My Top Ten Village Project Takeaways

Prompt: Reflect on your experience in the village project and create a list of ten things or ideas you have taken away from the time so far.

Throughout my time as a staff member, I have learned many things and am excited to continue growing. In light of the end of the semester, I will talk about 10 things I’ve taken away from my experience so far in no particular order. 

1. It’s important to pick and choose your battles. This is something I had to learn working with the afterschool program. Before this, I only had a couple brief experiences with behavior issues, and it was nothing compared to my experience with the ASP. At first, I felt like I needed to micromanage everything that they do and make sure that they’re doing exactly what they are supposed to. However, I learned that there is no possible way for me to control everything they do and that I need to pick the problems that are causing the biggest issues. For example, I’m not going to engage in talking to them about bottle flipping their milk at dinner, because the more attention I give to it, the more they’ll want to do. Eventually they’ll stop and nobody is being harmed. However, I will talk to them about climbing up the set-up tables in the cafeteria, because it’s extremely dangerous. This idea has saved me throughout my experience so far, because you can’t stress about every little thing. 
2. There are no bad kids, just misunderstood ones. Every child is different. Every child has their own lives at home that we don’t get to see. They are all going through their own things and especially when they are young, they don’t understand how to express their emotions properly. There are reasons for the way they act and making sure they know that one bad decision doesn’t make them a bad kid is really important for improvement in behavior. 
3. Most parents actually do care about their children, just don’t have the resources or time to give them enough attention. Goes hand in hand with the previous one, because most of the parents I have met really care about their children. However, they may not have the proper resources to provide everything their child needs. Many work long hours, are single parents, and are trying to make ends meet, so lots of their time isn’t directly focused on their children. That is why they put them in the afterschool program so that where they are lacking (in time, resources, attention), we can try to support them. 
4. Building relationships is essential. Building trust and creating bonds with the students is the only way to have a successful experience. I had to take time building the foundation with my students so that they could trust me and feel comfortable around me. I have found that as I’ve gotten to know my students better, I have a lot fewer difficult days. 
5. Patience is a virtue. They will talk over you. They will test every inch of patience you have. And they will push all your buttons to see your reaction. But what I’ve learned is that taking a step back, understanding that they’ve been at school for 10 hours, and their focus is going to be less for me, has helped me so much. By putting myself in their shoes and not reacting negatively, I have realized that patience is one of the most important things when it comes to working with children at all. 
6. Being kind gets you a lot farther. Going along with patience, being kind has helped me so much. These kids just want love and attention and sometimes they do things that make it really hard not to want to yell. However, when I react with positivity and in a calm manner, they see that I come from a place of understanding. 
7. Kids need reassurance and constant repetition. This is something that I had to really get used to. Sometimes it feels so redundant and pointless to constantly be repeating myself, but I’ve seen how much it helps my students. Especially because they are so young, they need step by step instructions in order to feel safe and prepared. Every day we go over the same expectations when we get to class. I always explain directions more than once and I reassure them that I’m there to help.
8. Setting boundaries and being stern is so crucial. I struggled a lot with this in the beginning because I never really worked in a setting where it was so extremely necessary. I make the expectations very clear for them and they understand that consequences will come if they cannot follow them. I am not stern in a way that is scary or mean, but I make sure that each student is held to the same standard. When lines are crossed, there are consequences and then most of the time, those actions do not occur by the same person again. This has helped me create a safer, more efficient, and more effective environment for all of my students.
9. Listening to your students’ needs and stories makes them feel loved. This goes along with creating bonds with the students. By asking questions about them and their days, they know I care about them and want to hear what they have to say. When they are upset or need a break, they know they can talk to me.
10. Being adaptable is necessary because every day is different.  I think that is no brainer when it comes to teaching, but it is something I’ve found to be so important. There are going to be really good days and really bad days. Some activities won’t be finished, and some will only take them 10 minutes. It’s so important to have an extra plan in case this does happen. I always bring extra supplies and I start each day with the attitude that everyday is new.