EXPLORE @ Shea, November 29th

As was previously stated, today at EXPLORE Grace led a lesson/discussion on time management. All of the students knew what time management was when we asked for a definition and examples. We then split and talked about keeping a planner/ agenda with our schedule and assignments. Although the students seemed to understand the importance of keeping one and managing time efficiently and effectively, many of them did not write in theirs. When I asked one student if he had his on him so I could see it he said that it was somewhere buried in his locker. I got the vibe that the students did not seem motivated to keep one even though they knew it could benefit them. We then went into the computer lab and created our own schedules so the students could compare how much time they spend studying and doing hw compared to how much time they spend playing video games and watching t.v. The time there today went very well and the students seemed disappointed when we explained how a college schedule works and how we will not be returning next semester. I believe that thus far EXPLORE has impacted these students' lives and I hope that they keep attending next semester even though we have a break for a month in December and January.

Shea Week 8

This week, we discussed time management with the students. The topic went over very well and i think it was beneficial for the students. We talked about what it means to manage your time and shared our planners with the students so they could see how we manage our time. Then, we went to the computer lab and had the students create their schedule on excel for the rest of the week. As always, the students enjoyed the interactive activity on the computers. At the end of the session, we announced the students that we will not be returning after winter break. Some seem disappointed that they will be working with different volunteers and they would have to get to know them again, but they understood that this is how the college schedule works. I am excited to celebrate the students' hard work at our final session next week!

Shea Week 8

Today’s lesson/experience at Shea went really well. Grace conducted a lesson on time management during which we all shared our personal agendas and tactics in making agendas. Some people had planners on a website, on their phone, or in a notebook. We discussed the definition of time management and how useful an agenda can be when balancing academics and personal events. We then proceeded to the computer lab where students made a schedule for the week online and printed it out to help them time manage this week. We explained to students at the end of the lesson that while our CL, Tara, would be returning next semester, the rest of the PC volunteers would not. We explained that since college runs on semesters that we would all be changing classes and therefore not returning to Shea due to different schedules. A few of the students expressed sadness that we’d be leaving and one noted that he’d “miss us” while another said that they’d “have to get used to all different people.” While this was sad, it was good to know that these students find our sessions beneficial and that we’ve made at least some impact on their lives. Next week, we will be having our final session/celebration while simultaneously discussing college/any lingering questions students may have.

Mt. Pleasant-More info about college

Yesterday at Explore we began by discussing the differences between a 2-year and a 4-year college. During this discussion a few of the myths about attending each type of school came up and we addressed them as a group. Following this activity, the students logged into their College Board accounts and browsed the website, paying special attention to the "College Planning" Tab. There were as many Explore leaders as students so we were able to work one-on-one with a student. I find doing something as simple as this can really make a difference to these students because they are less likely to go home and do this on their own. So even if we expose them to the College Board website a few times this semester at least they will gain some knowledge about the college process. The students had to fill out a survey for the Explore program, and then we talked about what the students would like to do for the last session. The guidance counselor gave us a good suggestion, which was for the Explore leaders to come up with their most helpful website that they used either for applying to college or that they currently use in college.

Week 5

The past few weeks have been an interesting time at the center. The week before Thanksgiving the center had a Boys and Girls club dinner for all of the kids on the night we usually go to volunteer. It was a big party held somewhere downtown, and for most of the kids it was probably the first time they were exposed to an event like that. Knowing that we would not be able to go the week after that because of Thanksgiving a couple of us went to the center before we left for break. As like most weeks, the kids just come to run around in the gym and enjoy being kids. As always basketball was a crowd favorite. This week there was a larger group of older boys that came. Normally it is full of middle school students, but when the older kids come they take control of the gym space and the younger ones fall to the background and try to stay out of the way. If anything, my basketball skills went from non existent to a little bit better. Also recently students have been exploring jumping over mats and doing flips and tricks. They don't tend to listen to us when we tell them not to do something, and the main adviser doesn't really leave his office. The past few times at the center no children have chosen to do arts and crafts or any other alternative activities. The girls won't play basketball, but when asked if they would rather do something else they say they just want to watch the boys play. It is obvious that most of the children have not accepted us as authority figures or people they want to open up to. They are reserved and try to push our buttons to see how far they can go. They are acting like regular children.

Chad Brown Week 5

The Tavares Center was closed last Thursday 11/17 and obviously we were not on campus this Thursday because of Thanksgiving. Instead, I went on Monday 11/21 for extra time to make up for the two weeks we missed. There were a lot more kids there than we usually have on Thursdays, including a lot of older teenagers I had never seen before. We played knowckout with the kids for the majority of the time. The arts & crafts teacher only comes on Thursdays. It was a little chaotic with that many kids. I was able to talk to several and ask about vacations, trips to museums, and things like that. I was happy to hear that some of them had taken a trip to the museum with Boys & Girls Club a couple weeks ago. However, there was limited space on this trip and overall the students did not visit many of these kinds of places.

St. Pat's 2nd to last week

This week was a lot of fun. We started off by giving the students a test where they answered questions to see if they were visual, audio, or kinesthetic learners. They really seemed to be interested by the results. Then we did this communcation activity where one person gave directions to us. We had our eyes closed and we were given directions about how to fold and rip the paper. The directions were very vague so at the end we saw how everyone interpreted the directions differently. Then we played the game telephone to show how things can get lost in translation. Then on Saturday we took the students to the PC basketball game. They had a great time! We only have one week left. These past 9 weeks flew by. I really hope with my schedule for next semester i have time to volunteer again!

Service Learning Week #7 Peter Fairbrother

Peter Fairbrother
11/20/11
Service Learning Week #7

This past week was our seventh visiting Shea High School. We discussed note taking. The thing that caught me most by surprise was how some of the students approached their note taking. There were some students who really knew what they were doing and had different strategies which I thought was truly impressive because it did not seem that any of them had any training in note taking. That was one difference between my school and Shea that really stood out. If the school does not prepare students how to benefit most from their classes then how can they expect them to excel. The thing that truly stood out at me were the students that said that they did not like taking notes and that they did not care about their notes. I do not understand how students plan to pass classes and then get into college if they do not care about their notes or take notes. The idea that they can just get in to a college without trying in high school shocked me. So when I heard this my EXPLORE! volunteers and I tried to stress the importance of good note taking and working hard to get into college. I hope that these themes and ideas got through to them but I do not know if they did.

Shea Week 7

This week, we talked about self monitoring, focusing on note taking and study skills. Erin led an activity in which the students were divided into three groups and given a different set of notes with varying levels of quality on how to build a paper airplane. The students with the better sets of notes were able to complete the task more accurately than my group, which had very unclear notes. The students responded well to the activity and understood the importance of the quality of their notes. After the activity, we talked about taking notes and study skills. The students had some good strategies for note taking, like using bullet points. When we were talking about study habits, some students said they usually studied ahead of time and tried to break things up into smaller pieces to remember them more easily. This was encouraging to hear and will certainly help them to achieve the grades necessary to move on to and succeed in college. However, some students said they only studied right before the test. I think it is important to encourage these students to become more enthusiastic about school now so that they will be move motivated to continue on to college.

This week at Shea

This week at Shea the focus of our time was spent talking about taking good notes, what good notes look like and how taking good notes will help students in high school and eventually in college. We did an activity where students received directions (notes) on how to make a paper crane, and then three groups competed to see who could make the crane fastest using their notes for the directions. There were three different sets of notes, one set was just right and clear, one set was WAY too detailed and one set had a bunch of doodles on it. The point of the lesson was that by taking good notes students are going to be able to later on look back at their notes and study for quizzes and tests and their notes should help them stay organized and ultimately be successful high and college students. The Shea students enjoyed the hands on activity and I think they comprehended the message the lesson was to send to them.

Week 7 at Shea

I thought Erin’s lesson about Self Monitoring was very effective and well received by students. We did an activity with three different sets of notes describing how to create a paper airplane. One set was too detailed, another set was messy and another had a succinct, good description. Students with the neat set of notes made a successful paper airplane, students with the too detailed set of notes made an accurate airplane but had a harder time getting through each step, and the group with the messy notes which were not clear enough did not even create an accurate plane. This activity was a good way to show students both the correct and incorrect way to take notes. We then split into groups and described our own as well as each student’s method of note-taking and tactics to use one’s notes when studying for a test. We looked at students’ notebooks to further demonstrate their tactics when taking notes – most bulleted their notes or numbered steps in order to organize the material in an effective way. I thought that giving students advice on how to note take and study was a very useful skill for them to use both currently in high school and in their futures in college. EXPLORE volunteers made this connection for students and explained that in college many courses are lecture style or use powerpoints and therefore you must prepare for each class in a different way. Students really seemed receptive to this lesson and were open in sharing their personal methods to the entire group.

SHEA- WEEK 7

Today at Shea it was my turn to create a lesson on Self Monitoring. I had the students break up into groups and do an activity . For the activity I gave each group a different set of notes I created on "how to build a paper airplane". One set of notes had clear and concise notes, one set had notes with too many details, and one set had notes that didn't make sense and had scribbles in the margins. I had the students follow the notes to see who could finish making the paper airplane first. We then discussed effective note taking and why it is important to take good notes and how you take notes. I think this was a successful lesson because the students were able to make the connection between learning to take good notes now and the importance of taking notes once you're in college. I also had the students complete a survey at the beginning of class with random questions about their previous education and programs they are involved in. I found it interesting that 4 out of the 8 students went to pre-school and 2 students did not know if they went to pre-school or not. I do not know what grades the students receive or how they have done on the NECAP but I believe I can use this information to either support or refute the claim of a "culture of failure". These students want to go to college and seem to be very supportive of furthering their education. I know I can tell and I am sure all of the other EXPLORE workers can tell as well that the students seem determined on going to college.

My Explore Lesson!

So today was my assigned week to create a lesson for Explore at Mt. Pleasant. The topic was college preparations so I decided to have the students work on the computer and research some questions regarding college. For example, they researched the difference between a college and university, a public and private college/university, a major and minor, undergraduate and graduate, SAT and ACT, early action and regular decision, and federal loans versus grants/scholarships. The students were divided into 2 groups and the questions were split among the two groups. After some time to look up the questions, the two groups shared their answers to the whole group. The students did a pretty good job with their answers to the questions and I really hope they learned something from this activity. Because so many of the students talk about basketball and sports in college I gave them a handout about how to apply to become a student athlete and some information about the process. During the remaining time the students took a survey about their experience at Explore so far. I'm interested to read their responses and get some feedback about the program.

Peter Fairbrother Week #6

Peter Fairbrother
11/13/11
Service Learning Week #6
This past week at service learning I got a new insight into the lives of the students at Shea High School that I had not seen before. This week we worked with the students on collegeboard.com. College Board is a very important website that for students who want to go to college. On it you can discover a lot of information about different colleges and you want to go to, you can sign up for standardized tests that you have to take as admissions requirements, and you can search for what type of college you want to go to and the search engine will find the college that match what you want in a college. This Tuesday we we having the students do their own personal college search. I sat in with one boy who new exactly what he wanted. He wanted to go to school in Massachusetts to become an architect. When the search was completed the University of Massachusetts Boston was one of his choices. He then wanted to find out home more in state tuition was and he told me he had already seen the campus and he liked it. I was shocked that this boy already knew about the college and seemed to have an interest in it. What shocked me even more was that he was thinking about the instate tuition because he is moving back to Boston. Based on all of our previous Shea experience I never would have guessed that a student would be this advanced in his college searching process. This just reminds me not to underestimate these students.

st.pats

Unfortunately because of Veteran's Day we did not have EXPLORE! this week. But I am looking forward to getting back there next friday and I am also looking forward to the field trip we are taking on Saturday. We are bringing the students to the basketball game. They are all SO excited and I am too. It will be fun interacting with this outside of the school!

Chad Brown Week 4

This week at Chad Brown we played basketball with the kids. The arts & crafts teacher did not come, so many of the kids played in the gym for the entire time or sat in the art room just fooling around. There were some older boys this week, not as many as last week but more than the first two. They kids were more boisterous and rowdy than usual. Two of the younger boys rapped a song for us they wrote themselves. The lyrics were actually really good. I asked the kids about where they eat most of the time. Many of them either skip breakfast or eat it at school. Almost everyone said they buy lunch at school (they qualify for free/reduced price lunch). For dinner, the answers varried greatly depending on parental work shedules and who was available. Next week it is closed on Thursday, and I have meetings every other night. Thanksgiving week I hope to go on Monday night so I do not miss another week.

Week 6 at Shea

This past tuesday was a very productive week at Shea high school in the EXPLORE program. This week the students were told about a day in the life of a PC student. We broke into groups and gave students an example of what a day for us at PC looks like. We gave Shea students all the details right down to cooking our own dinner, doing our laundry, going to the gym and everything in between. The students had many questions about various activities so this was a productive activity for them. Next, we brought students into a computer lab where we had them create College Board accounts. This was a very productive activity for Shea students because many of them had never heard of the website College Board before so just the fact that they now all have an account that they can reference is a step in the right direction. It was a little shocking to learn that many students had never heard of College Board before just because it is such an essential and important part of applying to college. The students were very focused and determined when looking at the College Board site and making their account so that was encouraging for me as the volunteer. This was a very productive week at Shea and I'm happy that the students are more informed about the college process because of the EXPLORE program.

WEEK 6- SHEA

This past Tuesday was a very good session at Shea. For the majority of the hour we brought the students into the computer lab and had them set up an account on CollegeBoard.org. None of the students had ever heard of College Board before but they did know what the SAT is so when we made the connection between the two I think they grasped the importance. All of the students worked very well in the computer lab. I have noticed that the students work best when we use computers and technology. They are more focused and more engaged in the task that we assign to them. For example, when we have the students do a project in the classroom they seem to get distracted by one another and become off task easily. When they each have their own computer and have a task to complete they prove to be more engaged and less distracted. I think this shows how meaningful technology is in this day and age and how urban schools that do not have computers or urban schools that have broken and inefficient computers are immediately at a disadvantage. Students in suburban schools most likely have at least one if not more than one computer at home. Suburban schools most likely have a variety of technology in the classroom. I think from watching the students at EXPLORE it proves that any student can be engaged and be successful in the classroom if they have the means. Some of these students had trouble answering some of the questions on College Board but that is most likely because they don't use computer programs that often to fill out their information.

Shea Week 6

We had another successful session at Shea today. Our topic was college conversations, and we started by having the students write a journal entry about why they want to go to college. I think this was a good way to get the students thinking about college, and their responses will be interesting for my final paper. Then, we talked with the students in small groups about what a typical day for a college student is like, and what kind of clubs and activities we are involved in at PC. We also shared pictures and showed the students our student ID's so they could get a better feel of student life. Most of the students seemed very interested in these aspects of college life. After our discussions, we moved to the computer lab. The students all signed up for college board accounts, which we explained that they will need in the future for SATs, etc. The students used the college match maker tool to find schools that might be good fits for them. Unfortunately, not all of the students were able to complete all the sections of the tool in time, and it tended to narrow down schools so much that some students were not able to find ones that fit what they were looking for. In the future, students should be directed to pick more broad preferences, so schools that might be a good fit do not get eliminated based on trivial criteria. Despite these mishaps, the students were very interested in using the tool overall. However, I noticed that some of the students had trouble with some of the basic information on the tool (such as the word "initial), which was troubling to see for students their age. I hope that today's session helped the students to start thinking about what colleges they might be interested in the future, and made them more excited about the idea of going to college in general.

Shea Week 6

I really enjoyed our lesson today - it was titled "College Conversations" and we began the session with students journaling (either with images or writing) why they wanted to go to college. Afterwards, we looked over some of these journals and saw that most of the students wanted to secure a financially stable future or "make something out of themselves." These answers provided very concrete insight for us to define why these students are truly here, participating in EXPLORE!. After journaling, we broke up into three small groups with two volunteers per group and went through our typical days as college students. We passed around our PC id's and pictures of the campus, our friends, and on-campus events - all of which made students grasp what a typical college student does each day/throughout the year. The students seemed interested in this portion, both of the students in my group seemed to be interested in what college had to offer and came up with a few questions about college in general. I found this exercise particularly helpful because students were allowed a more one-on-one time with volunteers and really got a better sense of college life. We then went to the computer lab and had students make College Board accounts - a website which will prove very useful to them in the years to come. Many students were unsure where they wanted to go to college exactly, or what they wanted to major in, but that is to be expected since they are only high school freshmen. It is very good, however, to get these students ahead of the game and knowledgeable about the websites offered to students to help the college process run more smoothly. Students began a survey which would outline which colleges would be best for them (depending on factors like location, tuition, private/public institution) and students seemed to enjoy this segment of the session. Overall, I think students are becoming more involved in our lessons and actually getting something out of these EXPLORE! sessions.

Preparing for Interviews

Last week at Mount Pleasant our lesson topic was Health and Wellness which consisted of the students playing basketball as a way to have fun and relieve stress after school. Personally, I think if it was organized better it may have been more beneficial, but the students of EXPLORE were not even playing together because there were other students from the basketball team in the gym at the same time. This week's session was much more productive. The students were split into two groups and we talked about the interview process and discussed what not to do and what to do at an interview. I think we gave them a lot of helpful hints and they were able to think of a lot on their own. We worked one on one with the students and did mock interviews with them as if they were applying to college. A few of the students I worked with had some trouble taking it seriously, but we were able to get through it and I think it gave them an idea of what an interview would be like. One observation I made today was a connection to something we discussed in class this morning. In OSS, Rosalinda was encouraged by her friend to join SBU. Similarly, as we were walking into the EXPLORE classroom one of the students called to his friend down the hall and said, "I'm going to this program, you coming?". Something as simple as that could really encourage other students' peers to come to EXPLORE and get something out of it.

Mt. Pleasant Session 5

I have to admit this was one of my harder weeks at the Mt. Pleasant Explore program. Over the past few weeks we have been dealing with this issues of the kids who truly want to be in the program for its benefits of learning about college, and the kids who seem to want to be there for fun and games. It can be a difficult balance to manage, because where we have to offer valuable lessons for the students, we also must figure out ways to engage the students who prefer to play fun and games, in hopes of not letting them distract from the learning opportunities of the other students. In my honest opinion, it has felt as though the students who want fun and games have triumphed over the ones who are there to gain from the program. It seems as though we spend so much time trying to control the room, or the reckless chatter, that a lot of valuable learning time is lost. I think the most effective way we can remedy this situation is by dividing up into smaller groups. When we are paired or grouped off those students who are eager to learn are given more individualized attention, and the explore leaders are able to separate themselves from the constant attention they are having to give to the other students. Similarly, the students who prefer to have fun and games while at the program can do exactly that. They can sit and discuss what they want, and it does not effect the rest of the class what so ever. We have discussed the importance of smaller groups on one or two occasions, but I think it is vital that each lesson plan focus around smaller groups, in hopes of remedying the difficulties faced when we have a variety of students within the program. Another frustration I felt towards this weeks lesson plan was its lack of usefulness. They theme of the week was "health and wellness" and we spent ten minutes discussing the different reasons we have stress in our lives and the different ways we deal with that stress. The remainder of the time was spent in the basketball gym playing open basketball. No lessons, games, or structure was added into the gym portion at all. I am definitely and advocate for fitness and for being active, especially as a health and wellness lesson, but there was no lesson or purpose to the gym session. I felt as though we wasted the time of the students who rely on us to learn valuable material. I do not want to sound completely negative towards this weeks explore program. It was wonderful to be able to talk casually with some of the girls in the program and laugh around at how bad we are at basketball, but at the same time, I wish I was experiencing these conversations and laughing moments in a more beneficial way for the students. An hour is a really short time to be with these students and I think as leaders we must use every possible second of it to make an impact on these students. I really believe what we do can help these students open their minds to the possibility of college, but I think as leaders we need to be even more dedicated to assuring we do whatever possible to create that possibility.

Service Learning Week #5 Peter Fairbrother

Peter Fairbrother
11/6/11
Service Learning Week #5
This past week I planned the lesson for service learning. I did a lesson on responsibility and autonomy. I wanted to go over what responsibility was and see how the students prioritize their responsibilities. First, we went over what responsibility is. The students seemed to already understand the concept which was good and then we discussed certain responsibilities that the students have and one student explained how he has to cook dinner for his family. This shows yet again how much more responsibility these students have over suburban children. It was still shocking to me to hear that a freshman in high school is in charge of the kitchen even though we read about these challenges that urban school children have.
Next we compared different responsibilities and prioritized them. Family was a very big priority for these students but they still said school was their number one priority. I am not saying that this is not true I am however curious if that is truly the case or if they were just saying it because they thought that it would be the answer we wanted to hear. Personally I put family as my number one responsibility so I am just curious if the students really think that school is that important or if it was merely a biased response.
Next we worked on the subject of autonomy which was not as well known by the students. They needed extra instruction on this topic but once we worked on it they all realized that without knowing it they were in fact autonomous but they did not realize it yet. So I felt good showing them how they are in fact taking responsibility for their lives. It is nice to see those sort of light bulb switching on moments.

St. Pat's

This week was a little bit disappointing. When we got to the site only 4 of the students came and then 2 of them left early because they had appointments that they had to go to. We ended up just talking to them about that they look for in a college and what they hope to do in the future. It is unfortunate that many of the students just skip out for most of the weeks because EXPLORE! is something that could be very beneficial to them. We have started talking about field trips that are going to be available for the students. The first one is next weekend and it is a college visit. The students will be brought to Brown and RISD and they will be given tours so they can see what college campuses are like. Unfortunately JRW is next weekend so I will not be able to go but I am able to go to the field trip the weekend after. We will be going to the Providence College basketball game. I am really excited for this and so are all of the students. We do not have EXPLORE! next Friday but we do have a reflection where we are going to talk about how the program has been going so far.

Chad Brown Week 3

This week at Chad Brown there were a lot more kids because the other center was closed. There were a lot of older kids; they played basketball for the entire time. We went in there at the beginning, but their game was so intense and rough I decided to just do art with the younger kids. I was able to ask several different kids which schools they go to so I looked up the NECAP scores for those. This week's art project was cutting a shape out of cardboard, painting it, and decorating it. I made a hand turkey. Most of the kids who go to the center are boys. Some are really good at art, while others goof off and smeared the paint around. It is interesting to listen to the conversations they have. They were arguing about whose school is better, discussing girlfriends, and debating video games. 

Week 3 at the Tavares Center

This week at service learning I realized the kids are comfortable with us being there, which leads to a better environment. This week, one of the other local centers was closed so there were more older kids at the club. They were bigger than the kids who are usually there when we go, so they took over the spaces they wanted. The boys who normally played basketball or ran around in the gym were now forced to do art because the older kids wouldn't let them in their games. I decided my time would probably be better spent in art as well, so most of us were being creative.

The activity this week was painting cardboard, and some of the kids really have a lot of talent. One child drew a cartoon character to almost exact likeness, whereas the most I could do was paint a flower. It got interesting when one of the volunteers asked a child who he was going to give his painting to. Some said their parents or siblings, and one boy said he would give it to his girlfriend. This turned into a try and guess who he was dating time for all the other kids in the room and it was very funny to see how they reacted because they all know the same group of people.

Shea Week 5!

I thought Peter’s lesson at Shea went very well today. We focused on the concepts of Responsibility and Autonomy, and discussed the definitions and examples of these terms. Responsibility was perhaps easier to apply to everyone’s life, and we each gave some personal as well as academic examples of what we’re each responsible for. We asked students why they felt responsible for these tasks – was it because they truly wanted to complete the task or because they knew that if they didn’t complete the task there would be consequences? Some male students answered that they know they’re responsible for their homework/passing classes because they need to do that to be on a sports team. I asked them if they would still do the homework and work hard in class if it wasn’t solely to be on a sports team and each answered that they would still want to do well in school, which was good to hear. We also discussed how throughout life a student’s level of responsibility changes and increases. All students agreed that high school work is more difficult than middle school and more is expected of them. Several EXPLORE! volunteers mentioned that this level of responsibility only deepens as they enter college, and I thought this was an important connection to make.

We then played a game in which you threw a baseball to someone and answered a question about responsibility that was written on the baseball. I was glad to see that in every scenario, students chose the more responsible option that was given. We then moved to autonomy, and students gave examples of things they do not because they have to do them, but because they want to. Some students said that they read books for pleasure, and others said that they train for certain sports. I thought the discussion of this topic was very insightful for students because it made them realize that not everything they do is done because they have to. Other things we do simply because we want to and those things also contribute positively to our development. I think that this week, the students were more comfortable with sharing their own personal anecdotes which is a good sign of our progress thus far.