Christmas, Christmas time is near!

This week at Pathfinders we thought that it would be fun to let the kids have a party.  So basically what we did was we started out with a devotion, the pledge and other opening exercises.  We then went down to the gym to play dodgeball.  The kids really enjoyed the games and then we all broke off and played other games.  The older kids went to play basketball (boys vs. girls) and they had a great time.  We had some good christmas snacks for them at the end of the meeting.  All in all, the night was fun and everyone had a good time.  Nothing much more happened.  I will post some pictures of the games soon.

Exams will be over soon and that makes me happy.  As the holidays come closer, I think that we all need to just calm down and take the time to think about the true reason for the Christmas season.  Have a Merry Christmas!

Origami and Braiding pt. 2

This week in Pathfinders, the kids continued their honors that they had been working on last week.  This was the final week of braiding and origami.  To get the origami honor, the kids had to illustrate a bible story that could be told with the paper animals that they learned how to make.  They enjoyed the origami honor and had a great time last night.  The braiding group finished up their lanyards last night.  The groups did not make the crafts for anyone, but they did get to keep whatever they made.  Next week, a few of the other staff including myself are in charge of planning a fun game night for the kids in celebration of the upcoming holiday.  We had a few minutes to confer on what we wanted to do and what we thought that the kids would enjoy doing.  Much of the fun will be improvised next week, but we decided on having a basketball game of the girls vs. boys (the girls wanted to see how well they would do against the boys) and some Christmas type snacks.  The rest will most likely be a free time because kids at the ages that will be present will most likely be too hyper and will not cooperate much with any organized games.  Next week will be a fun time for the kids and staff as we get ready to celebrate the real reason for the holiday.

In other news, my research paper and vision paper are...finished!  This is very exciting because these two things have been taking up a lot of my time these past few weeks.  I am hoping to get a good grade on both.  My research paper is now stocked with many educational studies and statistics from journals and other book sources that will, hopefully, prove my point and sway my reader.  Now this is not to say that everyone will change their minds about single-sex education because of my paper, I wish it were that easy, but I do feel that I did a good job in displaying my findings and showing the consequences of this type of education.  I am glad to be done with these two papers as exams are approaching.  Between now and Monday, I still have an AP Calculus, AP English, and AP Biology test to take, another paper due, a poetry journal, and a Spanish project.  This break for Christmas is coming in the midst of the hurricane I call school.  I am glad that Christmas is happening after all of this because it will really give me a chance to appreciate the holidays more.  I am starting to get used to the workload and I am learning how to organize my time to get everything done in a timely manner.  Overall, an eventful week for my project and for everything else in school.  Onward to exams!

Paper folding and other fun things

This week at Pathfinders we started the Origami and Braiding (making lanyards and other crafts) honors.  I am assisting some of the other leaders in these two honors and will be teaching some of the honors to come.  This week and next week will be devoted to origami and braiding and the following weeks before Christmas will start a brand new set of honors.  We are due for a staff meeting soon where we will discuss upcoming honors and the upcoming inspection. We opened up with devotion, then the kids practiced their marching and then went straight to their honors.  The older kids took part in the braiding honor and the younger kids took the origami honor.

In Origami, the kids learned the basic folds (kite, fish, waterbomb, valley, and mountain folds) and then they learned how to make a paper boat and a paper balloon.  The paper balloon is really cool because you can actually blow up the ball so that it looks inflated.  Sounds impossible but it was fun and the kids seemed to enjoy that a lot.  Overall this was an eventful and fun night for all of the Pathfinders and we are all looking forward to many more.  Here they are, as promised, a few of the pictures that were taken from this week's meeting.  There are a few of the group marching as well.

In Braiding, the older kids learned how to do various braiding patterns to make lanyards and other types of keychains.  I was not as involved with helping at the braiding honor, but I did help out with origami.


In other news, school is continuing to go well. There are many things that are due within the next few weeks but otherwise everything is well.  Looking forward to the holidays so that I can get back on track and be able to plan a little more for the honors that I will be teaching soon.

The Scene is Safe...to learn CPR!

This week we had Victoria teach CPR to the classes.  The main ages that she taught were the 5th through 7th grades because the older kids had learned the basic CPR training already.  This class will get them an honor, however they will not be certified to do CPR.  The class is just so they will have a general idea of how to save a life and that they can help a person who is having heart or brain problems that have fainted or to people who are choking.  I do not have my camera with me right now but I will be posting some pictures later when I have my camera available.  The basic things they did were the 30 chest  compressions and 2 breaths, and the abdominal thrust for a person who is choking.  Their favorite part was trying to wake the victim and the AED because they thought the shock to get the heart rhythm back to normal was cool.  Overall an eventful meeting.  Hopefully, if these students are in a situation that calls for CPR, they will remember what they have learned and save a life.  Next week there will be no meeting. We will resume on the 1st of December.

In other news, I went to Wofford Library yesterday to do some more research on my paper topic and to find statistics.  I spoke with the research librarian and she directed me to an electronic education journal that had some good information...but I could not get on it because I am not a student.  I did find a couple of books that had several case studies of whether single-sex classes are effective and the results were exactly what I needed to prove that they are not helpful at all.  So I will be adding the information to the paper and hopefully I can finish it soon.

Final Night of Class Work

Last night was actually the last night of classwork for the classes.  This basically means that we have fulfilled the requirements for them to move up a level in status, and now we can start on the honors.  As for my class we finished one honor already.  The Chemistry honor was a big hit with the kids.  Even though they did not think they would have fun, they did.  Last night we looked at how ice lowers the freezing point (fancy words for it makes the ice freeze at a lower temp.) and the reasons that this happens.  The science experiment last night was actually making ice cream in a ziplock bag.  We used the salt to lower the freezing point of the ice which made it colder, which in turn froze the mixture to make the ice cream.  Overall they had fun and it was a great end to the class.  Now I will be moving on to teaching honors to all ages of the group, but mostly the 8th through 11th graders.  We will be having a staff meeting to discuss the honors that we will be teaching soon.  I will begin teaching the honors after the Thanksgiving holiday.    I will be putting up more pictures up as I teach the honors.  Next week everyone will be learning CPR and they will continue after the holiday.

(Below is a picture of their Class A uniform with the honors on a sash). It is just a diagram but this is what the uniforms look like.  The oval like things on the sash are called Honors that each Pathfinder earns.

Starting of a new honor

This week I started to teach the Chemistry Honor for the class.  At first they did not like the honor (because they did not know that SOME, and I stress the word some, aspects of chemistry can be fun), however they started to have fun when we did one of the science experiments.  We did the experiment with the pepper in the water.  Basically it is pepper in water and I put some dish soap into the water and the pepper moved away from the spot where the pepper was. Hard to explain but a good example of density and other aspects of chem.  Anyways we have one more night and it should be finished!  After this honor I will teach other honors for all ages of the club, but probably more to the older kids.  Overall an eventful week for my project. On another note, homework has slowed down slightly however it is speeding back up again. But the project and homework are getting done so that is good.

No meeting...but Fall Festival!

This week we did not have a Pathfinder meeting because Thursday was our fall festival.  Every year, the Thursday before Halloween, my church and Pathfinder group invite members of the community and their kids to come to our baseball field for a fall festival.  The reason that we have it Thursday and not on Halloween is because we believe that Halloween is not such a great holiday because of what it celebrates.  Anyway, we have a trunk and treat for the kids as well and many blow up obstacle courses and slides.  Many of the pathfinders were involved and helped.  I was in charge of the blow-up slide and it was very popular.  We had many booths for the adults for adventist education and for our church.  The festival is a great opportunity for us as a church to share our views with the community and to maybe even gain new members.  Overall, even though it was cold and there were many screaming kindergarteners, it was a great experience and hopefully we helped the community.

On another good note, the rough draft is over. I am planning to do some more research and maybe I will add some stuff.  A little bit more than a month left until it is due.  But I do feel better that I have gotten most of the paper done.  Especially since every teacher is either  assigning papers for us or giving homework daily.  So it is good that this big deadline is done with and I can focus on the next deadline: December 6...(insert suspenseful music here).  Things are going good so far!

Pathfinders and the Research Paper

This week's meeting went well.  There were no problems this week and I am very happy about that.  We were not able to start our honor this week but that is not very bad news.  I was not able to find one of the things that I needed for the experiments portion of the Chemistry Honor.  If anyone knows where I can find sugar cubes that would be greatly appreciated. Now away from my digression I had a great time teaching this week.

As for my paper I have started and have about 2 and a half pages done.  My thesis, works cited page, outline, and note cards were approved Wednesday and the process is going well.  However I feel that I could have gotten more of my paper done sooner if I did not have to do the whole note card process.  Last year when I was writing my research paper on Frankenstein I did the note card method and it worked excellently.  I think that the problem now is that it is too late for the note cards.  If I would have started making the note cards before the deadline for the whole draft was due in 2 weeks then it would have worked like a charm.  So I am just going to try and knock out my paper this weekend so that I will not have to do all of the extra note cards.  Its just too late to turn back and spend my time on them.  But otherwise the paper is going ok.  I can't believe it is due in one week.  I am planning on asking my english teacher if she will look over it and give me any help on the grammatical side of the paper.

Even though we get the vacation this weekend EVERY teacher is assigning something to do over the weekend.  I am going to try and get all of that stuff done ASAP so I can just finish this paper.  Once I finish the paper I will have more time to finish other school work and I will not have to worry about it anymore.  This weekend will be beneficial but not relaxing at all.  But life goes on...and on...and on (at least in the homework sense). :)

En busca de una tema: las investigaciones

This week the meeting went well.  There was a little problem with a kid who acted up but they were taken care of and we went on in class.  Next week I am going to be teaching them an honor (a mini course that allows them to get a patch for each different subject).  It looks like it will be boring at first but it will get more fun at the end because it involves some science.  Obviously science is my true passion so I was glad to hear that I could teach this honor.

As for my research paper, I changed my topic.  My reasoning behind the change was that I was trying to narrow it down like the board suggested, but I could not find a way to do that.  My new topic is "Are single gender classes more beneficial than co-ed classes". I started the paper around 11:00 last night and worked until 12:30 so I have a little bit written down and a ton of information to go through but at least things are moving.

Thesis: Single gender classes are not beneficial for a better education for students because of the existence of problems within gender, tensions in race and equality, and the evidence of segregation within the school; practices such as smaller classes and determined teachers create better solutions to the problems of children who act out.


Mis pensamientos sobre mi proyecto y otras cosas (para los hispanohablantes que leen mi blog):
Las ciencias me fascinan mucho y espero aprender mas de todos los aspectos que puedo.  Eso es la razon que estoy excitado a ensenar esa honor.  A ensenar a los estudiantes en Pathfinders no es facil, pero estoy abriendo mi mente para descubrir si quiero ser maestro (pero en este momento no creo que quiero ser maestro).


Hasta Luego

Success!!

This week we had a great meeting.  There were no problems with the kids last night and they had fun.  We did a skit on the life of Jesus and they enjoyed acting and being able to move around instead of sitting down the whole time.  I am looking into more activities like this so that we can get through what needs to be learned and still let the kids have fun in what they need to learn.  Overall a successful night!

Retreat and School

There was no meeting this Wednesday so I had one hour more to do homework...yay! This week has been relaxing and stressful at the same time.  I had fun on the senior retreat.  I actually wish that it lasted longer.  After the retreat I literally came back to a test, an essay, a quiz, a poetry journal for AP English, a Calculus project and now a quiz, and much more.  Anyways with Senior Project I have really been focused on spending my time more wisely.  Time management is something that I will need for this year as well as later on.  Hopefully I can work out a schedule that allows for some time without school haha. But the retreat was definitely an escape from the stress and I believe that every now and then it is necessary to get away, otherwise we would all be mindless zombies running around.  Sorry about my ranting but I needed a blog and really not much happened besides school and the retreat.

Another day, another...thesis? haha.

Meetings went well last Wednesday at Pathfinders. I promised the kids we could have a "party" if they paid attention and participated.  Everyone did what they needed to and so we had the party.  I think I am getting a better hold of the teaching though I still have some things that I will have to talk with my mentor about for more advice.  Overall project is going good.  Thesis...well I may need to change the whole topic of my paper because I am not sure how to narrow it and with the changes needed on the original it was just a lot to change.  I will keep thinking about it.

Proposal done and 2nd meeting finished!

I finished my Proposal Monday and am glad that I got that over with.  Over the next few days I will be working on collecting the ideas from the board and incorporating them into my project and amending my proposal sheet.  The second meeting was a bit more difficult than the first.  I had a few kids who were acting up during the meeting and they had to be dealt with by the leader of the club.  On the other hand, I have three kids who listen and participate...a teacher's dream! We started off with prayer and played a game dealing with the Books of the New Testament.  The kids were divided into teams and they had 45 seconds to look over the books and then they had to put the books (dixie cups with the names of the Books of the New Testament on them) in order.  The one with the most correct would win.  I believe that the kids had fun with this and are better learning the books.  I am getting a better grasp on how to deal with the kids who act up and with those who participate.  I have high expectations for this year.

First Meeting=Done

This past Wednesday was the first meeting and it went well.  I have a great group of kids, 3 Companion class kids and 4 Explorer class kids.  We have started with their memorization and required reading and I am starting to make games to help them learn in a fun way.  We started out with a Sword Drill for their bible reading.  They had a great time and got through about half of their required reading.  Next week we will focus on the memorization more and they will need to learn the books of the New Testament.  It is difficult for them to learn the books so I have come up with a simple method that will hopefully help. All in all, this looks like it is going to be a great year.

Making this project my own

So...I have an idea for my project but as to personalizing it I am completely clueless. I have been thinking about ways that I could do this but my mind is being overloaded with school and other things. I have been praying...ALOT about what to do and to be able to have a time with no homework (which would be a miracle) and I hope that ideas will come to me soon, but with proposals coming up it needs to be quick.  If anyone has any ideas, they would be greatly appreciated!

"I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears." 
                                                                                          -Psalm 34:4

Leadership Training and Status of Project

I am back from Pathfinder Leadership training!  This weekend was long but worth it.  I have learned alot about how to better understand the kids and how to lead them in a way that will benefit them in the long run.  I have finished my proposal and I have found someone to be my mentor.  Mrs. Ford, a teacher at Oakbrook, has agreed to be my mentor. The reason that I have chosen her is because she has experience with working with children of many different ages and has methods that can be of help to me.  I am also working on trying to make this project more original and have been thinking about how to do this.  I am thinking that for the classwork that I can "personalize" the curriculum while at the same time retaining all that needs to be taught in order for the kids to move on to the next level of Pathfinders.  I am also trying to come up with some fun bible games and ways to help them want to learn rather than just learning because they have to. Our first club meeting is this Wednesday September 1, 2010.  Very excited for this upcoming Pathfinder year!

Orientation Went Well...now on to the real deal!

Tonight I got signed up as a volunteer to teach at Pathfinders. I have filled out the necessary forms and will be starting next Wednesday night. I will be working with the Companion Class (6th Grade) and maybe even the Explorer Class (7th Grade).  Since each class has about 2 or 3 kids, they will most likely be combined but taught their class requirements seperately.  I will be heading out to Nosoca (a camp near Liberty, SC) this Friday to attend a leadership training course this weekend.  The course should definitely help me in my project.  I still have to find a mentor though! I will be talking to some people very soon (tomorrow most likely) to see if they would be interested. Things seem to be coming together.

Found an Idea

I have come up with my idea!! I am going to be teaching a 6th Grade class at Pathfinders. Basically Pathfinders is a local boy/girlscout group run through the Seventh Day Adventist Church that I attend.  We teach the kids about God and how to grow up to be good adults.  After teaching the main classwork I will also teach some honors so that the kids will be able to learn new skills and earn badges.  I will also be working on getting my Master Guide (the highest rank of Pathfinders) and with this I will be a full staff member.  This weekend I will be attending a leadership training to better prepare for teaching the class.

Struggling with my idea

Recently my original idea for senior project was to get a grant for the school to upgrade our science department by buying new equipment and textbooks and other necessary things for science classes.  After further discussion with some advisors the suggestion came up that I should "explore other options." I am still in the process of coming up with new ideas for my project and my goal is to have my idea by this Friday.  I have some ideas but I am still struggling with the fact that I have no project idea yet!! Hopefully I can come up with an idea that will be interesting to me and that will benefit someone.  Fingers crossed!!