This Monday was pretty cool. I sat with Coach Morris during track practice, as always. I helped to hand out the uniforms for the track team. We discussed my research paper which I really need to work on a lot more. I think it's a good idea to get it done ahead of time, so I won't have torush through it in the end. After that, we discussed the huge scene that happened on Friday afternoon. I had the "pleasure" of being a part of the whole thing. One of his throwers was a huge part of the conflict, so he told me that he would talk to him. The meeting finished with our discussing the track team and the scrimmage they're having tomorrow. I think it was a productive and motivational mentor meeting. :)
This Whacky Wednesday was pretty cool. I spent most of the time in Ms. Ryan's office. Mr. Gadson stopped in and the three of us had a nice chat. He gave me some great suggestions on making my decision for college. He definitely contributed to my choosing to go to Rutgers University in Newark in the fall. I was really stressed about the summer program at the school and how it was commuter. I didn't know if I was going to be able to make it there everyday, but he gave me some insight on how I shouldn't stress too much about that part. His help is greatly appreciated. I also got to visit with the Girls Group again. Their skits are all finished and they will be performing them in front of the fifth graders on Friday. I'm really excited to get back and hear how all of that went! :)
I had yet another successful "Monday with Morris". This week we talked about Mr. Anthony Wellington and the things I learned from sitting in his presentation. Morris is actually the one who got Mr. Wellington to come. He found out that our own Ron Thompson was a bass player and thought this would be a nice opportunity for him and his project. I thought this was very thoughtful of Coach Morris. Morris and I also discussed my starting the research paper. He told me to look up more newspaper articles to help me along the way. We ended our meeting watching the javelin throwers. He told me how they might not have the javelin part this year if they can't get throwers over 100 feet. I hope that works out, but I'm sure the throwers will improve. :)
Today, our class had the privilege of travelling to the Band Room for a presentation by Mr. Anthony Wellington, "bass extraordinaire" as Mr. Pollock describes. There were a lot more than just the students from our class present. Mr. Wellington told the group that he liked to be spontaneous with his music. He tries to think of different sounds right on the spot and think outside the box of just a bass player. He tried something for the first time right there in front of our group; he played reggae on his bass guitar. It was something he had never done before. While there, he gave a little more than just a show. He actually gave us a little advice that I never heard before. When it comes to having a back-up plan in choosing a career, he says to "just forget about that". He never had something to fall back on, but because he was so passionate about his music, he felt like he didn't need that. Mr. Wellington knows for sure that he's passionate for his music because, he says, if God himself told him music wouldn't get him anywhere, he would still go through with it. This is his definition of passion. He makes/made a lot of sacrafices for his passion, too. He gave up a lot of time to play. A college girlfriend reminded him that he used to practice playing his bass guitar for 5-8 hours per day. He said time was what he sacraficed the most in life. I left this visit to the band room with a lot more than I thought I would have. I would also like to check out some of the books Mr. Wellington recommended with "Conversations with God" being at the top of that list. I thank Mr. Wellington for taking time out of his busy schedule to come visit us and shower us with his extraordinary talent! :)
My connection was actually made while visiting my sponsor. While observing the students, I made a connection to my project. There was one student in particular who stuck out the most to me. Her name was Victoria. I noticed that she understood the work a little more than the rest of the class and took the opportunity to help her classmates (when Ms. Beckman asked her to do so). There were a few times in particular though that she would hold her tongue if she knew the answer. I would catch her looking around to see if anyone else knew the answer first. This showed me that my thesis statement holds true. Peers have a huge influence on the actions of kids this age. Think about it! :)
This visit may not have been the most exciting, but it was productive. My sponosr had to prepare for a faculty meeting, so I only saw her for about 10 minutes when I first arrived at the middle school. With this time, I took the oppurtunity to sit in on Ms. Beckman's fitfth grade Math Essentials. The students were working on adding fractions. While observing, I noticed that many of them had the problem of multiplying when they should be adding. It was also a struggle for them to find common denominators for the fractions. It's interesting seeing that they couldn't grasp the basics of math. The teaching skills are also different in this class. Ms. Beckman chose to stay more focused than Mr. Bosco. I think the fact that it is much easier for a fifth grader's mind to wander than an eighth grader's mind. I wasn't as entertained this week at the middle school, but I will say that it was a nice time. Hopefully next week will be much better! :)
I had yet another successful "Monday with Morris". We stood outside during his practice with the throwers for field. While watching the javelin throwers, we discussed the articles a little more and my blog. He told me about checking it, but he hadn't seen any new posts. I told him that we only had to do four per week. Also, we discussed my sponsor visits a little more and how much I enjoy visiting the middle school every week. Before meeting with me, he was in a meeting for the Special Ed teachers. He told me about how durring March and April each school year the teachers have to work with the students with learning disabilties and meet with their parents about their work. They use all the information and create Individual Educational Programs for each child. I thought this was extremely interesting. It's actually what I want to take up as a career. I enjoy looking at the different ways people think and working with children who have mental disabilities is a passion of mine. I will be talking more on this subject with Coach Morris. We talked about my paper and finding more sources. In my opinion, it was a very accomplished meeting! :)
This video doesn't really connect to my project, but to Psychology as a whole. It is often believed that "there is safety in numbers". This is not entirely true. A man lays on the sidewalk, in just regular clothes, groaning for help. Next a woman takes his spot on the sidewalk. Lastly, the same man changes into a suit and lays on the sidewalk. I think it's pretty interesting how people react (or don't react) to the situation. Also, the comments under the actual YouTube video are kind of shocking. Some people have no sympathy and others, like myself, are pretty ashamed of the human race as a whole. Watch and see what happens!
My fourth field trip to the middle school was one to remember. I had the chance to sit in an eighth grade math class (Mr. Bosco's Algebra class to be exact). Mr. Bosco is still as sarcastic as he was when I was one of his students in the seventh grade. He jokes a lot in his class, but the students respect him and pay attention when the time is needed. While sitting in his class for a little while I was reminded of something said in my psychology class. Math teachers tend to be a lot neater than, let's say, an English teacher. Mr. Bosco's class was extremely neat when I had him as a teacher and is still that way now. People who like math like everything to have its specific place. This is definitely true, even for me. There's also another thing that might be a bit obvious; most eight graders are a lot more mature than the fifth graders that I'm used to interacting with at the middle school. There were a select few that haven't gotten that maturity boost yet, though. They would have their random outburts or try to start things with the other students. I could also see that these kids may still struggle with making friends. They were in the back of the class (opposite corners from each other), kind of isolated from the other students. I may sit in another class next week and I'm really excited for that. At the end of my visit, I went and sat with the intersting girls group. This week the easily distracted girls met and they actually finished their skit for the mot part. They just need to work on being serious about it and letting things flow. They tend to make it too obvious when the lines are switching from person to person.
This week my Monday with Morris went extremely well. I stayed with him for about two hours after school. We discussed the articles he gave me on Friday and how I felt aboout them. He also shared with me some stories about his son and daughter. I told him about my younger brother and sister. I also told him that I thought it was interesting how children the same age are a lot alike. The fifth graders I talk with at the middle school have a lot in common with my younger brother who is also in the fifth grade. As time went on, we began to talk about my senior year (graduation, the trip, and prom). When the topic of college came up, he started telling me about the many former students that he continues to keep in contact with. I'm sure I will be on that list when the fall comes. Before I left, he told me to stay focused on my work and that I shouldn't wait until the last minute to begin this research paper. I will definitely keep those tips in mind. :)
My Monday with Morris got transferred to a "Friday" with Morris this week. It went pretty well. We discussed my research paper thesis and the way my sponsor visits have been going. He' glad that I'm enjoying myself at the middle school. Morris also found two articles that I could possibly use in my research paper. Both articles were about absent fathers and their effect on their daughters lives. I found it interesting that a child's life is even effected when the parent isn't there at all. The absence of a father can determine a lot in the daughters life, from what kind of guys she dates to how well she does on a math test to whether or not she decides to go to college. Ater looking over thse articles, we also discussed my grades and the rest of my classes. It turned out that a Friday with Morris was just as poductive as any Monday. :)
I had another very successful trip to the middle school today. At the beginning of my visit, Ms. Ryan brought it to my attention that the students at the middle school don't have many opportunities to meet kids that they have anything in common with and make new friends. When I heard this, I told Ms. Ryan that we don't have that problem here at the high school very often because of our many clubs, sports, and activities. I felt kind of bad for the middle shoolers, so Ms. Ryan and I started to come up with a bunch of different clubs and activities that could possibly be beneficial for the students at the middle school, as well as something they would be interested in doing. After our brainstorming, I got the chance to make a new friend. A fifth grader, named Sam, came to Ms. Ryan's office. He isn't like my other friends, Nate and Jeff, when it comes to making conversation, but Ms. Ryan tells me that he does have trouble with his maturity. He often does things in class to annoy his classmates. He doesn't do too well with group work, so using the fact that I have a younger brother in the same grade, I gave Sam a list of different topics that I was pretty sure other fifth graders might be interested in talking about. I'm thinking for my next visit I'd like to sit in a classroom of one of my former teachers (possibly Mr. Bosco, since he was my favorite) and doing some more observing of the kids.
Everyone has different ways to relieve stress. I have a few ways to do this myself. One way is to simply write all my thoughts in a journal. This is a way to help release all of my feelings and say what I want, how I want. Another way I do this is by taking a nap. It refreshes my mind and I wake up not as worried about whatever I was having a problem with. The most effective stress-reliever for me though is music. When I listen to music, I let my mind go into another world. I like to listen to music with a slow tempo to kind of calm my nerves. It makes me relax and forget about the stress I once had. This is one thing that always helps no matter what I'm stressing about. I usually only use the other techniques when I don't have music to listen to. Taking a nap is normally just my last resort.
