30 Octubre 2010

I have travelled into the city to attend some meetings and research like a mad woman.

I thought I would give you guys a little look at what I am working on. This is an outline of the curriculum I am developing:

I. World

A. World Map- paint mural

1. The earth, gravity, the equator, the planets

2. Geography

3. Recycling and putting trash in the trash can

4. History of the world

5. Study of different cultures and arts

6. Study of languages<-this feeds nicely into the next section

II. Community

A. Library- helps assemble library

1. Literacy

2. Interest in reading

3. Computer literacy

4. Researching

5. Presentation and study of country/community's history and culture

6. What is democracy?

7. What is a good leader?

8. Organization

9. Teams and teamwork

10. Business management

11. The role of the female

12. Family violence

13. Alcoholism

III. Self

A. Health

1. Our body parts and how they work

2. What is healthy poop?

3. Nutrition

4. Hygiene

5. Sanitation

6. Safe sexual practices and STDs <- not to be presented to 6-12 age group

8. Family planning

B. Individuals/personalities <-influenced by the Boys and Girls club of America themes of Sense of Belonging, Sense of Usefulness, sense of Influence, and Sense of Competence. Journal making project

1. Individuality and creativity <-allow time for no planned activities where the students can plan or play what they want.

2. Preferences

3. Leadership repeated <-have the student be a leader and teach something

4. Self-esteem <-convince the student that they are important

I will be meeting every night of the week with a different age group.

This surriculum balances The Youth Development Division of PEace Corp's goals as well as local needs and requests from parents and teachers. It is called "VALE" which stands for "Volar a las Estrellas" -the kid's idea. "Volar a las Estrellas" means "fly to the stars", and "vale" means " to be full of worth".

As you can see the first section is world knowledge. Each lower-case letter represents a week of lessons. It is full of games and art projects that teach the topics listed. Each section is paired with sme sort of "big project. The first section's big project will be painting a mural throughout a two month period. the mural is a world map and will me located in the entrance to the elementary school. the second section focusses on the community and it is when we will be putting together the library. There are spaces designated for a library in both the elementary school and high school but there are few books and all the books are outdated. There also isn't a single book that exists just for the joy of reading. Getting ahold of fun books to get kids hooked on reading as well as kid friendly encyclopedias will be my main focusses. The third section focusses on the body and local needs. ut "big" project will be making journals from recycled materils and then building the habit of writing in them daily.

So that is the main focus of my work and my passion.

The teachers have requested I give a series of talks that I am also researching and developing. With the help of Harlem Children's Zone and KIPP methods I will be giving a talk on motivating and teaching students discipline. Other talk topics include how to work with battered children, how to use recycled resources in the classroom, how to incorporate ultimedia in the classroom, and nutrtion and cooking.

Lots-o-work for me, but I love it!

Also, I will begin to collect funds for the VALE program shortly so keep an eye open for that e-mail from me and how to donate. I will be looking for support to purchase paint supplies for the mural, shelving for the library, books, and all the paper and art supplies for the after-school daily activities.