5/22/15

Today we had a technology workshop at Casa Latina. Unfortunately due to sickness and schedule conflicts, our group was missing Ivette, Klarissa, and Willa. We had to prepare ourselves to run a smooth workshop with only three people from the class (myself, Kaylah, and Sarah). Sylvia stepped up to help us out, especially for the first 30 minutes before Sarah arrived to begin the instruction. Kaylah was working with the kids, so I was the only non-fluent Spanish speaker in the whole room for nearly 45 minutes. This definitely challenged me, and I spoke more Spanish today than any other workshop day so far.
Due to my lack of confidence speaking Spanish, it can sometimes be intimidating sitting among the women while everyone converse in Spanish. I know that everyone is very patient with me, especially when I have to take time mid-sentence to remember the correct word I want to use. Immersion is the most effective way to pick up a language, however! I'm a little bit nervous about my presentation next Friday. I haven't had to speak for an extended period of time before, let alone teaching people about a subject in Spanish. I think it will be okay.

5/8/15 Workshop Casa Latina

Today's two hour segment was split up in an unusual way. For the first hour, we had the women participate in a technology workshop like normal, but the second hour was dedicated to a Mother's Day celebration that Casa put on. Therefore we only had half of the usual time slot to work with the women. Although brief, the workshop went fairly well. Unfortunately it seemed like the participants were looking forward to the fiesta, so the attention of the group was not as focused as it has been in the past.
As for the fiesta, it was heartwarming to see the children go up in the front of the room and share why they appreciate their mothers. Although some seemed nervous or bashful, their speeches were genuine. I was surprised to find myself in charge of carving up the roast chickens that they purchased for the meal. I would not consider myself a cook by any sense of the word, but I don't think I messed them up too badly. Food is food, right?
The meal gave us some good time to chat with one another, and I appreciated being able to talk with Sarah more than we usually get to.

Implicit Bias Test Reflection Kaylah

Implicit bias test Reflection

5/7/15

I took Harvard's Implicit Basis Test for Skin Tone, Gender: Career, and Gender: Science.

My results:

“Your data suggest little to no automatic preference between Dark Skin and Light Skin.”

“Your data suggest little or no association between Female and Male with Career and Family.”

“Your data suggest a moderate association of Male with Science and Female with Liberal Arts compared to Female with Science and Male with Liberal Arts.”

I took these 3 tests in this order from the Harvard project implicit website. I thought these were somewhat interesting. I wasn’t uncomfortable sharing my results. I’m not sure if the sections where you press certain keys to match pictures and words are accurate ways to gauge my biases, but maybe there are subconscious signs. I do know on the last tests I was beginning to care less about the accuracy because I am tired and I wanted it to be over. A lot of the testing just forced me to be concentrated and hand eye coordinated.  

4/29/15 Workshop Douglass-Truth Library Kaylah

Location: Douglass-Truth Library

Time: 5-7

Date: 4/29/15

     Today had a special dedication to Mother’s day, as it is approaching. As a group we all started off with playing a big game of “Loteria,” or “Bingo.” I thought this was a nice activity because normally the adults are separated from the kids, but today we did an activity as a cohesive group.  I don’t speak fluent Spanish, but this activity was especially cool because everyone knew how to play bingo regardless of the language, and I even began to remember Spanish I had learned in high school.

     We played several rounds and everyone was able to get a prize. It was a good activity for people to get engaged in. After, we split into our groups. Mother’s day cards had been a craft we had been talking about all month, and today was the day we finally got to do it. The kids had fun drawing pictures for their moms and writing sweet messages inside like “te quiero mucho.”

     It doesn’t matter if you’re artistic or not, mothers are always going to appreciate hand made cards.  I thought I was going to buy my mom a card, but now we all have something to give our moms that we made. I think making a card vs. buying a card is the better way to go.

      

4/15/15 Workshop Douglass-Truth Library Kaylah

Location: Douglass-Truth Library

Time: 5-7:30pm

Date: 4/15/15

     Today I was a lead for the early literacy activity. I prepared for the kids to make “silly sentences.” I had five printed out lists of words and phrases. Each paper was labeled 1-5. The instructions were for the kids to start in numerical order, pick and write down one word (or set) from each sheet, and the end the result would be a silly sentence. After they had their silly sentence written down, they would then draw a picture to accompany it.

     The children were intrigued from the start. They all had access to blank sheets of paper and art supplies. As they began to create their sentences, they would take time to critically think about what they wanted their sentence to say next.  As they thought of the possibilities, they were so amused and laughter ensued. One sentence example was “the happy lion played cards with the grumpy penguin,” followed by an illustration.  Not only did they create sentences, they visualized what was being read too. The kids didn’t stop with one picture, many walked away with a stack of papers that they made.

     At the end, when the session was slowing down they wanted to try origami. The only thing I knew how to make was a paper airplane, so I taught them step by step how to make them. We decorated them and had races outside. Willa knew how to make paper cranes so we tried those as well.

     Overall I believe this EL activity was a success. Everyone was practicing writing words, sentence structures, and visualizing. All these things were done with having fun! Even some of the other student volunteers poked in and made their own. I think that the children had a fun day and didn’t know they could have so much fun when writing.   

4/8/15 Workshop Douglass-Truth Library Kaylah

Location: Douglass-Truth Library

Time: 5-7pm

Date: 4/8/2015

     Today I worked with the kids. We brought an assembled puppet show stage and we showed the kids how to make puppets by decorating brown paper lunch bags. There were many art materials to choose from including crayons, markers, colored pencils, construction paper and even googley eyes. At first they seemed unsure of what to do but after we had a few lead examples going, they soon were excited about what they wanted to create.

     During the process of creating there were conversations among the children about what kinds of stories they could come up with. Everyone involved at the table made a puppet. It was a nice day outside, and as a group we decided to conduct the puppet show outdoors. Us older students became the audience, and the children quietly discussed behind the curtain what the show was going to be. One of the kids was pretty bossy about the whole process and what she wanted to do, and wanted others to do. The other children had less vocal personalities and avoiding conflict, they went along with the plans.

     Overall everyone seemed to enjoy making their own puppets and using their imagination. The kids even thought it would be amusing to see us older students star in a show as well. Art was the first theme, but equally important was creative thinking with the stories, and collaboration. I enjoyed this workshop. Being a part of crafty activities with children was a nice outlet from my own work. They were so energetic and enthusiastic about their creations. I think it is important to have a creative mindset, not just for artist purposes, but also for thinking in life in general.