Planning, Planning, and More Planning

This week has been a very hectic week at school.  Many assignments are due this week and there have been many visitors at school.  So you can imagine that not having a Pathfinder meeting this week was amazing to say the least.  This week, instead of helping out at Pathfinders, I went over the material that I will be teaching soon.  The Heredity honor consists of lessons about genes and how they play a role in the appearance and processes of the human body.  I will most likely be teaching the older kids (probably 7th-10th Grade) so they should have at least a basic knowledge of what a gene is.  I am excited that we have just started studying this concept in my AP Biology class so I can refresh my memory on what needs to be taught.  The basic process of this honor will be to create a worksheet that addresses the suggested areas of the honor to let the students write the answers as I teach.  The students that do not complete the sheet will not get the honor.  This is not a test to see what they have learned, it is just a way to make sure that they are paying attention and hopefully learning something.  I think that there will definitely be a challenge in teaching the kids (about 10-15 or so) because of the size of the group.  I am trying to make the lesson interesting so that I will be able to keep a hold of their attention and teach them something that they maybe have never learned before.  Prospective start date for the honor is next week, but it may change.  I will be ready either way.  This will be the second honor that I have taught in addition to classwork, so I feel like I am getting used to teaching the kids.

Nothing much this week

This week at Pathfinders the lady who was teaching the flower arranging honor was sick.  The kids continued with their Spanish lesson and got an update on the girl they had made cards for.  She was very happy to get the cards and to know that we cared.  The instructor who made the air cannons shot them off to show the kids.  We then put the water spongy balls into the cannon and fired them into the air. The kids enjoyed trying to find the balls and getting a bit wet.  We then had an ice cream party for our inspection grade. Next week there will be no meeting and the following week is my prospective start date for teaching my second honor. I am in the process of preparing to teach again at this time. I am going to try and make this honor fun for the kids so they will learn well and have fun. Coming up with lesson plans is difficult because they are dependant on the age of the kids, the subject, and the amount of time. Making the lesson plans is my current challenge. Otherwise nothing much else is happening.

Cartas para alguien con cancér. (Cards for someone with cancer)

This week in Pathfinders, the kids took some time off of the flowers and such to make some cards for a girl with cancer. This girl has been basically shut in to her house because her immune system is so low that she cannot go outside because of the possibility of her catching something. The girl is a Spanish speaker and for this reason the leader of the Spanish honor decided to let the kids make cards in Spanish. The teacher, another Spanish speaker, and myself helped the kids to translate what they wanted to say to the girl in Spanish. I was glad that I got to help them to be able to communicate with someone who deserves it. Next week the kids will continue the flower honor. The following week there will be no meeting. I will be starting my honor a week or two after this break.

From my experiences in Pathfinders so far, I can understand why teachers get frustrated. Middle school age children can be very stressful, but if this experience has taught me anything it is to be a bit more patient and to be more attentive to their needs of learning. I have worked with the younger kids and soon I will be working with the older kids. It will be different but I feel that since I am around their ages I will be able to create a better understanding with them.

Flowers and Canons

This week at Pathfinders we continued the Flower Arrangement honor and building the air canons for Nosoca.  Nothing much happened this week but we will continue these two tasks next week.  This week some of the kids made some wreaths with flowers to sort of show their abilities.  Next week they will be constructing and arranging some flowers for the church sanctuary.  The others are still constructing the air cannons, making sure that they are safe and working for the summer campers at Nosoca.  Otherwise, there was not much that went on. I am still not sure when I will be teaching.  They way I took it was that I will most likely be teaching at the end of this month or the beginning of next month.