Fellow classmates!
This is my last blog post for the semester. I am so grateful to have been apart of the Kid Zone Staff. I have learned so much skills that will help me in the future, whether it be my career or personal life.
I am so happy to have met everyone at Kid Zone. I will miss all the staff and the kids that I have worked with this semester. I have really enjoyed seeing everyone each day and playing with the kids. I will miss doing crafts during centers, helping with the kids at homework club, and even looking at all the pokemon cards at pokemon club.
Kid Zone has taught me so much this semester about myself and what it takes to be a leader of about 120 kids. I believe that this semester has even prepared me for my next journey in life, which is motherhood. I have great ideas now to play with my kid and keep them happy. I hope to continue my work at Kid Zone in the fall and keep working with all the kids at Fuller Elementary and the staff.
Thank you for the experience!
Adrianna Gleason
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Monday, April 20, 2015
Kid Zone has taught me...
I am so happy to have worked for Kid Zone this semester. I thoroughly enjoyed my time working at Fuller Elementary and working with the staff and kids. I did not know what I was getting into when I first accepted the position but after a lot of hard work and a lot of fun I realized I made an excellent choice with working for them.
Some of the things that I learned while working with Kid Zone are work ethic, patience, communication, team building, leadership skills, and learning to be a kid again. With working for Kid Zone the work ethic they expect is very high. I learned to really be accountable for all my actions and to be responsible for 120 kids with the help of other staff. I have always been punctual and getting to work on time but with this job it was critical that if anything should come up someone was notified right away if I was going to be late or not able to come in to work. When working with young kids I had to learn patience. Many times the kids would get upset and mad over little things and you would have to deal with fights over and over and be patient and calm each time. Also cleaning up after the kids took a lot of patience because they are not the best at cleaning up after themselves. Communication was key to having a successful work environment. We were always communicating with the kids and between the staff. We had to keep an eye on each of the kids and communicate on what each group was doing and when kids would go back and forth from areas with our walkie talkies. It took the whole staff to be a good team and get everything accomplished each day and have the site run smoothly. I learned how to be a leader and take charge. Sometimes I had to be stern with the kids and take charge, which I have never been good at but this semester really helped build my self-confidence.
I am so glad to have the opportunity to work with Kid Zone and learn so many new skills and strengths within myself.
Some of the things that I learned while working with Kid Zone are work ethic, patience, communication, team building, leadership skills, and learning to be a kid again. With working for Kid Zone the work ethic they expect is very high. I learned to really be accountable for all my actions and to be responsible for 120 kids with the help of other staff. I have always been punctual and getting to work on time but with this job it was critical that if anything should come up someone was notified right away if I was going to be late or not able to come in to work. When working with young kids I had to learn patience. Many times the kids would get upset and mad over little things and you would have to deal with fights over and over and be patient and calm each time. Also cleaning up after the kids took a lot of patience because they are not the best at cleaning up after themselves. Communication was key to having a successful work environment. We were always communicating with the kids and between the staff. We had to keep an eye on each of the kids and communicate on what each group was doing and when kids would go back and forth from areas with our walkie talkies. It took the whole staff to be a good team and get everything accomplished each day and have the site run smoothly. I learned how to be a leader and take charge. Sometimes I had to be stern with the kids and take charge, which I have never been good at but this semester really helped build my self-confidence.
I am so glad to have the opportunity to work with Kid Zone and learn so many new skills and strengths within myself.
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Career Service Workshop 2
Because of my school and internship schedule I am having some problems trying to find a workshop that fits into my schedule. I am going to write this career service blog on Professional Communication and Net Etiquette Webinar on April 20. I will expand on the webinar once I attend it.
Update:
Instead of attending the "webinar" I went to the Tempe campus and was able to walk through their part time/summer job fair. I found it very interesting to go and see who was all hiring. I brought my applications with me in case I found a company that I would want to work for and to get my name out there. I am currently not able to work in the summer because of my first child being born in the next few weeks but I still wanted to get my resume out in the job field so that when I can go back to work in the fall they will have made a connection with me prior. I was drawn to the companies that worked with the community especially with kids. I gave my application to the Boys and Girls Club of Scottsdale and Thunderbird branches. Their program sounds similar to the work I have been doing with Kid Zone. I also gave my application to the Escalante Program in Tempe that works with younger kids. I really enjoy working with kids and giving back to the community. All of these jobs also have flexible schedules which may be good with a newborn and getting back into the rhythm of working again in the fall.
Update:
Instead of attending the "webinar" I went to the Tempe campus and was able to walk through their part time/summer job fair. I found it very interesting to go and see who was all hiring. I brought my applications with me in case I found a company that I would want to work for and to get my name out there. I am currently not able to work in the summer because of my first child being born in the next few weeks but I still wanted to get my resume out in the job field so that when I can go back to work in the fall they will have made a connection with me prior. I was drawn to the companies that worked with the community especially with kids. I gave my application to the Boys and Girls Club of Scottsdale and Thunderbird branches. Their program sounds similar to the work I have been doing with Kid Zone. I also gave my application to the Escalante Program in Tempe that works with younger kids. I really enjoy working with kids and giving back to the community. All of these jobs also have flexible schedules which may be good with a newborn and getting back into the rhythm of working again in the fall.
Strengths of Kid Zone
Kid Zone is structured and run wonderfully. From the hiring process to how the different school sites are run Kid Zone has the structure down to a science. Kid Zone knows the type of person they want to hire and they have a strict hiring process that brings in the best of staff. They have great training sessions that teach you all you need to know in order to do your job. I like how they have structured their positions and being able to work your way up in the company. The way the management has structured how the Kid Zone sites will run and how they need to be structured across the district is amazing also. I like how if I need to be a sub at another school the strucuture is the same across the schools so I do not feel too lost when going to a new site. The management staff of Kid Zone is the program's biggest strength because they put together the program wonderfully and very structured.
The one thing I would change about the structure of Kid Zone is that their are many rules that you must follow. I am all for rules that make sense but not ones that really are very unrealistic or silly. Kid Zones rules are its strength but also weakness. Kid Zone is very safe because of the rules but that means the staff has to follow them to a "T" and remember all of them. One of the rules that I disagree with is not being able to play with the kids when they are playing active games. This ensure our safety along with the kids from getting physically hurt. The kids always ask us if we can join in and play with them but we have to tell them no and just watch them play dodgball for an hour and that can get boring. So some of the rules I would change if I was in charge of an organization similar to Kid Zone.
Money Management
One program that Kid Zone offers the kids is "money management". The kids on Monday can go to the money management club and talk with the presentor. I cannot remember her name who puts on Money Management, sorry :( She talks to the kids about saving money and earning money. The kids are able to earn money by doing activities and they learn to save the money. Some weeks she brings the "store" with her where the kids are able to buy little toys such as erasers and pencils with the money that they have earned and saved. Some of the kids do buy the toys and others will save their money for weeks and wait to buy some bigger toys at the "store".
I think this is a valuable program/club that Kid Zone offers because too many people are wasteful with their money and do not know how to manage their money. Teens start getting jobs and buy everything without thinking about saving and it becomes a habit that goes into their adult life. Teaching kids at a young age about money and saving is so beneficial in this economic time.
I think this is a valuable program/club that Kid Zone offers because too many people are wasteful with their money and do not know how to manage their money. Teens start getting jobs and buy everything without thinking about saving and it becomes a habit that goes into their adult life. Teaching kids at a young age about money and saving is so beneficial in this economic time.
Electronic devices at Kid Zone
Each Friday at Kid Zone we have "Fun Friday". On Friday we find some activity to do with the kids that is different than any other day and is fun to do. In the past we have done movie day, root beer float day, picnic day etc... But with each activity on Friday we also have "electronic day". The kids are allowed to bring whatever electronic device that they have and play with it. The first Friday that I worked I was surprised on how many kids have electronic devices and not even "child" devices such as a flip phone but these kids have iPhone and tablets and laptops. The kids have more electronic devices than I have and more expensive ones than I even have. This generation of kids and the generation in general is electronic obsessed. We all have to have our "smart" phone and have the latest one.
The part that concerns me is these kids start playing their devices and their eyes just glaze over and they will play these games for hours and when you tell them to put it away it becomes a fight. The kids are missing out on playing outside with the balls and equipment because they sit in the shade and just play on their devices and do not look up.
This is my opinion and I would never push my opinion on any other parent or person but I think that letting these kids have electronic devices at school and all the time access is not the healthiest for their development. I love distracting some kids with a movie or a game for a half hour while I do chores or as a reward but I do not think they should have access to it 24/7. These kids are also going on inappropriate sites for their ages and it is not healthy for their development. I think with the right amount of supervision and limited use electronics can be good. But it is crazy to see a kindergartner able to pull up a YouTube video and start sending it to friends using social sites that they have accounts on. Just blows my mind on how young they are and what they are capable of doing.
The part that concerns me is these kids start playing their devices and their eyes just glaze over and they will play these games for hours and when you tell them to put it away it becomes a fight. The kids are missing out on playing outside with the balls and equipment because they sit in the shade and just play on their devices and do not look up.
This is my opinion and I would never push my opinion on any other parent or person but I think that letting these kids have electronic devices at school and all the time access is not the healthiest for their development. I love distracting some kids with a movie or a game for a half hour while I do chores or as a reward but I do not think they should have access to it 24/7. These kids are also going on inappropriate sites for their ages and it is not healthy for their development. I think with the right amount of supervision and limited use electronics can be good. But it is crazy to see a kindergartner able to pull up a YouTube video and start sending it to friends using social sites that they have accounts on. Just blows my mind on how young they are and what they are capable of doing.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Public Service
Kid Zone in itself is a public service that Tempe puts together to help families that need child care after school. Kid Zone participates in community service projects such as obtaining food and clothes for food/clothes drives. Kid Zone has a running club that practices during the school year and then the participants participate in Pat's Run each year. Kid Zone also gives back to Fuller School by planting a garden to beautify the campus. Kid Zone also participates and runs the Cotton Candy booth at the spring carnival.
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