The Bachelor

So, I am like many women and girls out there who watch the bachelor religiously. I have loved the drama and the fun dates that the girls seem to go on with the bachelor. But I can't help but wonder if the show could actually find true love for the bachelor. Do people think that someone could fall in love with someone that quickly and in that way? I wonder what their feelings really are for one another. Do the women realize that the dates they are on are not realisitc in the least bit and that once he picks one the fancy dates are over? I love the show but sometimes I feel the show is one of the stupidist show out there because it is so unrealistic. I do not like the concept of the "fantasy suite". I do not think that it is appropriate for the show to be airing a show that lets you know there is a designated area to spend the night with the bachelor and most likely have sex. You really wonder if these relationships have any chance to make it.

Do the women get paid to take leave from their job and film this I wonder?

Field Day

For Kid Zone one of my duties is to come up with a "club" that I run once a week with a group of kids. We need to come up with a theme, tools/equipment we need, and lesson plan. I have thought about doing a cooking club, where each week we make a nutritious snack. I thought about doing a music club, but couldnt' think of anything to teach the kids or have them particpate in maybe other than karaoke.

I have come up with a theme that I think may work. I am thinking of doing a Field Day club. During the club I will have different competitions set up that the kids can go against each other. I am thinking about having a basketball shooting contest, having a balancing contest, a hula hoop contest, etc... I am not 100% sure with the club, but i think that it will be fun for the kids. My concern though is that when it gets too hot outside the kids won't want to participate because it will be too uncomfortable to be outside.

Career Post

Throughout the semester it has been hard to find time to get to a career service event. But I did attend the spring career fair at the downtown campus. Now that I have moved the downtown campus is about 10 minutes down the road from me. I have never been to a career fair before so I was not sure what to expect. I was mostly nervous about what to wear and so on. Being pregnant has limited my wardrobe and I do not have many business casual clothes that still fit me :( I brought along my resume in case I found some booth that interested me. I found many of the booths interesting, but none of them were my calling. I was fascinated though in how they presented their company and marketed their business. Some had brochures, others had displays etc.. to give out information. There were mostly lines for students wanting to talk to the representatives, but I just walked around. This was an interesting experience for me to attend.

Fun Friday!

So today I want to talk about Fun Friday at Kid Zone. 

All around the state schools have had to cut their budgets, and one of the ways that some school districts have done so is by cutting one day each week in half. So at Fuller Elementary School where I am assigned to, they have Fridays cut as a half day. That means I have to report to school by 12:30 and not at 2:30 like other days. On Fridays we think of a fun activity or theme for the kids to participate in. 

On Friday 2/20, we had electronic day. This meant that the kids could bring in their electronics and for a designated time and in a designated place they could use their electronics. I expected some kids to bring in an ipod or maybe a phone, but these kids all pulled out fancy phones, tablets, ipads, gameboys, etc... They have more electronics than I have and even nicer ones than I am. It was a shock to see how the younger generation has so much access to electronics than I had while growing up. Along with our time for electronics I conducted a "center" where we did fuse beads. With fuse beads the kids put beads on a design and then I iron the design together for them and they have an art project to take home. The kids had alot of fun making the fuse beads, but the tiny beads went everywhere which made clean up sooo much fun..

This upcoming Friday we are having a pajama day theme and watching How to Train your Dragon 2 and eating popcorn! I am excited because I have not seen the movie yet!

Moving!

My free write today is about my moving! I am taking 18 credits this semester that includes my internship and I am currently 7 months pregnant, have a puppy less than a year, and I just moved! Phew, what a busy last week it was. I am so happy to have moved from my previous apartment to a new apartment with my husband. We moved to be closer to his work, but it does mean I am driving furhter for the internship.

Moving was harder than I believed it was going to be. This is my first child, so I didn't know how tired I would be each day after organizing and packing up all of our items. And who knew I owned so many things!! I was able to pack all of our belongings up, while my husband loaded and unloaded the cars each trip. I am so blessed to have family and friends that helped with the moving. I made time each day for school work, so that I would not fall behind, but I have decided I never want to move while pregnant again!

A typical day at Kid Zone consists of keeping track of kids and putting together activities. After the bell rings at the end of the school day, the kids filter into Kid Zone. We sign them into the program and take attendance. We need to know who is there and who isn't in the first 15 minutes of the program starting for security reasons. The kids then have some free time to interact with everyone and socialize. They are given a nutritious snack while they have their free time. Many times the kids will want to help with snack time and handing the snacks out and cleaning up. The kids then have homework time that lasts between 30-45 minutes. Every child participates in homework time unless they are signed out of the option by their parents at the start of the semester.

The second half of the program consists of "centers" and "clubs". Centers and clubs are organized by members of the Kid Zone staff. Each week staff members are asked to think of activities to teach or put together for the following week. They must state the activity, resources/tools needed, and enrichment goals for the activity. The activities can include singing songs, putting on a puppet show, drawing, building with Lego's etc... Each kid can choose which center they would like to participate in for that designated time and then they rotate to other ones throughout the afternoon. The kids are constantly doing an activity and on the move. I am always walking around surpervising the kids and making sure they are following rules and helping out when needed. I have not yet planned a center or club out but I am sure I will soon now that I am understanding the program more.

Kid Zone and What it is

Kid Zone is an after school and before school program put on by the City of Tempe. The Kid Zone Enrichment Program is a dynamic community response to changing lifestyles and needs of families in Tempe, Arizona.  Our goal is to address the increased number of children needing a safe , enriching place to be in out-of-school time.  Kid Zone operates both before and after school programs at 18 Tempe and Kyrene Schools.  Our program is for children in the grades K-5 at 14 of our schools and K-8 at 3 of our schools (Curry, Rover, Ward).  We also offer a Pre-School Program for 3 year olds - Pre-K's.

At Kid Zone we offer a homework station where kids work on homework for 45 minutes, that way they have more time to interact with their families after the program ends and are not leaving it to the end of the night. Kid Zone provides "centers" and "clubs" that are designated areas in the multi purpose room of the school and has different activities for the kids to participate in. Some activities can be puzzles, drawing, Lego's, doing a simple science project, theatre workshop, music instruments, bead making etc... We also have opportunities to play outside on the playground during cooler weather seasons. The kids are always involved in activities and should never be bored!

Training

Training as in many jobs was tedious and full of a lot of information that we needed to remember. My training for Kid Zone lasted 3 days for a couple hours each day. The training was held at a local elementary school so that we could watch the Kid Zone program in person and in action as we learned the rules and what Kid Zone was all about. We got to tour around a typical multi center area where Kid Zone is held at schools, which was fun. We got to see examples of the activities they put on for the kids. Hopefully I can bring some of the ideas at this particular school to my school I will be permanently working at.

Many of our training was learning about protocols with the kids and the facility. It was also training on kid safety as well as protecting ourselves from situations that may arise. I think one of the most difficult things to learn was what you can and cannot say to the kids and how you can interact with them. An example would be that we can put on activities such as dodge ball but we are not allowed to actually play in the game. We can referee the game and supervise the game but we are technically not allowed to play with the kids in their games. I am very hands on and have always played with the kids when they play sports or even playing dolls, so this will be really hard to transition into not being so hands on.

I came into the program thinking that the program was more of a babysitting site where kids could do homework or maybe play on the playground. Boy was I wrong! Kid Zone is truly a hands on program that strives to enrich kids' lives and be a fun environment for kids while they wait for their parents after school. We provide many activities for them to participate in and are constantly on our feet. Training was our only time we will be sitting.