacked courage. i needed to get out of my shell and become more social. So when i got my first job it helped me a whole lot. I got to meet a lot of new people and become more social. I was scared coming into my first job but it wasn’t that bad. I was just over thinking things. But I gained courage more confidence in myself and within other people.

When I attended middle school I was more of the shy girl. I would just go to my class do my work and hope the teacher wouldn’t call on me. I had friends but I would rarely go out. I would most stay home or spend time with my family. I would dress differently and I would care. I didn’t care what people thought about me. I just really thought of school like this get there do my work and leave. I really didn’t like middle school but I need to go out more and be more social. I was more insecure when I got my braces because I thought people were making fun of me and I just hated them. But later throughout the school year it was time to take them off and it was my last year in middle school so I was just hoping that high school would be different.

In coming to a new high school where your best friends didn’t attend was horrible. That’s when everything just got worse I felt so alone. But by coming to a different high school it also forced me to make new friends and interact with different people. But later I transferred to the high school where all my friends attended it felt so good. But I was still not socializing with that many people. I guess its cause I was the new girl and I was still shy.

So I decided to get a job in getting a job I thought it would do me good cause I will interact with many people and become more social and it did help. I work at wingstop and that’s like the hang out when the football games ended or just to chill. Lots of high school kids come in there and some work there. So I became real good friends with the ones I work with and with ones that came in there. That really boosted up my confidence and helped me to become more social and to have more friends.

10 hours

I have been doing my volunteer hours at my elementary school, Sunshine Gardens Elementary School, at there after school program the Boys and Girls Club. I help children from the grades of kindergarten to 5^th graders. My mentor Shelly is really understanding of the children and keeps them moving. So far I have completed 10 hours and in doing these 10 hours I’ve gotten to see some of the problems these children have. I’ve seen lots of bullying with these children, like one day there was a little girl named Brianna and she was playing dodged ball with her other classmates. She got hit in the face and they were telling her that she was out but since it was a face shot Shelly allowed her to continue being in the game. Then there was another girl that was older than her and started to say things to her and started to push her. Brianna then started to cry and no longer wanted to play. I decide to be with Brianna and try to make her stop crying. Then the other girls brought Brianna and I to the girl that was bullying her then I talked to her. I was telling her how she was older she needs to understand that Brianna still doesn’t understand some things  and that she should be acting like that towards her. She the understood and apologized. Brianna was still crying so I took her to go eat oranges so she can get her mind of things and in doing that she was content. I never knew bullying was happening in elementary schools until I witnessed it. So I am going to try to prevent situations like this to happen. I am looking forward in completing the rest of my hours helping these children.