I've never been one to write about my life too extensively on social media platforms before. Like any average member of my "generation," I've taken a stab at whatever social media sites are considered hip at the moment. I've tried out Twitter for a short period of time, and have been known to post the occasional Facebook status. Maybe I'm just not as comfortable sharing every aspect of my life in a summarized form with a bunch of people I barely know, and who frankly wouldn't appreciate me oversharing about my personal endeavors.
That being said, I will admit that pictures seem to be the only medium I have found satisfaction with on a personal and public level. I like to keep my family and close friends up to date on the various projects I am working on (teacher-themed, crafts, and OF COURSE my baking). They are quick and easy to post, and usually don't require much of an explanation-- the snapshot speaks for itself most of the time. Not to mention that it's fun to edit them and pretend that I am a photographer...even though I'm clearly not.
I'm a fairly quiet person in public situations, and like to listen instead of contributing to most group conversations. However, if you get me alone, it's a totally different story. Especially if it's something I'm passionate or knowledgeable about. You can pretty much be guaranteed that I won't stop talking, ever. In fact, you will probably wish that I wasn't so comfortable around you, and secretly hope I'll revert back to the polite and shy individual you first met. I view this blog as a way for me to let loose all of the chatter-like opinions and thoughts I keep bottled up inside most of the time.
The original idea for this blog came to me when I was writing a letter to L this week. Our schedules are both pretty hectic at the moment, so more often than not, we only see each other on weekends. Writing letters to each other on our days apart helps make the time move a little faster. We always end each letter with a list of five questions for the other to answer. As time has gone on and we have gotten to know each other pretty well, it's gotten more difficult to come up with creative questions to ask. I was sitting in school, wracking my brain, and trying to come up with a new question, when an idea sprouted in my head! I asked him, "If I were to start my own blog, what do you think I would write about?" He suggested I write about my baking and crafting adventures, as well as teaching subject matter. Warning: there will be pictures of the concoctions I make for various family and friends' events. If this is too tempting for you, avoid this blog at all costs!
Now that I've written a riveting introduction, I'll get to the actual matter at hand--Pre-K at College!
About a week ago, I learned I had to help out with this event being sponsored/hosted by my college this weekend. We arrived at the event around 8:30 am, and they were just setting up. Every year, my department invites preschoolers and their parents within RCSD to come to our school for this event. The parents get to learn information about making healthy snack choices for their children, and in the mean time, the college volunteers take the kids around to various stations set up for them to explore. Wegmans was there, and they brought a variety of apples for the kids to sample. A local author read his story to the kids, and at the end, he gave each of them a copy of his book. The stations promoted the idea of "learning through play," and they were so fun! Some of the stations focused on fine motor skill development, such as cutting and pasting shapes, and painting with cut up bell peppers. Gross motor skill stations helped the kids get the wiggles out-- we danced with scarves and learned animal-themed yoga positions! They had a bin full of rice that the kids had to dig through to find letters of the alphabet, and a music teacher who played piano while taking song requests from the kids!
All in all, this event was a great experience and I'm glad that I was a part of it. It gave me great ideas for stations to use with my future students, and served as a reminder that learning should be based on fun and exploration. I think its important for teachers to be active members of the community they teach in, and not just during the school day or within school itself. Who knew that one small event would provide some great lessons for my career and personal life!
