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It’s almost time for Discovery AfterSchool and we have Liberty Bank to thank for our scholarship pool this year. The Green Street Teaching and Learning Center of Wesleyan University was awarded $3,000 for the 2016-2017 school year to support our AfterSchool students. Liberty Bank is a long-time supporter of Green Street and we appreciate their continued support every year!

If you’re interested in signing your child up for Discovery AfterSchool classes, our fall semester registration is open and we have many fun classes in art, math, and science. Classes start the week of September 12, 2016. Call us to set up an appointment or fill out the application materials online and send in to us.

Chenoa “Dakota” Summer was a Middlesex Community College intern last semester and we asked her to share some of her experience with us. It has been wonderful watching her grow and learn more about working with kids in our Discovery AfterSchool Program. Here is her final guest blog.

If you’re interested in signing your child up for Discovery AfterSchool classes, our fall semester registration is open and we have many fun classes in art, math, and science. Classes start the week of September 12, 2016. Call us to set up an appointment or fill out the application materials online and send in to us.

Looking At Myself After Green Street

The first day I started at Green Street, I was out of my element. There was usual commotion that came from being the first day of the semester and also a half day schedule. However, I felt a bit terrified in this new environment and I went home that first day exhausted and overwhelmed. I remember thinking that this might not be the right kind of internship for me. I even went to my advisor to express my doubts. She told me to stick with it for a few weeks and to talk about how I was feeling with my supervisors and the staff. If it still was not the right fit, we would work something else out. Luckily, after that first day, and the first week, things improved and I took away three important lessons.

One, I quickly learned that I distanced myself from the kids because I didn’t know how to work with them. I would stand on the perimeter in class and think that the kids hated me because they didn’t want to listen to what I had to say. It wasn’t until later when I realized the reason that they didn’t take me seriously was because I wasn’t on their level physically and wasn’t participating with them. Once I starting participating with them in class they grew to see me as a friendly authority figure. To maintain that respect, I found that being consistent but also kind and good-humored was very important in working with children.

Two, I learned that I have a lot more endurance than I thought I did. At the end of the first week, I was completely exhausted. As the weeks progressed, I would still be tired by the end of the week but I would give all I had each day and it paid off. Despite juggling five classes and the internship, I was still taking initiative and would follow up with my supervisors if I had questions or concerns. In fact, I learned a lot about the kids from asking my supervisors how to address behavior and also how to reach them better.

And three, the last thing I learned was how quickly I could grow despite being at this internship for only a matter of weeks. This growth was more apparent to those around me then it was to myself until the end of the semester. This was evident when I was presented with the award of “Most Valuable Player of the Green Street AfterSchool Staff.” To my utter surprise, every single kid in the room clapped for me, even the ones who I thought didn’t like me much. And it wasn’t just any regular old clap; it was an extended round of applause! This specific moment, among others, at Green Street’s Discovery AfterSchool Program will always stick with me.

Chenoa was a Middlesex Community College intern last semester and we asked her to share some of her experience with us. It has been wonderful watching her grow and learn more about working with kids in our Discovery AfterSchool Program. Here is her second guest blog.

If you’re interested in signing your child up for Discovery AfterSchool classes, our fall semester registration is open and we have many fun classes in art, math, and science. Classes start the week of September 12, 2016. Call us to set up an appointment or fill out the application materials online and send in to us.

Learning From Others

At Green Street. I was assigned to three different classes based on my interests in music and art – African Drumming with Mr. Peter, 3D Art and Math with Ms. Renee and Sing From the Heart with Ms. Liz. What I learned from working with these instructors will help me work better with children and also with people in general in any service field.

Patience – African Drumming is a popular, inherently loud, class hosting a wide range of students with differing interests, abilities, and energy levels. Mr. Peter, had a huge amount of patience. No matter how long it would take, Mr. Peter would wait until every single person was paying attention. He would also ask me for my input, which was awesome because I got to help create a positive learning environment and it boosted my own confidence.

Confidence – In 3D Art and Math, I would watch the different projects the kids were working on like working popsicle stick Ferris wheels or cereal box castles. Sometimes I’d try to help a student who wanted Ms. Renee to help them instead of me. Ms. Renee would tell them that if I was trying to help them, that I deserved the same respect they gave to her. That boosted my own confidence and also helped set the stage for how I could assist the kids with future projects.

Fairness – Sing From the Heart was on Fridays and we all know the end of the week is tough as we wait for the weekend. Ms. Liz was really good at creating a fair classroom. What I mean by this is that if there were kids who weren’t listening, they wouldn’t get to have the things that they wanted (like solos). But those who were behaving did get those prized parts. This taught the kids that they can’t always get everything that they want, and I think that’s an important lesson to learn. It also helped them learn to work as a group so everyone could succeed. Some students who wanted to sing felt inhibited because they didn’t have the confidence like the popular kids to perform in front of everybody. If I noticed this during a class, Ms. Liz and I as a team, would try to boost the child’s confidence and eventually they had their moment where everybody clapped for them.

By working with these teaching artists, I was able to build my patience, confidence, creativity, and also my ability of being able to judge what was fair for the situation at hand. These additions to my professional tool belt will help me on my journey of helping others. Most importantly, I think that the kids learned some of these things too and that is a reminder that we have things to learn from every experience, if we look for them.

Chenoa was a Middlesex Community College intern last semester and we asked her to share some of her experience with us. It has been wonderful watching her grow and learn more about working with kids in our Discovery AfterSchool Program. Here is her first guest blog.

If you’re interested in signing your child up for Discovery AfterSchool classes, our fall semester registration is open and we have many fun classes in art, math, and science. Classes start the week of September 12, 2016. Call us to set up an appointment or fill out the application materials online and send in to us.

A Change in Perspective

Before starting my internship at the Green Street Discovery AfterSchool Program, the only experience I’d had with kids working at Russell Library in the Children’s Section. My attitude towards kids was usually one of standing in the background and observing. I was never the disciplinary type because I didn’t have confidence in my abilities to play that role. I also don’t remember a lot about my childhood. Because of this, I had a really hard time relating to kids. I wasn’t able to remember what it was like in certain grades or when I was even their age. I felt like kids would pick up that and realize I didn’t know what it was like to be in their shoes.

For the first week as a new teaching assistant, I stayed on the perimeter of the group to observe. When the kids would act up every now and then, I would say something like, “Guys, are you listening to what the teacher just said?” I had to go out of my comfort zone of normally being an introvert to having to be more assertive. I quickly realized, that this technique of being on the perimeter and trying to be assertive from the outside was not effective. So after watching a few “how to get children to listen to you” videos via YouTube, I realized that a huge reason as to why the kids weren’t listening to me was because I was not on their level – literally.

So, I became a part of the class, participating in activities with the kids. And the kids started listening to me. I used consistency, persistence, and also assertiveness so the kids knew that I deserved the same amount of respect that they gave other authority figures. And they knew I would respect them too.

I became a friendly face, and ear, they could confide in. Every now and then there would be a kid who was normally well behaved but for some reason, didn’t want to participate. I would pull them aside and by simply listening to them talk about what had happened that day helped. I would listen and would ask a few questions to build rapport with the kids. I wanted them to know that they could confide in me and that if they didn’t want to confide in me at the moment, I was ready to listen to them if that changed. Through listening to what some of the kids told me, I started to put the pieces together as to how the kids deal with things in school or how it effected their day.

Once I started participating and listening, my empathy towards these kids grew. I started to understand why kids acted certain ways and also what things I could do to help them feel better and get back on track in class. My impression now is that, while there are some kids who are going to act out due to issues at home or in school, there are a lot of kids who just want someone to talk to where they can be themselves. I went from having a more cautious view of kids, to tearing up on the last day of the program. At the Solstice Performance, I saw each one of the kids I had worked with go on stage and really shine. These kids grew on me. And for once in my life, I finally started to feel, and maybe even remember, what its like to be a kid again.

Green Street and the Middletown Public Schools are hosting a Family Math Night on Tuesday, September 29th at 6:30pm.

The event is designed to help parents better understand the how and why schools are teaching math differently than we learned as children. Middletown’s K-5 Math Curriculum Coach, Julie Sheppard, will present an overview of the information parents of Kindergarten to Fifth Graders should know, lead an interactive activity where parents will try out some math problems on their own, and provide a set of resources for parents to support math learning at home.

To help support math education for all, we’ll be providing resources for the non-technology saavy and also Spanish translations of all materials.

Join us at 51 Green Street next Tuesday from 6:30-8:00pm.

This event has been cancelled due to the expected inclement weather on Friday, Oct 2nd. 

Green Street will be showing the film “Hip Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes” at the Green Street Teaching and Learning Center.

The film discusses how culture and music collide through hip hop touching on issues of masculinity, misogyny, and homophobia. A brief conversation will take place after the film with middle school teacher and hip hop enthusiast, Buster Nelson. We can ask ourselves if hip hop has to be such a man’s game or if we can think about lyrics and image differently moving forward.

With so much interest in hip hop lyrics and slam poetry amongst Middletown teens and college students, we wanted to expose them to a bit of the history and larger cultural issues buried in the music we hear on the radio.

The film does contain explicit language and adult content. Parental discretion is advised. 

This event is co-sponsored by Green Street and the North End Action Team.