Village Project Reflection

The Village Project experience has been an incredible way to begin working with children in a teaching capacity. It has been a wonderful way to connect with the community and serve students in need. I have personally gained so much knowledge from this experience already. Getting to know my student and build curriculum to fit their needs best has been very eye opening. 

This experience has been very helpful in gaining a better understanding of teaching, children, and learning. Working with my students has not been easy; it has taken a lot of work to get to a point where they are even comfortable talking and sharing with me. But seeing them open up more and more every session has helped me to understand what works, and what does, not for building those relationships with children. The lesson planning portion has also been very helpful in learning more about teaching and learning. Preparing a plan and schedule to stick with completely on my own has been a great experience. Again, the choices I make for my students are in our hands, which is exactly what teaching a full classroom of students is like: creating lessons and plans that fit the curriculum but still work for my students. 

The environment that this tutoring has been taking place in has also been very helpful. Not only was I given helpful and adequate instruction, but continually receive support from those above me in the program. The school I am tutoring at has placed us in the library for our sessions, which is a very comfortable and relaxing environment for both the students and I. We tutors also have access to a range of books of various levels and topics that we can cater to our students interests and reading needs. 

With all of the success, there have also been challenges throughout the program. Like stated above, building a relationship with my student was and continues to be a slow process. Seeing my student struggle with different aspects of our lessons and seeing them get discouraged can be difficult! Building the relationship and confidence with each other has not been an easy task, but it is a rewarding one. Working in the library setting can also be a challenge as it provides a lot of different distractions while working on reading – a task that takes a lot of focus and attention. This is a challenge, but a helpful learning experience for me to learn ways to keep my student engaged. 

Overall, the Village Project experience has so far been a very helpful and educational experience. It is very helpful to not just be learning how to work with students, but also getting to put that knowledge to practice. My confidence with lesson plans and relationship building has already grown and will continue to improve and grow.