The Eighth Grade Assessment Essay

Marion Philippe

English 8

Mr. Salsich

02-11-10

The Assessment Project 2009-2010:

An Essay About My Assessment Work at The Multicultural Magnet School

From playing tag to drawing exercises or from zipping coats to dancing, The Multicultural Magnet School was a roller coaster ride for the assessment project. Over the past seven visits, I’ve had amazing memories and I have learned so much. Learning about child development, having fun, talking to everybody while helping others made this a much more amazing and exciting experience than I could’ve of ever imagined.

Many reasons led me to choose this site. Although we all are humans, we act differently; therefore, I wanted to learn more how kids work. I found that they are non-judgmental and they’re always fun to be around with, whether they’re playing tag or doing activities. Moreover, they don’t care what you do or who you are as long as you get involved with them and that you enjoy yourself. Secondly, after a day of school, home is our only thought, but for some home had to wait a few more hours; in fact, I wanted to the kids to look forward to come at the “magic kingdom” at the end of the day. After a day of school, we are all inpatient, certainly smaller kids, so I wanted their faces to light up with smiles. Also, I wanted them to trust me and come talk to me if they were in trouble, like the time Lilly came up to me when she pushed Nakari. Lastly, I wanted to learn from other people. Although they are small, they all have stories, different personalities and different pasts; therefore, they’re all different, which makes you learn different things. Some taught me how to forget and some taught me how there is always something positive. I could’ve picked to work with the elderly or the animals, but my reasons to work with kids led me to create an unforgettable experience.

From the beginning to the end, many challenges occurred. Although I am taller and bigger than the kids, I was shier. At first, I stayed watching their games, but then I started playing tag, which became the main event on the playground. In fact, when we started playing tag, they later trusted me enough to help them with their homework and exercises that they had to do for school. One of the hardest challenges was saying the right thing to them. Once I called a boy Edward instead of Melvin which caused him to raise his voice; however, he later forgave me when we started playing tag. There was also this time when Franchella and Ella wanted the same marker at the same time; I had to say who it would go to first with the risk of someone getting mad, but since they were the nicest girls I had met, they waited quietly while one was using the marker. The most common challenge that occurred was trust. I had to prove and show them that as a helper I would be there if they needed something. At one point, Ella had a headache and she came to me, which means she trusted me enough to help her. The more visits I made, the more I learned how to overcome some of the challenges that occurred.

Over the course of my seven visits, new things were created and some things changed; except me trying to do the right thing. For example, Nakari, a brown curly haired girl, called me nice. This startled me because it was my first time working with kids. From that moment I figured out what I was doing; the hour that they spent with me, they will share the memories with their families and then be happy with bright smiles on their faces. Not only did I help the kids, but I also helped some of the other teachers. On my seventh visit, the kids were hectic; for example, they were pushing and yelling, making Ella get hurt. Teachers were overwhelmed so we all decided to draw some pictures and then Aaliyah, Lilly, Jayden and Franchella started to sing songs like “Party in the U.S.A” and “You Belong with Me”. However, the main focus in this project was to help the kids with their homework. On my sixth visit, I helped Jose, a short, brown haired boy, with some coloring exercises where you had to draw circles and color them with the appropriate color, but instead he colored all of them gray. Then as we went on through the packet he wanted to stop because “[…] this [was] too easy for [him],” making him want to stop until he realized there was nothing else to do. From all of these experiences, I knew that I had made a small impact.

My research helped me understand how children develop. One of the most important factors in child development is emotions. Emotions help the kids communicate and it also teaches them how to work with others. For example, like the time Jaden and Jose said nice things about each other’s bookmarks. Also, as we develop we go through different stages, making it harder for others to understand us. It was breath taking to see how each other acted, for example, I could see that one learned more than the other or that one was more active than another. An example of this would the time when Melvin was quicker at putting puzzle pieces together, but Gio had better writing and drawing skills than other kids. The fact that amazed me the most was that through the age group of four to six year olds, kids want more independence from home. As they grow older they prefer to focus on one or two friendships, for instance, the time Lilli and Kayla were whispering to each other each chance they got. However, they still need affection and the feeling of security from their families. My research helped me to understand the kids better even if it just meant having fun with them.

If you look at the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, not many connections will pop out when you are connecting it to helping out at The Magnet School, but if you look beneath the surface, many connections will be made. As many themes appear in To Kill a Mockingbird, growth was one common theme that related to my service work. In everyday life, we are always growing and learning for our futures. Scout is trying to understand why Atticus and Jem act differently; meanwhile, I try to grow by learning more how to help others instead of just thinking of myself. In similar fashion, relationship is another theme that relates to the novel and my work. Aunt Alexandra tries to build a relationship with Scout, which I try to do with the kids. Sometimes there are ups and downs like impatience or when Scout disrespects Aunt Alexandra, but the ups and downs are what make the relationships stronger. Another comparison is how we try to get everybody involved and try not to let anybody feel as if they have been left out, like Boo Radley. At one point, Dill realizes that “Maybe [Boo] doesn’t have anywhere to run off to,” and we try to do the opposite so everyone feels wanted. We do this by doing activities with each other such as dance, puzzles or just a simple, “Hello!” greeting before starting homework. To the themes or to Boo Radley, I learned that many comparisons can be made just as long as you take your time to look for the minuscule details or you take the time build and grow a relationship.

Although I will never regret any of the work that I did, I wish I could’ve done some things differently. My biggest concern was not getting involved right away. I was helping with homework and playing tag on my first visit, but at the beginning I wished that I could’ve of joined the circle and the greetings at the beginning of the homework faster. I helped a lot of kids doing their homework or playing games but I wished I could’ve helped more with the activities that were happening. Secondly, as I finished my last visit, I realized that I could’ve spent more times with other kids. For example, Ella and Franchella were the nicest girls and very quiet which brought serenity to the classroom, which I only learned on my last visit. Sadness came over me because I had missed another opportunity to learn about someone else. Although I had spent seven one and a half hour visits with the kids, I wished I could’ve learned more about them. I knew their ages, some of their personalities, but I did not learn much of their favorite stories. One day Elijah told me about his younger brother, his day at school and his new shoes which protected him because “if [he] stepped on anything sharp, nothing will go through them because they are un-pierce able.” However, this was an unforgettable experience and none of my work will be taken for granted nor nothing will be regretted.

This experience not only brought good memories, but it also changed me in many ways. In the past, I have helped older citizens but never with kids which made me go out of my comfort zone. This taught me that trying to be helpful, work with other people, and trying new things is very important. From the smallest ideas to the big talks that we shared, this was an unforgettable experience. Not only did I learn new things by myself, but I also learned from the kids. They taught me how to forget bad things in your day and enjoy life as it is, for instance, by playing tag. Also, they taught me how life can be much easier when you think positive. But overall, this experience taught me how to overcome obstacles. Once, with some kids, we were making puzzles but all of them needed help at the same time, which taught me how to stay calm; furthermore, one supervisor told me that “[I] was very patient with these kids.” Another example was when the kids became tired, things became hectic like the time Aaliyah started talking back to a supervisor. Not only have I learned to help others, but I have learned how to push myself to do the right thing during the seven visits.

Throughout the seven one and a half hour visits, great memories happened. The television show The Wonder Years once said, “Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.” I will always remember to appreciate helping others, and I will never forget this extravagant, mind blasting experience that I have had. There were challenges and things that I might have done differently, but not one second was taken for granted and there were no regrets, just happiness. Thank you.