Week 8

As stated in last week's blog, I was back home in Los Angeles, California this past week visiting my friends and vacationing. It was a great week.

Today at the museum, I was surprised to see there was no camp for this week. This was disappointing to me because I really enjoy the interactions that occur during camp every day. So, instead of working with camp, I am back in the office getting started on my project. After my visit to MOSH, I finally feel confident about what my project is and how to approach it (just in time to revise my Abstract!).

Because of my lack of an update from my week off, I'll share some pictures from the MOSH trip!

Callum and me, a little bit too happy to be on our field trip:

Entrance to MOSH:

What to learn in the Megalodon exhibit:

Turtle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMNry4PE93Y

Week 7

Yesterday Amanda (my superviso), Callum, and I made a trip to the MOSH in Jacksonville to see the Megalodon exhibit. The purpose for this trip is that my project is to make an Extended Day Enrichment Program (EDEP) based on this exhibit. It was a very successful trip. I now feel much more confident about what I am supposed to do and I understand all of the details for the project. While looking at the exhibit, I took notes on things I thought were interesting that could possibly be used for various lessons or activities for the EDEP. Now, my first step is to figure out what I want the students to get out of this program and then work backwards and create the lessons and activities of the EDEP based on the final outcomes and goals.

Callum driving the 15 passenger van was a success as well, with only one minor hiccup. I was taking  a nap and laying across the seats when all of a sudden the van came to a screeching halt. I immediatedly woke up and almost fell off the seats but did not because I was wearing my seatbelt (click-it or ticket). It turned out it was not Callum's fault, the car in front of us stopped suddenly without warning because something was on the road. That was the only exciting part of Callum's driving, which is definitely a good thing.

Today, I am taking over Callum's job of being the Guest Speaker liaison. This just entails doing anything the speaker needs, introducing the speaker, making sure the campers are behaving, and pretty much just making sure everything runs smoothly. I have been practicing my English accent all morning so that I can do a great job stepping in for him.

Also, I am updating this blog today (Friday) because tomorrow I leave to go back home to California for a week! I am very excited to see all my friends back home and have a great week of fun and relaxation. I hope you all have a great week as well!

Week 6

The end of my week of teaching was fun. The 1st graders were great, and they became more and more comfortable as the week went on. As they became more comfortable, though, they started misbehaving a lot. They had trouble sitting still and listening and following directions. I had to do my best job of combining baby-sitting with continuing to instill STEM principles to the students. The teacher I was working with and I decided that the best way to do this is to have them do a lot of hands-on experiments and activities. These activities were really the only kind the students would do without acting up. We made model tsunamis, ocean currents, aquifers, and more. 

This week, I have not been doing the internship at the museum because I am working a basketball camp instead.

There is word that Callum, Amanda (my supervisor), and I may be going to see megaladon in Jacksonville on Thursday. I hope we do this!

Week 5

Finally started summer camp today! I am helping teach a camp called Water Water Everywhere. It has been a lot of fun finally getting to move around and interact with kids. I am teaching first graders, so they are adorable and a lot of fun. They started off very shy and quiet, but became energetic and crazy after snack time and once they became a little comfortable. One of my favorite parts of this class is that there is a little girl who predominantly speaks Spanish and does not follow English very well. I am getting to experience what has been talked about in so many UFTeach readings about learning disabilities and cultural differences and teaching students with different backgrounds. It is definitely a challenge making sure this student knows what to do, but I was doing pretty well I think. It helps a lot to use visuals when explaining things to her. Plus, I am currently taking accelerated Spanish here at UF so I get to practice what I am learning in that class, so it is fun. I am excited for the rest of the week of camp!

Week 4

Today was my most eventful day so far. I got a call from my mentor that she needed me to bring her work gloves in the stairwell of the parking garage next to the museum. I brought them to her and found that she came across the cutest little kitten ever (pictured below), separated from its family and injured. I instantly fell in love with this kitten, and felt awful for the kitten as it was injured and scared. I helped my mentor carefully put the kitten into a crate and they are going to take him to animal services to help him get better. It feels good to know that I am not just an intern at this museum...but also a hero.

As for my internship, I am working on a new curriculum guide about primates, which I am thoroughly enjoying. Monkeys have always been my favorite animal so learning about them has been fun. We have also been doing some inventory stuff in the classroom. While it is kind of tedious, it is nice to get out of the office and move around a little bit.

I also helped with the Junior Volunteer training this weekend, and I really enjoyed that. It was a lot of interacting with the 12-17 year old kids, which I enjoyed. My mentor let me lead one of the activities during the training as well, so that was fun. Doing these activities with so much interaction with the kids makes me very excited for camp to start up next week.