Hello, everyone! This week was the first week I worked at the Mix. The Mix is an after-school program facility that is open Monday through Thursday for a good portion of the school year. Tuesday was the start of their program and I started Wednesday. Since it is the first week for everyone, the Mix focused on team building exercises and getting students signed up for the different activities they can do as part of their learning, such as dance classes and scouts.
On Wednesday, I arrived at 2:15 to meet my partner, who will be working with me in the classroom. We introduced ourselves, she showed me the classroom, and we took a photograph together (pictured below). Alexis explained that we will be teaching one project a week starting next week.
We had a staff meeting where they officially welcomed me to the team, introduced me to anyone I hadn't met yet, and explained the schedule. When the students first arrive, there is one or two people stationed at the gate helping unload the busses, one or two people signing students in at the door, two people in the gym, and the rest helping students get settled in the cafeteria for snack time. Groups six through eight, the middle and high school students, were allowed to go in the gym until it was time to go to the classrooms if they didn't want a snack. I was stationed at the door with Alexis, greeting students and helping collect the names of everyone who came in. After snack time, we gathered up the students in our group and took them to the classroom for homework and journaling time. We passed out their journals, made sure they had their names written on them, and explained how to use the journaling prompts. At quarter past four, we escorted them back downstairs where they met the teachers leading the dance classes and the scout groups. They were given a chance to eat supper and Alexis and I helped Ms. Ann, the director, sign students out as their parents arrived to pick them up.
On Thursday, the Mix staff had a short meeting explaining what the schedule was. Alexis and I were on sign-in duty again, so we greeted the students as they came in. The middle and high school students were allowed to go in the gym, just like the day before. After all the students had a chance to finish their snack, we gathered our group up and headed over to the classroom. Alexis and I passed out the forms for the students to sign up for the activities, as well as their green notebooks, which serve as their journal and reading log at the Mix. We went over both. I helped a few students fill out their forms and reexplained the notebook.
After the guest speakers for the day arrived, we had the students help us tidy up the room and headed to the gym, where the students participated in an activity with a group called T.H.E.M., which is a group that teaches music. The students were split into two groups, one who stayed in the gym with T.H.E.M., and one that went outside to play Run Monkeys Run. I stayed with the students from my assigned group, which were in the gym with T.H.E.M. The students where taught a simple song about how they can be who they want to be through hard work. Most of the students enjoyed the movement and fun rhymes.
Once the instructors from T.H.E.M. left to meet with the other group, we tried the team building exercise called the human knot, which is where they crossed their arms and held hands, then tried to unknot themselves without letting go. They figured it out pretty quickly. We had plenty of time before dinner would be served, so we all played a game they call Run Monkeys Run, where three students stand in the middle of the gym running along the half-court line trying to tag students. They are the taggers, and at the beginning of the game, they shout "Run, monkeys, run!" and the rest of the students run back and forth trying not to be tagged. Once they were tagged, the student then had to tag others instead of run, until there was nobody else left running. New taggers would be picked, and the game starts over. For the students that got tired of the game or didn't want to play at all, one of the other instructors were running a card game out of the way of the students running. This allowed for students who got tired of the game or who didn't want to play to still be engaged in an activity and learn a new card game.
If students got thirsty, I would let two or three students get water at a time and I monitored them to make sure they were not disturbing the second group of students, since the fountain was in the area where the other group was.
The students were served dinner and we got them to help clean up while they waited on their parents to pick them up. Alexis and I signed students out and escorted them out to their parents, then assisted the rest of the team in cleaning up for the weekend.
Next week, we are teaching the kids building skills and encouraging positive engagement with the environment through building popsicle stick bird feeders.
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