Independent Program

Completed
Caitlyn Wetstein

I walked in on Wednesday and we were in the little kids room because there was something wrong with our room and it being too hot. The older kids were able to interact and play some games with the younger kids. That was neat to see. After that we headed to a room downstairs to do our lessons and activity. When we got downstairs the instructors alerted me that the children have been having bullying issues. We had a ten minute conversation with the kiddos about the importance of being nice and how you don't know what people are going through. I think it resonated with them- we hope! After that, we moved on the lessons and it was involving poems and alliteration. The children got worksheets on how to spot alliterations and even make their own. After that, we moved on to arts-n-crafts. The craft was making a flower and creating an alliteration from the petals. The kids really enjoyed it and their flowers turned out amazing.

Gave 2.00 hours on 03/10/2020 with Ball State University
Caitlyn Wetstein

I walked in on week five and was immediately greeted with hugs from about five of the children. They were all playing different games around the room. I joined the boys and played with some fun blocks. Then I got called to play a card game that I know as “Buck 35,” but the children called it something different. The kiddos were impressed with how I good I was at the game. After the game the children got to do their dollar deal worksheets. The first one was about a poem about a “rabbit habit” and the children had to give an example of a habit, find verbs in the poem, and then write their own verse. Once that was finished, they could grab a crossword puzzle and the words included various jobs people hold. Most of the kids did not finish this worksheet before the lecture started. Today’s lecture talked about the Hindenburg and we watched a video on the history of it. We were paired off and had to answer questions on a sheet. The worksheet questions included how much a ticket cost, why did it crash, and what country decided to go into air travel again. After the worksheet, we got to design our own aircraft and list three places we wanted to travel. My partner and I decided to go see the northern lights, Mt. Rushmore, and Rome.

Gave 2.00 hours on 02/25/2020 with Ball State University
Riley Moulton

Gave 2.00 hours on 02/23/2020 with Ball State University, Coordinated Programs, Educ in a Democratic Society (100) - Section 1, Plan for Elem and EC Classroom (200) - Section 1, Student Affairs, Student Voluntary Services - SVS
Caitlyn Wetstein

I walked in on week four and felt like I Rockstar. I immediately got called by tables to play whatever activity they were playing. I checked in with the teachers and the main teacher was not in class. This made the kids a little more squirrely than usual. After playing games for a little bit, I worked with one kid on his area of triangles worksheet that the teacher sent home with him. We were able to get his multiplying skills going and I taught him a trick that he could use to check himself so his answer would always be right. Then the class shifted gears and we talked about famous buildings or structures found in Egypt. The kids watched a PBS video on the pyramids and the Sphinx. We then completed worksheets about the area. After that we read a prompt on the Nile river and the kids were asked to paraphrase what they had just read.

Gave 2.00 hours on 02/18/2020 with Ball State University
Caitlyn Wetstein

Week three a lot of the kids recognized me immediately. The started off with a Valentine’s day activity. The worksheet consisted of twenty words that they had to unscramble, but it was all related to the holiday. After that, they received multiplication tables and we could not use a calculator. I had to get a refresher on how to multiply numbers greater than 20. The kids didn’t believe me when I said I didn’t remember. After they got done with their worksheets, we played games. I got dragged into playing a game called ‘Kemps.’ You partner up and make a signal. First pair to get four of a kind and do their signals win. After game time, we had a group activity. The class was learning about constellations and astrology. They did an arts-n-crafts where they could create their own star shape and write a story that went along with it.

Gave 2.00 hours on 02/11/2020 with Ball State University
Caitlyn Wetstein

Week two when I walked into the classroom, the kids were watching a documentary. It is set in the grasslands of Africa. It was focused on a pack of cheetahs and the students were able to learn a lot of interesting facts about the species. Including how fast they can run and who from the pack hunts. After the video, the kids had reading time. I got asked to read with one of the children. He picked a book about a deputy in the wild west era. It was hard to listen him read because he was mispronouncing words that I thought would be easy. It was very eye opening that some of these kiddos are not where I would expect them to be and that patience is an important factor when working in this environment.

Gave 2.00 hours on 02/04/2020 with Ball State University
Riley Moulton

Gave 2.00 hours on 02/02/2020 with Ball State University, Coordinated Programs, Educ in a Democratic Society (100) - Section 1, Plan for Elem and EC Classroom (200) - Section 1, Student Affairs, Student Voluntary Services - SVS
Caitlyn Wetstein

When I first arrived, the kids were doing “money fair.” Throughout the time there, the kids earn “dollars” to then be spent on various prizes at the end of the month. If the kids were not picking out prizes, I was able to hang out with them and play games. I played ‘Spot It’ with a lot of the kids and formed buildings with magnetic blocks. After games, the teacher had an activity where the kids were able to learn their vocabulary words. It was like the game ‘Heads Up.” The teams were boys versus girls, and you had one person go up from each team while taking turns. One person went up to the front and held a piece of paper up. The goal of the team was to get the person to guess the word without saying the words written. The gals unfortunately lost, but they thought I was a rock star because I knew so many.

Gave 2.00 hours on 01/28/2020 with Ball State University