Hello and once again welcome to my blog about LING 1900 and my wonderful experiences with it. First and foremost I must speak about how fortunate I am to have stumbled upon this opportunity. No I am not being a brown nose, I honestly and 100% truly believe in it. I think you guys should advertise it more. I had no idea that this was a program at CU and I know many other students that would both love to take it and who would benefit greatly from it. I think it is an amazing opportunity because not only do you get life experiences, but you also get credit for it. Now that is hard to come by! Which by the way, I want to especially thank you guys for working with me so I could continue with the program I was already working with.
With LING 1900 comes a lot of learning. You learn a lot about working with others, both the child and the parents, and you learn a lot about yourself. I have learned to be more outgoing. This is due to the fact that I need the courage to actually walk up to the parents and ask if I can read with/to their child. I have also learned to be more patient, not the “cliché patience is a virtue,” but the patience with a child who either might not want to read or might be having trouble reading. Additionally, LING 1900 has actually taught me a lot about working with children. I am thinking about becoming a teacher and this is an excellent opportunity to explore what age group I would like to teach. Through this experience I have come to learn that I work best with children around the age of eight. My patience has not yet been perfected for kids younger then that and my entertainment skills are not nearly perfected enough for kids much older then that.
I think all students could benefit from this class. LING 1900 is a way for students to get involved in the Boulder community and learn the importance of volunteering. I think LING 1900 is especially useful because it proves that almost everyone has time to volunteer. Although I can’t prove this I am fairly positive a number of students who have taken LING 1900 or are currently taking it will continue to volunteer in the future. Sometimes it just takes that extra push (like giving credit for a class) for a student in college to realize the impact they could have and that they do in fact have time to make such an impact.
That is a very nice thing about volunteering at Clinica Health Center, there are no strict hours, you can come and go as you please. Although I have come to have a pattern of going mostly on Tuesday morning, if I cannot make it then I am welcomed to go sometimes later in the week. This is especially nice in college where you might have a test later on the day you normally volunteer or you want to go into office hours. Which does bring me to my next point. Kira mentioned that you guys were thinking about partnering up with Clinica Health Center for LING 1900. Although I have enjoyed volunteering at Clinica Health Center, like I said in my previous post I think I would enjoy my time someplace else. I think that I would enjoy volunteering at a place that had more structure when it came to reading with the children. While volunteering I provide positive reading experiences for children in the pediatric waiting rooms, and model reading aloud for parents. My duties as a “Reach out and Read” volunteer are very important and I don’t degrade them at all, I just feel like there are better ways to go about it. Because of the fact I volunteer in a waiting room children come and go on a regular basis, meaning I can’t build a relationship with them, something I think is very important. This is important because it builds better role models and makes kids excited to show their advancements in reading. Secondly, there aren’t always kids, meaning I can be sitting behind a desk with the secretary for an undetermined amount of time waiting for a child to walk in the door. This time waiting could be put to better use at a different reading center.
Showing posts with label Leah Weiss. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Leah Weiss. Show all posts
Monday, November 12, 2012
Volunteering at Clinica Health Center allows me to interact and read to many children, an awesome activity that I love. Unfortunately however it doesn’t allow me to build a strong bond with a specific child since I may only see that child once. Although I am very grateful for you allowing me to continue volunteering at Clinica Health Center and counting this as a credit, I believe that at the end of this semester I will no longer work with them. Yes, I will continue volunteering reading to children after this class is over, but I want to build a relationship with a child. In other words I might transfer over to the buddy system at the library or one of the other programs that you offer. Listening to my peer’s stories about working with one child has made me jealous of the bond that they built together.
All that being said, one of my favorite experiences happened two weeks ago. At any given point there can be anywhere from zero to ten children in the waiting room. Often I’ll go up to one of the children and begin reading to them, and then another child becomes curious and often joined. While volunteering two weeks ago I did exactly that, I began reading to one child, but what was different is ALL the children in the room came over and began listening. This alone made me very happy. Additionally, one of the older girls raised her hand when I asked if anyone else would like to read. This experience was especially enjoyable to me because I could see the joy and excitement on all of the children’s faces and the confidence in that one girl. It takes a lot to say you will read out loud in front of strangers and even more confidence to be able to read out loud in front of other kids.
Volunteering reading to children not only makes me sound like a saint but also allows me to grow as an individual. I can see the appreciation on the parent’s faces when I tell them I am a volunteer and ask if I can read to their child/children. Reading is of the utmost importance and if I can act as a role model, even if it is only one time with any given child, then I have accomplished my goal. I hope to inspire these kids to read and inspire their parents to understand the importance of reading.
All that being said, one of my favorite experiences happened two weeks ago. At any given point there can be anywhere from zero to ten children in the waiting room. Often I’ll go up to one of the children and begin reading to them, and then another child becomes curious and often joined. While volunteering two weeks ago I did exactly that, I began reading to one child, but what was different is ALL the children in the room came over and began listening. This alone made me very happy. Additionally, one of the older girls raised her hand when I asked if anyone else would like to read. This experience was especially enjoyable to me because I could see the joy and excitement on all of the children’s faces and the confidence in that one girl. It takes a lot to say you will read out loud in front of strangers and even more confidence to be able to read out loud in front of other kids.
Volunteering reading to children not only makes me sound like a saint but also allows me to grow as an individual. I can see the appreciation on the parent’s faces when I tell them I am a volunteer and ask if I can read to their child/children. Reading is of the utmost importance and if I can act as a role model, even if it is only one time with any given child, then I have accomplished my goal. I hope to inspire these kids to read and inspire their parents to understand the importance of reading.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Hello bloggers!
My Ling 1900 experience is somewhat unique. Last year I teamed up with a program called “Reach out and Read.” The “Reach out and Read” program partners with doctors to prescribe books and encourage families to read together. Therefore, for this program I go to Clinica Health Center and encourage/read to children in the waiting room. I also have a mentor at Clincia Health Center and at the end of the appointments we inform families on the importance of reading and then give the child a free book to take home with them. Because I was already involved in this program I was allowed to continue with it AND become a part of the awesome program that Ling 1900 offers.
The patients at Clinica Health Center are often those who speak Spanish. Therefore, I have the opportunity to help the children learn/read English as well as to the opportunity to expand my Spanish. Often I talk to the parents first, asking if it is ok if I read with their child. When I encounter the families that do not speak English I pull out some of my Spanish books. I then start attempting to read Spanish, getting giggles here and there from the children due to my obvious lack of excellence with this language. This gets the children to open up. They often proceed to come over and help me with my Spanish, which in return helps them with their reading! Then after we are comfortable with each other I’ll pull out a beginner English picture book. This is a great way of helping the children read English. Seeing that I mess up at Spanish and need help they are no longer afraid to try reading English and ask for help.
If the child does speak English we take turns reading out loud. I help them with the words they have trouble with and encourage them to read more and more. Often when I’m reading to a child other children become curious and come over to read with us. This is a great way to demonstrate to families how reading can be fun and to help encourage the kids to read!
Overall, my experience at Clinica Health Center has been wonderful. I walk away knowing that I have made an impact in the lives of the kids and families.
My Ling 1900 experience is somewhat unique. Last year I teamed up with a program called “Reach out and Read.” The “Reach out and Read” program partners with doctors to prescribe books and encourage families to read together. Therefore, for this program I go to Clinica Health Center and encourage/read to children in the waiting room. I also have a mentor at Clincia Health Center and at the end of the appointments we inform families on the importance of reading and then give the child a free book to take home with them. Because I was already involved in this program I was allowed to continue with it AND become a part of the awesome program that Ling 1900 offers.
The patients at Clinica Health Center are often those who speak Spanish. Therefore, I have the opportunity to help the children learn/read English as well as to the opportunity to expand my Spanish. Often I talk to the parents first, asking if it is ok if I read with their child. When I encounter the families that do not speak English I pull out some of my Spanish books. I then start attempting to read Spanish, getting giggles here and there from the children due to my obvious lack of excellence with this language. This gets the children to open up. They often proceed to come over and help me with my Spanish, which in return helps them with their reading! Then after we are comfortable with each other I’ll pull out a beginner English picture book. This is a great way of helping the children read English. Seeing that I mess up at Spanish and need help they are no longer afraid to try reading English and ask for help.
If the child does speak English we take turns reading out loud. I help them with the words they have trouble with and encourage them to read more and more. Often when I’m reading to a child other children become curious and come over to read with us. This is a great way to demonstrate to families how reading can be fun and to help encourage the kids to read!
Overall, my experience at Clinica Health Center has been wonderful. I walk away knowing that I have made an impact in the lives of the kids and families.
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