Friday, December 20, 2013

Imagine That



            I always liked to think that, as a kid, I had an impeccable imagination. I mean, in those days I could take any golf club lying around the house and magically turn it into a scepter, a lightsaber, even an outrageously long Harry Potter wand if need be.  So proud was I of my imagination skills that, if you asked me a month ago just how good they were, you’d never hear the end of it. To me, they were unmatched by anyone…or so I thought. Indeed, that was before I met some of these Jumpstart kids. These Jumpstart kids, man, they are just something else.
            Back in the day when I used to make up stories of me riding unicorns or testing new rollercoasters, I always had props. For example, when my best friend and I were riding our “unicorns” in the white, puffy clouds, we were really just riding our bikes in the cul-de-sac on clouds we drew with sidewalk chalk. And when I said I used to test out the latest and greatest amusement park rollercoasters, that merely meant swinging on the playground swings.
            Now, as I said before, acting on all these random, imaginative impulses always involved making use of a tangible object, or else it wasn’t fun. What I’ve noticed about some of our Jumpstart kids, however, is that they can get by without any props. Literally, all they need is their imaginations.
            Just two weeks ago when we were implementing our last Jumpstart session for the semester, I started to panic. I was in the Dramatic Play center with five kids and quickly realized that there weren’t enough cut-outs of Betty Crocker cakes to hand out to each of the kids. I anticipated the worst. In seconds one of them was bound to have a temper tantrum, an epic meltdown. After all, what kid wouldn’t be mad if everyone else had a Chocolate Chip Betty Crocker Cake Mix cutout to call his own but himself? Needless to say, this was bad. Real bad.
            Frantically, I begin searching for some sort of tangible substitute that could cork the inevitable tears from coming. All of a sudden, I feel a small tug on my left leg.
            “Ms. Leila, what are you looking for?” a small boy said.
            “Hey there! How are you? Oh, oh nothing, I’m just looking for another Cake Mix to play with.”
            Quickly I turn around and continue the hunt, only to be met with yet another tug.
Uh-oh. Here is comes… I thought to myself.
Slowly, I spin myself around and stoop down to the boy’s level.
            “Yes?”
            “Here Ms. Leila. I have another one.”
            I look at him squarely. He raises his empty, cupped hands. For a second I just stare at him, utterly confused. At first I thought it was a joke, a classic “I-fooled-you” witticism. But the expression on his face didn’t change. He blinked twice, a little puzzled himself.
            “It’s vanilla,” he said proudly, pushing his hands closer to my face. “Is that O.K.?”
            I smile.
            “Vanilla? Why, that sounds delicious.”


~Leila Nasser
Corps member
Team Joy 

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Why It’s Not the Most Wonderful Time of the Year


Last Friday, I wrapped up my first semester of college. After taking the last of my finals and returning all my rentals, I quickly packed my bags and headed home. And I have to say, since being home in suburban Virginia, life has been very relaxing. I wake up when I want, watch TV non-stop and go out for jogs at my own convenience. One would think that this is the true essence of  “relaxation”, but I have to be honest with you: I’m only six days in but, already, I’m tired of relaxing.
            It used to be that on every Monday and Thursday morning I would wake up at 7:00 am to the sound of my iPhone’s Marimba ringtone, reminding me that today I had Jumpstart obligations. Quickly then, I would scurry out of bed, take a five-minute shower, brush my hair, grab a cup of hot chocolate, and reread the day’s Session Plan. By 8:10 I would be ready to go, looking at myself one last time in the vanity mirror with my red Jumpstart shirt on, and grinning from ear to ear. After heaving my backpack full of prepped materials over one shoulder (as Santa would do with his bag of goodies) I would step out of my room, quietly shutting the door behind me so as not to disturb my roommate who miraculously manages to sleep through the entire circus. (I guess she must have gotten used to it).
            But that was then, back in September, October, November. Now, it’s the middle of December. And although the holidays are just around the corner, I can’t help but feel a little unenthused. These days, I find myself bored out of my mind. I’ve come to realize the Jumpstart really made me feel like I was doing something productive, and that I was really making a difference.
My absolute favorite part about being a Corps Member is when we first walk into the classroom with towers of prepped materials for the kids to play with. Once we cross the door’s threshold you instantly feel a wave of energy, of excitement, of familiarity. You can hear small voices whisper under their breaths,
“Hey look, it’s Jumpstart!”
“Jumpstart’s here!”
“Yay Jumpstart!”
            It makes me feel so good to see them again. I love how eager they are to play the alphabet matching game with me or sit next to me when we sing “Down by the Bay” during Circle Time. I feel needed in the classroom. Really, I do.
            It’s a shame the semester ended so quickly. I’m already starting to reference those Jumpstart days as if they were ancient history. I guess I’ll just have to start sing Christmas carols on loop until the time comes when I can sing in unison with my little preschoolers again.
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year…” 
 
Yeah, whatever Andy.



~Leila Nasser
Corps member
Team Joy

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Reading for Enjoyment


            Kids have always been an inspiration to me. The way they are so incredibly loving and careless makes me wonder what happened to the rest of us. I’ve always wanted to give back to children who make life worth living for those of us who have forgotten the true meaning of life and happiness. Their outlook on life is so much better than that of adults. They love each other, and when they fight, they make up a minute later. That is truly inspiring.
            A little boy in my reading group was obviously having a bad day. Whether it was the rain or that he couldn’t play with the toy he wanted to, is still a mystery. Nonetheless, he was extremely upset. It’s difficult to take a moment and single out a child during reading, because the other kids should not have to stop reading the book or paying attention simply because one child cannot do the same. I had two choices in this situation. I could ask my team leader to kindly walk the boy over to the teacher and have her handle the situation, or I could foster my growing relationship with this boy by somehow redirecting his emotions onto the story we were reading. I was still very new at this at the time, and was extremely nervous about how to handle this.
            The book we were reading was at the point where the baby girl was extremely sad because she missed her brother so much (Oonga Boonga). The little girl’s family was doing everything in their power to get the girl to stop crying. However, little did they know that all the little girl needed was her big brother to return. This was the point where I had to somehow integrate the emotions of this boy in my reading group into the story. Right when I was about to ask him what makes him so sad, I thought to myself that another approach may be more prudent in this situation. So instead of asking the boy in my reading group what makes him cry, I turned to the page where the big brother came back and the baby girl stopped crying. I asked him to explain what he saw in the picture, and then to tell me what makes him smile like the little girl was in the story on that page. Then I went around the circle and asked the other children the same question. Soon every single one of the children was smiling up at me. While this was already magical enough as it is, the thing that will make me retain this memory forever is what the little boy, who had long stopped crying did. It was amazing that a four-year-old could completely understand the impact the book had on him, and that he wanted to share it with me when he asked me what makes me most happy. My response: “Right now, reading this book with all of you.”  
~Brianna Seiler
Corps member
Team Joy

A learning experience


Just as educating children or operating a school requires the partnership of many individuals and organizations, the success of Jumpstart is also dependent on the work of communities. These communities not only enable session planning and implementation to be more successful, but they also allow our time in the classroom to be more individualized for every student. This past semester, our team discovered that a focus on collaboration and partnership made sessions more engaging, materials of higher-quality, and a greater feeling of confidence in our work. And, from this growth we began to value the craziness and excitement embodied in every session, students’ smiles that exemplify hope and curiosity, and moments that illustrate students’ social and academic growth.
Jumpstart’s value on teamwork and collaboration is evident in its design of teams of corps members implementing session rather than a single educator for every classroom. From this, every session plan activity allows children to connect with corps members on a more individual level in order to better meet the social, emotional, and academic needs of every student. Similarly, a lower ratio also enables us to better understand our children and get to know them as students and individuals.
Additionally, by working as a team, we are able to use our past experiences and training to create solutions that address instructional and classroom management challenges. As evident during our team planning meeting, the solutions that we devised were diverse, which allowed them to be more successful as the needs of our students are also diverse.
Every session at Jumpstart is a learning experience for me as much as our children. I learn new instructional and classroom management strategies, how to partner with my peers, and how lucky I am to have the opportunity to work with Jumpstart again. Every week, I appreciate the community of support that Jumpstart provides both in and out of the classroom in order to ensure the success of us corps members and the students that we work with.
~Grant Conway
Team Leader
Team Joy

Monday, December 16, 2013

A Blur


My name is Brianna and I am a freshman at American University. I just finished up my first semester, and it went by like a blur. I had the wonderful opportunity to share my love of reading, writing, and educating, by beginning to work just AmeriCorps’s Jumpstart program. Before I found out about Jumpstart, I was planning on doing a simple office job on campus. However, that would have been a grave mistake and a wonderful opportunity lost. Two of my favorite things are spending time with children and reading, and I can actually get paid for this? Jumpstart is more than a simple job. You could probably not even call it a job; I get to spend time with wonderful children, teachers, and my team twice a week. It’s absolutely wonderful.
I remember my first Jumpstart session very clearly. I was terribly nervous that I would do or say something wrong, and either I would get fired or worse, the children would hate me. My team and I walked into the classroom, and the immediate change in the children’s posture and expressions was astounding. They were so excited to see us that my heart warmed instantly, and I fell in love with each and every one of those kids. I remember in particular a little boy who was extremely upset and crying. I went over to him and talked to him for maybe two minutes, and he walked away smiling. All of the children were so engaged that day, and even though my team may not have been perfect, or far from it that first time, the kids instantly warmed to us and made it a wonderful experience for everyone involved.
Another session that I will never forget was the one on the day of Halloween. I should probably have known that all the kids would be dressed up, however, I was extremely surprised when I walked into that classroom and saw those adorable little costumes. The session practically went out of the window the minute we walked in as the kids, extremely excited and some possibly already on a sugar high, were jumping off the walls the entire day. Although the classroom was crazy, our classroom management skills had increased enough by that time that we were able to keep the kids’ behavior under control – for the most part. One boy, who coincidentally was dressed up as Batman, could simply not sit still and began climbing on things and jumping off of them just as quick. He was definitely a handful that day, but I will never forget those loving smiles spread across their faces and that sheer joy radiating from them and my team. 

~Brianna Seiler
Corps member
Team Joy

Friday, December 6, 2013

New Opportunities

            I had never heard of jumpstart before I transferred this semester to American University. Stacia got my attention for this program the second she started telling me about it at the fair. I couldn’t be happier that I decide to join in. I didn’t have any experience with 4 year olds and I knew it would be a challenge, but I was willing to give it all I had.

           Every Tuesday and Friday morning can be rough, because my day starts at 7 am, which is when I get up and get ready to head off to the AU shuttle, where it takes me to Tenleytown so I can meet my members of Jumpstart and get on the metro to make our way to Anacostia. However, the second I step inside the classroom it makes it all worth it. Even though sessions can have outbreaks of crying, screaming 4 year olds and the attention span is to a minimal, it all works out in the end. Even though the children don’t seem to pay attention, in the next session when you ask them questions, they know the answer. Which is remarkable.

            Originally, I started looking for a volunteer opportunity because I need it for my child psychology course. Working with the children has helped me see first hand the developmental stages that we learn in that class, such as cognitive, physical, and socio-emotional development. However, my child psychology class is the last thing I think about while I’m in there. The first time I went into the classroom I was super nervous, but now though it’s great. I’ve been able to see how much of an impact Jumpstart has had on these children from session to session. I get to see how much they improve and I’ve gotten to know so many of the children. It’s so great when a child comes up to me and says, “Hey, Ms. Penny, look what I did”.  I’ve definitely had some funny experiences as well, such as looking over at two children who were playing in the kitchen and the 4 year old boy going up to the 4 year girl and saying, “hey baby”. I lost my mind; it’s unbelievable what these children know at such a young age. Ha-ha.   

             All in all, I have absolutely no regrets on joining jumpstart, and I cannot wait for next semester to continue being in the classroom

Panayiota Larigakis
Corps Member
Team Dedication

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

A letter to my past, present, and future self


            When I look back at my life exactly one year ago, I recall stressing out about college applications and the "dream college".  I imagined myself interning  at one of our nation's public administration offices and museums. Working for an organization that is devoted to early childhood education was never a part of my plan. 
            Tuesdays and Fridays are my most hectic days. My day begins at 8:55am with an economics class, and it ends at 10:00pm with a statistic class.  In between these two classes is Jumpstart. I wake up on these days filled with nerves and anxiety. During the metro ride I think about on the quality of material that we are bringing to the children. These are the questions that fly around in my head before arriving to the school.
            " What if they don't like the book?"
            " What if they cry today?"
            "What if I mess up?"
            Usually all of these possible sceneries become realty in each session. Some students throw fits while other students fight and argue with one another. The sessions are usually filled with some form of disarray and misconduct, but we always leave the classroom unscathed and wanting more time with our students.
            Aside from the occasional crying, the students actually show incredible understanding of the meaning of words. They understand that only certain letters can come together to make certain words. This was something I lacked as a child. I needed someone to physically tell me that letters were important because letters led to sounds, which led to spelling out words. I leave each session feeling  so proud of my students because they always go beyond expectations. Working for Jumpstart really has giving me a renewed appreciation for education. 
Trinh Son
Corps Member
Team Compassion