What was the hardest part of the Track Break Camp?

 

Sanchez: The hardest part of the Track Break Camp was mostly the preparation. It took us longer to get everything ready than it did to actually teach.

 

Branum: The hardest part? Planning. It wasn’t necessarily the actual execution, but the planning. It involved a lot of time putting the room together and the agendas and lesson plans took a lot of effort.

 

Lacuesta: The hardest part was adjusting to the different age groups in the classroom... it ranged from Pre-K students to 5th grade.

 

What did you learn with this experience?

 

Sanchez: I learned that once you’re in the classroom with the kids, it becomes a different atmosphere. You almost have to adapt to the different situations that is thrown at you.

 

Branum: It taught me to go with the flow. Ms. Ho has been telling us that for years but I’m finally getting it. Not everything will go as planned but we can come up with plan B’s just in care.

 

Lacuesta: I learned to be able to think fast on your feet and [that], even though they can get bored of what’s going on, you must stay as an authoritative figure and know when to butt in saying “No, we have to do this first.”

 

Was this experience enjoyable? Stressful? How was it rewarding?

 

Sanchez: It was both enjoyable and stressful; it had to be stressful in planning in order for our group to provide an enjoyable experience. In the end it was mostly rewarding to experience working with kids.

 

Branum: It was definitely enjoyable but absolutely stressful. The kids are so cute and fun, but sometimes they just make you want to pull your hair out, but that’s just how kids are. It was extremely rewarding when the children said, “I want you to be my teacher everyday” or run up and hug you.

 

Lacuesta: I personally found the experience stressful because of the big age difference and because my teaching group felt a little disconnected from me. At the end, I found it rewarding. All the kids had fun and it was a good experience overall.

 

From this experience, what grade was easier to teach? What grade would you want to actually teach?

 

Sanchez: Personally, I loved Pre-K the most, but I felt like I worked better with 2nd grade students. I had fun teaching them math and feel that I would work best with elementary students during internship.

 

Branum: The only age I worked with was the younger ones when teaching, so I guess they were the easiest to teach. But I now, I think I want to teach 5th or 4th grade because they can be more independent and are easier to communicate with the kids.

 

Kristinne Lacuesta: I found Pre-K – 2nd grade were easier to teach but I will want to teach secondary.

 

How do you connect with the students?

 

Tan: To connect with the students, I try to relate with them.

 

Teresi: I think I connect with the students really well. One kid, Jeckson, was in fourth grade and I spent the whole day joking with him as if we were friends, yet he still listened to all directions given to him because I was still able to be an authority figure.

 

Luu: How I connect or engage students is using visual and physical presentation. For example, in United States History, you can wear or impersonate people in that time Era such as revolutionary war, civil war, women suffrage, and other United States Historical presentation. [That], or using artifacts as a visual representation.

 

How has what you’ve learned in Teach helped with this?

 

Tan: The other teach classes has helped me improve my communication and presentation skills. It has also helped me be prepared for Track Break Camp and what to expect from the children.

 

Teresi: Human Development in Learning helped me because I could arrange lesson plans and adjust my tone based on the stage of development the children were in. Junior helped me through all the observations and tutoring we did because we could take what we witnessed and did one on one and apply it to actual class.

 

Luu: Other teach classes helped me during Track Break Camp in communication. In education, we learned the basics and the science behind on how to teach. I learned different behaviors and that everyone is different based on how they were raised, grew up and what they grow up into.

 

If you can go back, what would you do differently?

 

Tan: If I could go back, I would work more with the other children and not focus on only one grade level, pre-k & kindergarten.

 

Teresi: If I could go back, I would have a group game during P.E. It's fun to let the kids play around, but they would have had so much more fun with a game like limbo or tag and it would have built a great student-teacher relationship.

 

Luu: If I could go back, I would go back to sophomore year and relearn the course of human development because human development is big major part on education and it identifies how students are grown up cognitively. I missed big, whole chunks of information due to my lack of dedication to that class.

 

What advice would you give the Junior T.E.A.C.H class for next year?

 

Tan: My advice to the junior class would be: no matter how detailed your lesson plans are, even one unexpected situation could occur, so don't panic and just go with the flow. Also, always have a plan B just in case.

 

Teresi: Always have extra games or activities planned just in case! The kids don't like free time as much as you'd think they would and when they get bored, they aren't afraid to let you know.

 

Luu: If you lack the commitment of being an educator, then don’t be an educator and do something that makes you want to do. Even if you don’t know what you really want to do, try other things, experience, and find what is right for you.

 

Teaching kids is harder than it looks, every child is different. The T.E.A.C.H program helps future educators to be prepared for their teach careers or in any career and the Track Break Camp proved to be an amazing, hands-on experience. I bid the future T.E.AC.H. seniors to have a similar, rewarding experience once they get their turn.