Last Thursday we finally got the chance to see the ALA staff in action with the kids. Unfortunately, little went to plan, but it was still nice to get some "boots on the ground" time.
The initial plan was to do a science experiment, but due to some vigorous high-fiving, eggs, a crucial component of the experiment, were destroyed. So instead we talked about bullying, and then played a dodgeball variant outside. Here are some of my observations:
At least one of the ALA staff at W did not "dummy down" their speech when talking to the kids. They read about bullying from a handout that contained some pretty sophisticated vocabulary. The staff member also mentioned rape and sexual assault, things that I personally could not have conceived of in middle school. I don't mean this observation to be negative necessarily, but I wasn't sure how much the kids understood of what the staff member said.
I was also struck by ultimately how little time we had...ALA programming didn't really start until about 4, if I recall correctly, because of snack and another extracurricular activity. I'm not sure if that is typical or not. The staff seemed to stress that it was an un-typical day, due to the Egg Catastrophe and the No Tardy Party, so I am hesitant to really draw any conclusions from what I saw so briefly.
About Me
- BJ
- I had plans for a super-awesome summer internship involving Middle East policy. Those plans went kaput, but I've decided to do what I'd be doing anyway, for personal edification and satisfaction. And fame, obviously.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment