Jackson

Response a la Simulacion When I think about all of the projects worked on and funds raised for Africa, I tend to undermine the behind the scenes work. It is easy to contribute to aid in Africa by donating money, but nothing can be effective and sustainable unless set up properly and maintained thoroughly. Everything needs to be worked out and organized properly or it will not be effective. For instance the solar power system that was set up in Africa that broke down soon after. It was not sustained because of poor planning My dream is that I could just go to Africa with some friends and build a birthing house with some friends and it would make everlasting changes in the community in which it was built: it is much more complicated than that. We would need to gain the trust of the locals or they would not accept us barging in and telling them a better way to live. We would also need to spread all of our knowledge about this birthing house and teach them how to use it, how it works, and how to maintain it. In every community service project, there needs to be a large group of people that will get into the grass roots work. People who are experienced with a birthing house need be there to see the result and make sure it is accurate. Also, they need to educate the locals on how to use it and preserve it themselves. There are going to be complications along the road which is why there needs to be people who know what they are doing guiding others along throughout the whole process. Letter to Obama President Obama, We both know that we are in a time of change. For now on, every financial decision will be made carefully so that every last penny goes to proper use. In the category of aid in Africa, the most effective way to use our money seems to be through microloan organizations. Giving money to the countries government has not worked effectively because of the widespread corruption throughout governments in Africa. Through microloans we can pinpoint where we want to give the money. Also, microloans are set up in a way that makes it manageable to pay back the loans. Microloans work by giving someone the money they need to really start their business off. A small chunk of money is used to create an everlasting income, which this person can use to pay back the lender. Organizations such as Oxfam, APMAS, CARE, and Opportunity International are highly successful microloan foundations that have made permanent improvements in peoples lives, which is the goal of these companies. Microloans are the most feasible way to effectively improve the lives of Africans. Third Montessori Visit As I walked into the classroom of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders to observe them, I first noticed how the students were scattered throughout the room, everyone working on different things. I looked at the whiteboard, where the schedule was written, and noticed that they had work cycle from 8:30-10:45, where they can work independently, or can team up with other students. Even though the teacher was not on all of their cases, all of the students seemed to be getting work done, and were motivating themselves. The children chatted with each other at their tables but were able to bring themselves back to their work; most of the students were collaborating. On the board, was a list of everything due that week, and the students had the power to map out their path of getting them done. Also on the board was a place where the students could request lessons from the teachers. There are two teachers of the classroom I observed, one was giving lessons and the other was walking around the classroom offering one on one attention. These two teachers work off of each other. The experienced teacher is forced to explain what and why she is doing to the secondhand teacher, who has the opportunity to work under the master. There is a bell that both of them rang, and anyone in the classroom can ring, when the room becomes too noisy, and everyone in the room understands that they should quiet down. Fourth Montessori Visit This past Thursday at Cambridge Montessori I was in the green room classroom: 2 – 3 years old. There are two toddler class rooms: the green room and the pink room, and the rest of the rooms in the building consisted of 3-5 yr olds, with some six-year-olds that were not ready to move on to the elementary program. When I walked in there were there were kids scattered throughout the room, all doing different things. I made my way over to the library sections of the room, were there was a mini futon, pillows, and a small shelf full of books. When I asked them if they wanted me to read them a book, they handed me a pillow and individually handed me multiple books to read. After a few books, a guest who came to play the clarinet for them interrupted me. She slowly assembled it, explaining each piece and what it does. She left after twenty minutes and I got a chance to ask the head teacher a few questions. She told me that there is a “peace table” in every room, where kids go if they get into a fight. There is an object at this table, a rock or a flower, that you need to hold if you want to speak, which forces the children to hear the other persons side of the story. They are forced to find a solution to the problem even if they would rather just give up what they were fighting so they can go play something else. She said that sometimes certain kids have to go to the peace table more than others, but as they go more often they start to be able to form solutions on their own, and do not need a teacher to assist them at the table. The teachers frequently sang to the children when telling them something, to keep them entertained. They also gave out hugs like it was their job to keep the mood positive, especially to a boy named Leo. They were not specific but said that he comes from a hard background and has a lot of built up energy that he does not know how to let out properly. They kept him under control with special attention and lots of love with the idea that he gain a strong relationship with the teacher and try to model her behavior.  There is a strong emphasis on letting the children learn by doing. At the toddler period they learn the most with through their motor skills than anything else. It is important to guide them in the right direction and keep them in a proper environment: classroom materials are always accessible, and safe. Activities are changed regularly because of their need for variety and jumping attention spans. I concluded that although I think Montessori is right for everyone, it is especially helpful for someone like Leo, a natural rebel. At Montessori he is in a loving environment with little to rebel against. He is able to be independent and make his own decisions with guidance to the right ones.

Final Montessori Visit Thursday morning I started my internship the same way I usually do- sitting in a chair observing the classroom for 20-30 minutes before I do some hands on work with the little ones to lessen the size of my presence. Looking around the room at the 6-9 year olds, I saw what I had seen in all the other classrooms: a mix of kids working in groups and independently, all working on different subjects. There were two students working on the floor near me with problem sets of fractions. They were timing themselves, and while doing so I noticed that there problem sets were laminated on different appealing colors. I looked around the room and noticed that their entire math problem sets, list of vocabulary words, map of the states, any piece of paper they use to work with were laminated and attractive. A teacher told me that they make several copies or similar variations of different assignments or problem sets and laminate them. They get used over and over by different students and stay in good condition over the years. Close by, there was a lesson the teacher was giving to five students about the states and capitols of the US. She showed them four different US maps, in which the states were divided in a different manner in each map. I found it very Montessori-esque to present them information of the states this way, where there is no solid answer for what exactly a particular state is and what sub-area it encompasses, rather an array of ways to look at each state. I was interrupted by a girl using a “digger doo,” one of those holow sticks that you turn over and they make it rain. I asked the teacher about it and she said that stick is always present for anyone to make it rain, which signals the rest of the class to quiet down. After the lesson, I joined a group of two students who were solving fractional equations. They had a box next to them that contained different color paper circles that were cut up differently to visually show what each fraction looks like. I started to talk to the kids about what they were doing and asked them how they liked being at their school. As all of us were men, our conversation subject naturally turned to sports. We started with the Celtics, and how ridiculous Bryant’s 61 pt game against us, the other night was. We continued to talk sports and they said that their school does not hold any competitive sports teams, but they do have a physical activity class where they do all types of different sports, and outdoor activity trips, rowing in the Charles river, skiing at Worcester, rock climbing at I am not sure where. In the middle of explaining to them when it was the Celtics got, “good,” I noticed a girl looking through a book with different pictures on it and asked her to explain to me what she was doing. She was looking through a phonogram book. It has a sound on the first page, “s,” and the following page have pictures. The point is to say a word that is or relates to that picture, starting with the sound that was at the beginning of the book. To close my visit, I saw the class sing and dance to the garbage song. The chorus went like this: “do the garbage shuffle it’s the age old thrill because we all make garbage and we always will,” – despite the weak melody, the song had morales to it that the children seemed to understand. After the boogie down, they talked about the reality of that song and how much of a problem garbage is in the world. The teacher asked the kids, are people always going to make garbage? What can we do to not make as much garbage? The class came up with some interesting conclusions, for instance, everyone could bring in their own wash cloth instead of using paper, and making art out of trash and used containers instead of new materials. Before I left, I was told the joke, what’s 1 + 1 =? A window!