Student Acceptance Day

This was an exciting event for a couple of different reasons. First reason is being on my way out of college and reminiscing when I was an entering freshman at Rhode Island College. Secondly I was surrounded by many professors I have had at RIC years ago. Thirdly I had a great support system of other youth development majors and our advisors Corinne McKamey and Lesley Bogad. It was amazing to see during the day that many students don’t control their decisions. Many parents were taking students away from tables to go where they want their child. The youth development table had a couple of great candidates but we lost them to parents pulling them in another direction or interrupting our conversation. It is very interesting to me that parents control their child’s future. With my support systems at home they made sure I wanted to go to college and that I made the choice. This event can be stressful for everyone. The decision made on this day sets you up for the program you may be stuck in for years. Going into a program that doesn’t fit what you want to do creates the graduate that leaves college saying “what am I going to do with my degree.” It all starts with the day of looking through programs the college has to offer. Being a part of this moment for the incoming freshman was gratifying. This event made me wish I did this as a freshman.

CTE Training Event

The first event I participated in this semester was a CTE training/lesson activity. CTE is career technical education. Starting with the training. The training we did was a great deal of collaboration. Providence After School Alliance has never done this before. Being a part of this project is very exciting. We provide the youth in our afterzone a resource to learn about their futures. Futures meaning career focus, education path and options for all of the previously stated pathways. The training we participated in helped the participants learn what our mission of CTE is. We also went over some lesson plans to incorporate in our activities for the youth. The mission of CTE is to help providence youth gain access to resources that maybe limited within the district after school.

My CTE lesson took about four to five days to construct and go through with the help of my site coordinator. When I finally ran the lesson I only had two youth participate. A learning experience for all, but I now understand that I needed to present the activity in a different way for the youth to get as excited for the lesson as I was. I did have a great experience with the two youth that participated. They had great aspirations and great upbringing. Most people would assume that providence youth have lack of support systems at home. These youth have been drilled by their families to go through higher education. It is truly inspiring to hear that these youth have a great opportunity to move further through their education.

RIC Open House

The Open House at Rhode Island College was wonderful. It was an experience that I missed out on as a freshman going into College. The group we had holding down the table was great also. We had some great interactions and a decent volume of students curious about our program. I feel as though many of the students looking for education came to our table and they seem to be a better fit than in standard education. We had our elevator speeches ready and we rattled off some great selling points for our program. We tweaked our speeches a little. It seemed that the different individuals that would come to the table would get a small alteration to fit what they were interested in. I found this experience to be great. I would have found this to be wonderful as an incoming freshman and I missed out. Looking around at all the other tables and the excitement educators and current students had written on their faces. Others were not as pleased but as a whole it was an opportunity I would love to do again. I wouldn’t mind adding this to my career choice. Recruiting is an opportunity most people don’t get to take part in. I felt that the energy and charisma flows effortlessly. The YDev shirts were a great icing to our recruitment cake. Dr. McKamey’s add of her little music speakers helped with my expert Pandora. Being at the event the whole day made the experience different also. The first shift had a drastic wave of almost every single person participating in the Open House. The second wave slowed down drastically so many of the others that we had for the second shift was slower but the community we built together was something we will hold on to for a long time. I am very grateful to be surrounded by people who have the same emotional connection that I do to our major.

Conference

Rhode Island Conference was an experience I didn’t find beneficial to me. The panel provided had so much power and wealth of knowledge, yet we were not able to express our opinions prior to asking the panel questions. I felt as though it was organized on paper but very disorganized for the people going into their programs during transition. I felt as though the programs were very rushed and the panel time was extremely long. I went to listen to an organization and they had fifty minutes to educate us on how and what the program is all about. They addressed the main idea of the organization but didn’t give enough information for people that don’t know much about their organization prior to this interaction. I think the conference would have held more weight and been more beneficial if there was more time devoted to the programs after the panel. I know that most people felt the same way I did because as I gazed away and boredom set in I was watching people as they did the same. The panel would rattle off on topics of how they influence Providence and the topics were more geared towards how these institutions should influence Rhode Island. When you have a representative from Roger Williams in Bristol and they claim that the institution has a great relationship with the town, when in actuality the town has had an ongoing battle about taxing the land the private school is on. I feel as though the panel spoke down to the audience and that was very dis-hearting.

Youth Development majors needed these workshops to help select and focus on organizations they might not know about. With limited time and limited resources the audience is losing out on a great opportunity. I feel the conference could have been better for the audience if time restraints were taken into consideration.

Paradoxical Pathways: An Ethnographic Extension of Kohn’s Findings on Class and Childrearing

Kohn’s findings show me that researchers focus and manipulate results to reach their focal end scheme. The results seem to me, be more focused on the specific families followed during this case study. I was raised in a lower-middle class family and I found that the reading completely related to me. Though more of the positives than the negatives within the readings. I see that I have parents who cared fully about my education, leisure activities and also what was being taught within my religion’s CCD. “Results imply that, at the level of actual behavior, it is implausible to assume a simple one-to-one correspondence between class and either conformity or self-direction. Rather, the relations between value commitments and behavior are complex and may entail paradoxical pathways.”

My interpretation on this conclusion is that my beliefs of the reading were confirmed. Classes can’t be a measure by values and/or self-direction. Family units have a different way of raising their children. Just like youth and the way they learn in education. Every person is different from one to the next. Families don’t care less about their children because they are low income or if they are middle class. How often do we see in the media that a celebrity is fighting with their parents/managers because they don’t get their way. People make decisions based on impulses, not morals and values. That is why many people feel regret about decisions and outcomes in life. There is truly no perfect way educate or parent youth. Experiences help the development of youth based on what they have learned from their education and what teachings their parents instill in them. Kohn’s research seemed very biased for a researcher. Looking at the article in a different lens causes a different interpretation.

Dr. McKamey's Case Study

Many educators struggle to be a teacher first and a researcher later. This to me means that; a Teacher can promote great teachings that has been created based off of a study that promotes exponential growth in learning, but doesn’t address the needs of all students and the walks of life within a classroom. Through the education at Rhode Island College I have been through many different forms of teaching strategies. How a classroom is set up, how students responded to the educator, what type of environment will be promoted within the education and will you as a student respect or fear the educator in power. Many of these systems I have endured and found that very few had helped my personal learning progression. Dr. McKamey addresses these issues within her case study. The open classroom system contradicts the system of the “look” and the positioning of the desks in the classroom. The extra connection a teacher has with a student I believe is more than just a “look.” This is described as more of a parent toward a child. I know that students spend almost as much time in school as they do at home, but a teacher should be an adult figure not a parental substitute. A teacher maybe an outlet for students and a person who guides them through difficult obstacles in life, but I don’t agree in the relationship of teacher becoming parent to the student via “the look.” Maybe the sense of being a care giver is more the direction I understand a teacher being. In my experience as a student I had many teachers focus one on one with me as an individual and that was a great influence for my education. I always saw them as an educator and mentor not as a parental figure. An educator was an adult figure that I confided in for educational advice whether it dealt with education or life experiences. Being a “good teacher” is having the extra effort many people in the profession don’t have. The fact that college students can say on a consistent bases that an educator is good or pleasing is all in the character of the educator not in due their professional persona. Being a great educator doesn’t mean that you are a great person. It just categorizes these professionals that care about how their students complete the tasks or goals. An educator that make sure everyone succeeds in their course is the sign of a good educator. An educator that openly states that they will persuade you into the incorrect answer to make sure you know the material isn’t looking to be a good teacher but simple an educator. Being a teacher and educator are two different things I believe. A teacher is one that uses information to a vast diverse community and uses universal learning tools to make sure the community is educated and understands the material. An educator on the other hand uses tools and resources to inform the majority that doesn’t need the extra tools or resources to understand the material provided. Through my experience in education these beliefs have been reinforced time and time again.

Chapter 2

What is a Context Map? Context map is the path that we make in finding who we are. This path carries the answer to who, what and when we are a certain identity. My context map contains the personality traits I feel I carry always in a wordle! What did Mitch ask Julian? Mitch took Julian into a world of judgment free opportunity. Mitch asked Julian to open up freely and help Julian find his true achieved identity. Julian started off as a lost and easily manipulated individual. Mitch took his personal experience and combined these experiences with his professional. This combination of strategies help Julian find his identity. Mitch asked Julian to work towards finding himself through tasks and “assignments”. Mitch then would use these tools to help Julian answer what Mitch asked by helping Julian feel comfortable in the environment Mitch developed for both of them. List four different Identities Foreclosed identity: I believe is an identity that is instilled into an individual by a form that is not their own. For example, a person is told every day that they will amount to nothing and become nothing. That individual then acknowledges those accusations and does nothing to eliminate them. This identity is not a personal identity but forced by an individual’s environment. Diffuse identity: I believe is an unknown identity. This identity is like a “chameleon” and change drastically though out the individual’s everyday life. As the individual advances throughout their day they will alter themselves based on the environment they currently inhibit. For example, a student that participates in sports may act like a typical jock, but wouldn’t indulge his teammates in the fact that he does ballet. While that same student is in ballet they wouldn’t act the same way being in different company. Identity Moratorium: I believe is an identity that experiments identities. An individual may try to emulate a certain identity in different atmospheres which can cause conflict. One environment may have a great deal of pleasure from this identity while a romantic relationship may enjoy the identity that other environments don’t and so on. Achieved Identity: I believe this identity is a realization for an individual. The individual has experimented, been comfortable in multiple companies, environment comfort or is comfortable with themselves as this particular identity.

Most of my adolescent life I was a chameleon. I would change for people. I would change how I acted, conducted myself and wanted to please everyone by the person I was around them. The reading is correct in saying that an individuals stress level increases. It is had to figure out who you are when you never act yourself!