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Assignment
5: Reflections on Relationship between Various Class Projects for
This Quarter
By
the end of this quarter, our class will work on several different
projects with the children and teachers of Wilton Place Elementary School. These
projects include our weekly site visits to Wilton Place classrooms, a booklet of student writings
from the five classes of children, a tour of UCLA for the children,
and an end-of-the-term reception for the children and their parents
at Wilton Place.
In
most UCLA classes, it is easy to see assignments and projects separately. However, in this class it’s important for students
to see the relationship between these projects and to work with
children and teachers from this perspective.
For
this reflection journal, write about how you see the relationship
between the various projects in our class.
In other words, how will your work with the children on the
booklet connect with your weekly site visits and the end-of-the-term
reception? Similarly, how can you use the various projects
to help teachers and their ongoing work with kids on improving reading
and writing skills?
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Applying What We Learn from Our Class in
Our Community
By Meredith Lee
This class is innovative in that it allows students
the opportunity to apply what they learn in the classroom into the
field, and also in that it gives students the opportunity to learn
from outside the classroom and by working closely with piers. Having
class projects, such as the UCLA tour, booklet, reception, even
site visits, is a good way to learn applicable skills for the future.
By being able to program together, utilize resources, brainstorm,
and work with children directly, we as students are learning far
more valuable skills than we would ever learn from a textbook.
This class has many ambitious goals. Within
each project we collaborated to list a number of goals which we
would like to reach through each project. However, all of theses
projects share a similar theme in the goals we want to accomplish
as a class. First and foremost, our class strives for a learning
experience – for us, as well as the children of Wilton Place.
This learning experience comes from all the projects, as we will
learn about ourselves, the community we work with, how to take on
leadership roles, how to work on group dynamics, and most importantly
how to apply what we learn in the real world. In this aspect, it
is not only a learning experience, but a teaching experience as
well. We are not only the students, but also the teachers.
One of the goals we mention throughout class
is empowerment. By taking this class and working on these projects,
we are empowering ourselves by taking control of our education and
utilizing its resources and endless boundaries. The fact that this
class is being offered is a big step in empowerment for those who
have worked so hard to develop it. All of these projects empower
us as students, and also give light to the students at Wilton Place
Elementary to the kinds of empowerment that they can look forward
to with the right mind set. The booklet gives the Wilton Place students
the chance to empower themselves through their own stories and creativity.
The UCLA tour is a way to show kids the empowerment that they can
have through education. The reception, is not so much as an empowering
experiences, but of celebration of the children’s empowerment,
as well as our own.
Another goal we had was that there is a better
understanding of each other, with UCLA students and Wilton Place
students. This can be related to each project, as the simple notion
of working with each other allows us that opportunity. UCLA students
work very closely with their classes in developing stories for the
booklet, which in turn gives us a better understanding of the children.
When the children come on the UCLA Tour, they have a better understanding
of where we come from, seeing us in our own environment. I’d
like to think of the reception as a place where we can tie a bond
through understanding, and really appreciate each other more now
that we know one another better.
The last goal that I believe is the key unity
point in all the projects of this class is to have fun. Having fun
is important because if you do not enjoy what you do then there
is no reason to be there. We all choose to be in this class, and
we have influence in how the class turns out through the projects.
We set our own goals, come up with our own ideas, and thus we strive
to make them enjoyable to all. We also want to make sure the children
are having fun. Learning is always more interesting and better retained
when one enjoys what they are doing/learning. The booklet allows
the children to have fun by learning about the themes of unity and
teamwork through their own creations. The UCLA Tour is fun for the
children because it takes them out of their usual environment and
shows them a new world of school. The reception is way to look back
and see all the fun we had, and hopefully motivate everyone to continue
their hard work.
All of these goals are met through the project,
and they are all linked because each goal can not be accomplished
without each project. These projects are essential to accomplishing
what we want not only in the class, but in life, because they allow
us as students to take on leadership. Through these projects we
are able to admire our work, as well as others, and that will give
us confidence in the future to do other great thing.
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