creating cultural revelant education

After watching this video i was not only able to relate to some of things that was said but also got a better understanding of other students perspectives.  There is nothing more important to a student then having a connection with teachers. Being able to have a teacher that not only knows your name but can also connect and guide you. This allows for a student to feel more comfortable and to trust the teachers you have. One of the girls also mentioned how she wished for a teacher to be a mentor type person as well as a teacher.  If a teacher makes these connections the will bettter be able to accommodate and work in the best way for the student. There was also a boy in the video who brought up a good point about instead of just sending your student to the office or kicking them out instead learn the reason they may be acting out. We also need to make sure parents have connections with the teachers. This play a huge role for the student. Parents need this connection in order to be able to know how to help their child in school.  Overall it is important to get to know each student individual so that you can best work in order to beneifit them .

Digital Natives , Digital Immigrants

My relationship with technology is becoming more and more dependable.  Growing up I always had a computer in the house,  always had tv with cable,  and then once in middle school had my first cell phone.  I believe that technology is good but to a certain extent.   To much technology is not good in my eyes.   I feel like now a days kids are drawn to much into technology and not enough into really enjoying their childhood.  For example my little cousin was in like third grade when she got her first cell phone.  I personally think that is a little too young.  
     I believe that I am a digital native because I was brought up with technology but did not let it ruin my childhood.  I am now a lot more dependeable on technology and feel like is beneficial in today's society.   As a youth worker I feel like it is very important to know technology because that is the kids future.  Youth workers need to know how to use technology to work with kids so that it will benfit them and their learning. Technology can not only be used for teaching but it can also be used to connect with our youth.

EVENT #1

For one of my events I decided to attend a Silly Science Party that they do every year at my church in the month of October.  For this event children and teens could attend and participate in different activities that had to do with science. This was my first year attending the event and I ended up really enjoying it.  I help assisted children in different activities and was able to see how science works in different ways.  The children's favorite activity was the one that they made their own slime.  We let them pick any color they wanted their slime to be and assisted them in making it.  We also did an activity were we made an exploration.  This seemed to really be something that the children enjoyed.  This related to Youth Development in my opinion because it's defiantly something you can do as a youth worker.  Sometimes it's important to find fun ways in teaching children about academics without making it boring for them.  This to me was a great example of how you can teach kid's different things in fun ways.  I found a few different links that are different events that children can attend that have a similar concept as the one that was done at my church.   

http://www.visitrhodeisland.com/what-to-do/events/18557/mad-science-at-providence-childrens-museum/

http://southernmass.madscience.org/

 

 

identity in context

Context mapping is  who you are or how you act depending on where you are whether it is school, work, or home.  When your at home with family you may act differently than when your at school or work with friends or co-workers.   Context mapping may be different for everyone because everyone acts differently depending where they are. 

My context map:
RIC- youth development,  student
Home- daughter, sister, niece,  granddaughter,  cousin, girlfriend ,friend
Social- instagram, blogger
Work- sales associate,  teacher

Foreclosed identity- when someone doesn't explore others but instead commits to certain life without exploring others. 

Diffusion identify- wjen someone is not site of their identity and who they are but instead tries to fit in to avoid confrontation. 

Moratorium identity- when someone explores relationship and beliefs but does not commit in any. 

Achieved identity- when the identity crisis is resolved and the person makes commitment to the change.

Egg Drop Blog

     Unfortunately I was unable to attend class last Thursday.  After reading some of the other blogs from the class I realized that the Youth in Action group brought in to class a cool way of teaching the students about budget cuts and how some groups are more privileged and have more resources than others. I read one blog that explained how they had very little material to protect their egg and then I read about another group who were very privileged and had a lot of "resources" or materials to use. 
     I think that this activity was a great way to explain and show budget cuts that many communities may experience. It also showed how some kids are more fortunate than others and how some have more resources in their schools and communities compared to others.  Throughout reading other people's blogs I do see a pattern throughout them all.  They mostly all brought up the term budget cuts and I assumed that this was one of the main points to be proven from the lesson. Everyone also related this egg drop to the reading from last week.  Overall I think they really were able to learn from this activity and enjoyed it.     

Ullucci's Reading

Ullucci makes very good points on how poverty impacts youth.  Often times youth struggle more in school than youth who do not live in poverty.  Many times these students are not able to focus in school because they are not given the proper nutrition or are worried that they may not have food on the table when they get home.  This is a very stressful thing for anyone to have to face everyday.  Youth who struggle and live in poverty doesn't make them any less intelligent or unable to succeed in life.  In fact I find that many times it only makes them strive and work harder to success.  
     Poverty does not only effect the individuals but also effects the schools and communities as a whole.  Often times money is very limited and schools are without enough financial support to run after school programs, sports, or extra circular activities.  This leaves very few options for the youth to have.  
     I feel very strong about helping youth and children who are less fortunate and may not have all the resources they should have.  My goal is to be able to provide more for the youth in these particular communities.   

problem focused services

     The section on problem focused services focused on the history of the child welfare and juvenile systems. The child welfare system began in the mid nineteenth century. This system was designed to take care and look after children who are not taken proper care of by their families. This particular service helped assist children who may have not gotten the proper care from parents.
     This section went on to talk about juvenile systems and the history behind that. In the 1970's the court system began to take children who did not attend school or who ran away from home and where supervised by court and or incarnated for these things. Costello makes a great point when he describes the different views of a child who is under the child welfare system and a child who is under the juvenile system. Children who were under the child welfare system were looked at as innocent because they had very little say in their descions but for a child under the juvenile system where looked at as bad kids because they chose to do the wrong thing.
      I feel that if we offered youth programs and listened more to their thoughts and inputs we would decrease the amounts of kids on the street and into violence and trouble.  I feel that as a youth worker the youth should be the one to say what they want, what they like, so that we don't run into problems of violence.  It is very important to offer after school programs and activities for the youth in todays society.

youth in action

     Youth in Action is a great organization that allows young people to be the center of change. It gives them the ability to lead, to speak their minds and to have a say in their communities. I feel as if this is what is needed for many of our youth who feel of no importance in their communities.
     I can definitely resonate to this because in school I always felt like the teachers and staff were the ones leading and teaching and that our opinions, thoughts and feelings had not much say. I felt like I couldn't say my opinions or share ideas because I would just be shut down. Like talked about in this article my school gave us very little encouragement. They actually encouraged us all to apply to CCRI, as if they didn't believe we could do better than that.
     I'm glad that youth today have a chance to make a difference, to speak their minds and to share their ideas. This to me is a great opportunity for youth to be leaders and for youth who may feel like they are not Important to feel important and to feel like they can have a say and share their ideas. The youth today are the future and I feel as if they should be encouraged to strive for the best.

crystal introduction

Hello everyone! My name is Crystal Coelho and this is my fifth year here at RIC. I started off as a education major and changed in my junior year to Youth Development.  At first I was a little unsure about this major, but after taking many classes I came to love it. Im excited about seeing what this major will bring to me in the near future. I wil be graduating this year and am looking forward to what will come. I have always loved children and youth and have worked with them in many ways. In church, I have worked alot with the children and young teens. I have worked with younger children in school settings and continue to work with children kindergarten to fifth grade in an after school program at Henry Barnyard. im exicted about this course and even more exicted about my internship.