This morning I went into the Older School Agers room. Between another teacher and I, we were able to gather the kids in one corner, and I played a game called "Friendship Web" with them. The game was the other teacher's suggestion, and was part of the curriculum for today. Basically, you start with a ball of yarn, say something nice about someone else in the circle, then pass the ball to them while still holding on to your end of the rope. This continues until everyone has had a turn, and at the end the yarn looks like a "web." While they were all gathered together, we also went over rules: Be kind, Be safe, Be respectful (I stole this from Pre-K Counts.) We talked about what each of those things actually mean and what it looks like in the classroom. I bribed them to listen and contribute to this conversation by using stickers. They like stickers. Now if you are reading this paragraph and picturing a nice, quiet group of kids taking part in these activities, stop right now. They talk over each other and over me, sometimes call each other names, and some of them don't cooperate....and almost nobody follows directions the first time you ask. However, I thought it was a step in the right direction. And then I got told I'm going to be working with the Younger School Agers.
I met the Center Director today. She's really nice and seems to really know what she's doing, and the kids listen to her, which is awesome. She came over and introduced herself, and told me that I'm actually going to be working with the Younger School Agers, who are around 6-7 years old. So I went over to their side, got them to sit (once again, with help from a co-worker), and they all told me their names. I have trouble with their names, but my name seems to give them trouble too, so I guess we're even. After learning names, we went to the park, where there was a peeing-in-the-trees incident that I had to address. To be fair, we tried to go to the bathrooms, but the doors were locked.
A surprise hit activity back at the center was my Hidden Pictures books. If you got Highlights magazine as a child, you should be familiar with Hidden Pictures. I had two books of just Hidden Pictures activities, and they loved them. They sat there forever trying to find all the pictures, and they even cooperated with each other and took turns! The downside is that I think they completely finished both books, so now I need a new trick.
The gym was a hard part again today. They were supposed to be watching a movie, but that didn't work out. I took my lunch break, and when I came back they were playing with some new baskeball toys that the Director had brought. Then the Director left and another co-worker took her break, and things quickly got out of control. There was a fight between two of the little guys that I had to attempt to break up, and then the Director dealt with them. At one point after chaos had erupted, the Director came in and had them all sit and told them to behave. While they were still sitting (the hardest part is getting them to sit long enough to listen,) I jumped in with a suggestion of something to do, and taught them how to play Sharks and Minnows. That kept them busy for awhile, but then became sort of violent, so I had them play Duck Duck Goose instead. I also want to try Four Corners with them. If any of you lovely readers has other suggestions for fun indoor games, feel free to comment and let me know!
Ok, on to Adventure #5. Yesterday I saw a For Rent sign on a building near the Center. I called during my lunch break today, and they guy let me come after work to see the place. It was pretty bad. I should have realized when he said the rent is $500 that it was going to be TINY, but I'm new at this. It ended up being a third floor "efficiency apartment," which apparently means a tiny kitchen, a tiny bathroom, one bedroom, and no living room area at all. No thank you. The friend I'm staying with did some work on it though, and came up with a whole list of places that we can check out. So hopefully one of them will work! Oh! And I will have more time in the evening for apartment hunting and exploring, because my work hours are changing to 7-4 rather than 9-6. I'm not looking forward to waking up at the crack of dawn, but I think I'll end up liking this schedule better.
On a completely random note, an old man sitting on a porch step said "How are you?" to me on my walk home from work today. (A regular nice old man, not a creepy old man.) It was the first time I've been in Philly that a stranger has really said hello, and I responded enthusiastically!
"Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." -James 1:4
