The village project is an amazing eye opening experience and I have learned so much from the students while only being there for a couple hours every week. Here is my list of important things that I have learned while being at the village project.

  1. You NEED to meet them where they are at. This is so important for so many reasons, but the thing I learned was that if you walk in, expect them to like you and try to teach them things right away, your insane. The students wont look at you as a pre-service teacher until you prove to them that there is a reason why youre at the after school program.
  2. The world is bigger than your town of 700 people you grew up in. Although coming to college itself was an eye opening experience the way it is, I appreciated being able to get a different perspective of students rather than the 500 kids I had in my class. Along with these differences in experience, come forth different problems which need different solutions.
  3. Everyone’s situation is different. Working with students that are of a young age, you over hear a lot of different things. There were some students who would complain about not getting the newest Xbox while others would be happy if they were given a stick to play with outside. The extremes from both sides could be heard at this one school I went to, and it was nice to learn that kids are still kids no matter their situation.
  4. Consistency is key to building relationships with students. To build relationships with the students, you will need to work on it over time and really will have to try. One day the students will be excited to see you when you walk through the door, but until then you just need to be there consistently. The shell will break eventually and then all the hard work pays off.
  5. Create meaningful relationships. In my time with the village project, I have mostly been spending time with kindergarten and 1st grade levels. One day, one of the girls saw my lock screen with my girlfriend and dog. They then asked if they could draw her and the puppy. With them taking interest in my personal life, it really made my heart warm. We now have multiple pictures and even an ornament from these students who I would have never known if it wasn’t for the village project.
  6. Be open to new jobs/experiences. Coming into the village project, I was dead set on being an upper elementary teacher with absolutely zero chance of becoming a lower elementary teacher. However, while the village project was going on, I found myself interacting with kindergarten/1st grade far more than the older grades. I didnt want to be a teacher of very young students because I figured they would be afraid of my size, but you never know. Which brings me to my next point of not making assumptions.
  7. Do not assume anything. Along with the assumption above, I am sure I have made plenty of assumptions even when I have not met these students. One thing for myself to remember is that these kids are kids. You can think you have them figured out and then a curve ball will come from out of nowhere and all of a sudden youre back to square one.
  8. Listening is important. The village project taught me that sometimes all kids want you to do is to listen to them. Even if youre looking at them but not really listening to the random thing that happened at 5:32 last night. Sometimes they just want to be heard and have a friend to talk to.
  9. Patience is key. Everyone can have a rough day, especially the students. Whether you want to or not, you must have patients with these students. They may have had a bad day and just blew up from everything boiling over. It is always good to have the patience for these kids otherwise it can lead into much more of a pain for the teacher.
  10. Respect them and they will respect you. There are always a couple students who the teachers will have to yell at more often than others. One thing I have found helpful is to create a bond with the student where they understand that their teacher isnt a robot programmed to teach, but rather they are a person. Sometimes students can get overwhelmed with school and forget that you are a person. A reminder of this can be helpful sometimes.

Overall, I really appreciate the challenges that the village project brings as well as the connections it create with wonderful students. I am excited to continue this journey next semester!