Event Two

              For my second event I was lucky enough to attend adoption day. This event was done through my internship at DCYF. On this day the court makes a big event for the families participating in adoption day. Walking into the court house had a different feeling one would experience any other day. Getting off the elevator you could see balloons, and pictures of the children being adopted hung up on the walls. There were so many activities for the children to participate in while waiting for their adoption time and once the adoption was finalized.  There were people dressed up as characters from movies like Elsa from frozen and the bear from the Pawsoxs. There were tables of food and frozen yogurt set up for people to enjoy. A couple of children had made free bracelets and were handing those out. Children were getting their faces pained and animal shaped balloons. The families were also offered a free family portrait; I thought this was a great idea for the new families. I was allowed to sit in the court room when the adoptions were taking place and it was a wonderful experience. Everyone in the court room was smiling and so happy. Once the adoptions were finalized, you could see how much joy it brought the families. The children that were adopted received a bag, I’m not sure what was in the bags but I could see a big teddy bear sticking out from it. I really enjoyed going to this event. It was nice to see good happening in the courthouse instead of bad. I think the children there also enjoyed it a lot it made the day special for them with all the activities happening and the news being there as well.

               I believe adoption day corresponds with many themes we see as youth workers and youth development majors. As youth workers we want to see the youth and families we are working with do the best they can. We want to see all their hard work pay off. Some of the families at adoption day have been trying for years to be able to have their adoptions finalized. That day, all the hard work they did and everything they went through finally paid off. That is what this career path is all about.

               Here are some links with more information about adoption day along with a video.

1.      National Adoption Day Page

2.      A video of an Adoption Day

3.      National Adoption Day Facebook page

 

                                     

                                         

 

Event One

The first event I attended was the advising event youth development had. At the event a significant amount of youth development majors came together in Gaige hall and worked to answer questions about the youth development program along with advising questions. The event started off by everyone in the room introducing themselves by saying their name, age, and how their day was going. This is a youth development activity that was taught to the program by a group called youth in action. One person will start and say “bug in” introduce themselves and when they are done they will say “bug out” and then the next person will do the same. This was a good activity to do at the advising event because there were a lot of new faces interested in the youth development program. During the advising event a lot of questions about courses and the program were cleared up for everyone. It was fun being able to interact with others in the youth development program along with helping each other create class schedules and answering questions.

The connection I saw from our advising day was with youth in action. Youth in action is run by the youth who participate in the group. I saw a connection with our advising day because we ran the event. We worked with other youth development students to answer questions. Our advisors were there to help whenever we needed them, like youth in action does. Below you can find an article written by Adeola Oredola, the executive director of youth in action. You can also find more information regarding youth development below.

1.      Youth in action article

2.      YDEV information

3.      YDEV advising central

                     

Resilient Kids

 

For this blog we had to watch the video on resilient kids. I really enjoyed this video I learned from it as well. Thinking back to when I was in elementary school and even middle and high school having time and learning these techniques would have been very helpful. As Vanessa said it is easy for children to get all worked up but they do not necessarily know how to “calm down” like they are often told to do. Being taught how to calm down in situation will really help children. The schools that are implementing these techniques are already seeing higher grades from students. I also really enjoyed this video because I learned how to calm down like they talked about. Using the techniques like Vanessa and the children in the video discussed can help in ways of relieving many stresses in your life.

               Watching this video also reminded me how important it is to relieve stress and to calm down when you have a lot going on in your life. Stress is not good to have in your life so if you can do simple things like taking a step back and breathing it will help you in the long run. Finding something that helps relieve the stress in your life like yoga, running, or even talking to someone about what’s going on are good things to do.  

 

" Creating Culturally Relevant Education"

After watching the video on "Creating Culturally Relevant Education", I learned a few things about working across different cultural boundaries. One of the themes of this video that stood out to me was that students said it would have been better for them if the teachers acted as their mentors along with being their teacher; creating a connection with them. One girl gave an example how she was not connected with her teachers at first. However after a family matter took place her teachers reached out to her and they did form a mentor/connected relationship. Having educators and youth workers creating these types of relationships will be useful for them when working with youth.

Along with having a relationship with youth, relationships with parents are also important. Another girl in the video talked about how she was at a school event and her father did not speak English. She asked someone to help her father and he was embarrassed. If there was a relationship with the parents in this case accommodations could have been made so this girl’s father would not have felt embarrassed. Relationships with parents are also important for other reasons. If a child seems to be off in class and not themselves a parent can pull you aside and let you know what is going on.

Working across different cultural boundaries can be difficult if the culture differs from your own. Overcoming these boundaries will benefit the youth we will encounter. I think the best way to overcome these boundaries is to educate yourself. When something is different than what you are accustomed to, educating yourself about it will not only benefit you but the youth you work with. All youth are different in their backgrounds, culture, and the way they learn. Working across these boundaries to create a relationship with them to help these youth succeed will be a great accomplishment for everyone in the process.

Nakkula Chapter 2

My understanding about context mapping is that it is how you act in different settings of your life. It made me think of the roles you have that I learned about in introduction to social work. When you have a role of being a student you act differently than you would as the role of being a friend. When you take on a specific role you do not use that role in a different environment. Context mapping is similar. The way you act at school, work, or your home will not be the same.

 

My context map:

RIC- Student, Youth Development

Social- Twitter, Instagram, Facebook

Work-Customer, Manger, Associate

Family- Daughter, Sister, Granddaughter, Niece, Cousin, Friend

 

  Foreclosed Identity: This identity is when one doesn’t really explore other ones. It can be imposed or what you are used to being around so you take on the same without exploring other options.

Diffuse Identity: This is when one is not sure of their own identity so they will often change their opinions to fit in better and avoid confrontation.

Moratorium Identity: This is when one does explore beliefs and relationships but doesn’t commitment to either.

Achieved Identity: This identity is when the identity crisis is resolved. This is when a person has found their own identity.

Nakkulat Article

I really enjoyed the reading by Nakkulat Toshalis, I love that there was the story about Antwon and Ms. Petersen and how the reading refers to it throughout. One section that really stood out to me was when Nakkulat wrote about how Antwon and Ms. Petersen already had in their mind how each other were going to be based on past experiences. I remember back in middle school when my English teacher found out who my older brother was and was completely shocked. Seeing how he didn’t do his work and rowdy in class and I did all my homework and was very quiet in class she couldn’t believe we were related. If this teacher new ahead of time we were related she would have had a preconceived idea in her mind that I was going to be just like my brother and treat me differently.

Another aspect of Nakkulats writing that stood out to me was the idea of tested knowledge. The example of Antwon and Ms. Petersen was a perfect example that I have witnessed in many classes over the years. Students tend to push the boundaries in the classroom to see how much they can get away with. In Antwon’s case I never thought of it as a student testing a preconceived theory they thought up. Keeping this in mind as a youth worker, instead of jumping to the conclusion that a child is bad because they are acting out you have to remember it might mean something more.

Youth In Action

On Thursday the nonprofit organization Youth in Action came to class. During class, this organization conducted our lesson which included an egg drop. The class was separated into a few different groups and all received a box of supplies. The group I was in had a lot of options in our box. At the end of the lesson we learned that our group was one of the privileged ones. We had three eggs and abundance of items to help protect our eggs in the drop. These items included marshmallows, paper, tape, boxes, bubble wrap, paper, and scissors. Other groups did not get nearly as much. One group had as little as a couple of bags and tape. While making different ways to protect our eggs, this thing called a budget cut happened. This meant that even though you needed an item it was going to be taken away. For my group it wasn’t so bad because we had other items. However for other groups who didn’t have a lot to begin with found this to be problematic.  

As Ullucci discussed youth are struggling more in school. If students are having trouble in school and do not have a lot of resources to begin with it will be harder for them to succeed. However like Ullucci also talked about this does not mean that these youth won’t be able to succeed in school or everyday life. Giving these youth the support they need in order to succeed needs to be a priority. Having teachers and educators understanding this and using new perspectives to teach youth from poverty will have a positive impact.

 

Ullucci Reading

In Pathologizing the Poor: Implications for Preparing Teachers to Work in High-Poverty Schools, Kerri Ullucci makes some good claims about poverty on youth. One that stood out to me was that youth are struggling more in school. However even though they are struggling this does not make them any less able to succeed in school and everyday life. Teachers and educators now have to use new perspectives while working with children from poverty.

Poverty can affect a youth development space in a variety of ways. In the immediate household a family could not have enough money for food or low quality food leading to children not being able to do their best because they are hungry. Poverty in low economic areas, there might not be money for things like sports and afterschool programs. This would give them a disadvantage over other children who would have money for those programs.

I am not sure what community I want to work in when I graduate. As long as I can help the youth in that community and make a difference I would be happy. It would be cool to go back to the community I grew up in. Being able to help change how things were when I grew up for the upcoming youth would be a rewarding experience.

In the Problem-Focused Services portion of the article, it focuses on the care of children. It discusses how in the nineteenth century places like settlement houses were created to help care for children. These places took on the parent like role of caring for them. Besides taking care of children by providing them with housing, their physical care was taken into consideration. In the 1970's physical abuse of children became a priority. This sense of responsibility of children all came after the signing of the Social Security Act. Along with child welfare this section also focused on juvenile justice. The juvenile system before, would charge children for crimes such as truancy and running away.  Shortly after the juvenile systems became into being, the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act put an end to juveniles being charged for those offences. It is clear to us by many examples that children and young people are not given an opportunity to participate in the development of intervention strategies.

I think this section tells us a lot about youth work as well as working with youth. This section focused a lot on how as adults and youth workers we don’t listen enough to the youth we work with. There was one example that when children are pulled out of their community it is seen as the best solution. However in a majority of cases it is not and is just as hard getting back into the community as being pulled out if it. As a youth worker, it will help me to remember that the youth I’m working with won’t always agree with my opinions. I will have to take what they think into consideration while working with them.  

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

My relationship with technology has become more dependent over the years. In my house growing up, we did not have a computer or cable until I was in middle school. Back then I thought it was the worst thing in the world. Looking back now, I think it was good we did not have a lot of the technology right away. With it not in the house I had to do other things like going outside, playing sports, and interacting with people face to face. I want to say that I am more of a “Digital Native”, for most of the reasons Marc Prensky discussed in “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants”. Prensky wrote about how digital natives tend to multitask, are use to receiving information fast, and love instant gratification. Personally, I do all three. As I write this blog post I am multitasking; listening to music, playing on my phone, and telling my parents about my day. I do realize that I am more dependent on my cell phone than I should be. It could be something small like looking up an address or going on social media to make the time go by, but it’s usually in my hand waiting for an excuse to look at it.

I think technology helps me as a youth worker in a variety of ways. One way that comes to mind, is that it can help me relate and connect with the youth that I will be working with. Keeping up with the new technology is going to play an important role in not only connecting with these youth but also helping them. Not all students learn the same way and because they don’t, having technology available will be helpful. If some students are not really grasping a topic being discussed in class, a teacher could easily bring up a video or pictures to help clarify any confusion.

Response to Youth In Action article

The article “A World Where Youth Hold the Power” written by Adeola A. Oredola with members of Youth In Action, focuses on teenagers helping to create stronger communities. Youth In Action is an origination from Providence Rhode Island that is run by the children and teenagers from the community. These teens are making adult like decisions for their organizations, from what events to have and who is on the board of directors. The article also discusses how typically children and teenagers are not taken seriously when it comes to big issues. Youth In Action does just the opposite. This organization wants to know their opinions, thoughts, and problem solving ideas. Youth In Action uses these ideas to make the community better.

I was shocked to read that Adeola Oredolas guidance counselor tried to discourage her from applying to Brown University. It is great that she had supports in her life to encourage her to apply. I have never had an experience like that before and I am not sure how I would have handled it. My experience as a youth does not really go along with the Youth In Action model. In school, I was fortunate enough to have teachers who were always supportive of their students’ and their ideas. Not only did they support us as students, they encouraged us to do our best and to reach for our goals and dreams. Seeing how teachers and family can be unsupportive and close minded, it is good that Youth In Action is there to help better the community but to also support those children and teens that join.

About Me

Hello everyone! My name is Courtney. I’m in my senior year. My major is Youth Development, with a focus on special education. My prior major was teaching (elementary education). I didn’t love it but I knew I wanted to work with children so I switched to Youth Development. My experience with youth has mostly been babysitting. I have also done volunteer work in schools and summer programs. When I graduate with a degree in Youth Development I want to be able to make a positive impact on the children I work with.